Southern-Style Fried Okra Recipe
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A staple side dish in the South, this fried okra recipe is simple, quick, and oh-so-delicious.
Back when I first started Southern Plate, I had an email from a reader asking if I could share a fried okra recipe. Well, y’all know I’ll eventually get to everything and here it is!
Southern fried okra is a truly delicious side dish. It seems no matter the time of year, no matter if you use frozen or fresh okra, it always adds that “fresh from the garden” taste to any meal. However, I’m definitely on the team of making fried okra from frozen, as it makes this recipe even easier (if that was possible).
Around these parts, you can find okra pre-breaded in the freezer section and some places even sell cups of it hot alongside chicken nuggets and such at lunch. Although I have no complaint if I am getting okra (no matter how it is prepared), my all-time favorite form of okra is prepared at home with this recipe. With a nickname like Southern popcorn, you won’t be able to stop after popping one piece in your mouth! Yep, fried okra’s crunchy and crispy exterior is totally addictive – ask anyone!
Recipe Ingredients
- Eggs
- Cornmeal (self-rising or plain, either is fine)
- Salt
- Black pepper
- Fresh or frozen okra (I am using frozen okra). If using fresh okra, go ahead and slice it up into bite-sized pieces and well.
- Vegetable oil
How to Make Fried Okra From Frozen
Add eggs to a medium-sized bowl.
Add buttermilk to the eggs.
Mix them up real good.
Combine dry ingredients (salt, pepper, cornmeal) in another medium-sized bowl and mix that up.
Coat the frozen okra pieces with the egg/buttermilk combo.
Then transfer to the cornmeal mixture and coat until covered.
Place about 1/4 cup oil in a cast iron skillet and heat over medium heat for three to five minutes.
Add the vegetable oil to the pan and heat up until you add a piece of okra and get some sizzlin’. Then you know it’s hot enough to add the coated okra slices.
With a slotted spoon add the okra.
Keep the skillet on medium heat (if in a hurry, you can cook this on medium-high heat, just watch it a bit closer).
and stir the pieces occasionally (every two or three minutes) for about twenty or twenty-five minutes or so, until crispy and browned.
Remove pan fried okra with a slotted spoon and place them into a serving bowl.
DEVOUR with some Comeback Dipping Sauce (this is the good stuff!). I also recommend dipping the crispy in .
What’s the Best Way To Store Your Fried Okra?
- Once cooled completely, you can store your fried okra in an airtight container in the fridge for up to five days or freezer for up to six months. When it’s time, either reheat them on a baking sheet in the oven (turning to ensure both sides get crunchy) or by pan-frying them again in a small amount of oil. Alternatively, use your air fryer to reheat your fried okra.
Recipe Notes
- When making fried okra from frozen, make sure you thaw your frozen okra completely before frying. Once thawed, drain and pat the pieces completely dry with a paper towel before tossing them in the coating and frying.
- For a spicier fried okra recipe, I recommend adding a quarter or a half-teaspoon of cayenne pepper or cajun seasoning to the cornmeal.
Recipe FAQs
What is okra?
For anyone that isn’t from the South and used to making fried okra you may be wondering what the heck it is. Some people are surprised to hear it’s technically a fruit not a vegetable, like our friend the avocado. Okra is the fruit of the Abelmoschus esculentus plant, which is a member of the Mallow family. Now, isn’t that a mouthful! Native to West Africa, it was introduced to America over 300 years ago. If you are interested in ready more about Okra, here is an overview.
What do you serve with fried okra?
Fried okra is a great vegetarian side dish to serve with other Southern main meals, like fried catfish, pulled pork, fried chicken, and velvet pork chops. Otherwise, you can serve it as a main meal alongside other popular Southern side dishes, including fresh fried corn, mac and cheese, and cornbread.
How do you make fried okra not slimy?
There are three things to do to ensure your fried okra isn’t slimy. First, the thinner the slice, the slimier the okra, so make sure you chop your fresh okra into big pieces. Second, cooking over high heat should stop it from being too slimy too. Third, make sure your okra is completely dry before coating.
Ingredients
- 2 eggs
- 1/2 cup buttermilk
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon pepper
- 1 cup cornmeal self-rising or plain
- 4 cups okra fresh or frozen, sliced
- 1/4 cup vegetable oil
Instructions
- Thaw okra. Combine eggs and buttermilk in one bowl, and combine the salt, pepper, and cornmeal in a separate bowl.2 eggs, 1/2 cup buttermilk, 1 teaspoon salt, 1 teaspoon pepper, 4 cups okra, 1 cup cornmeal
- Coat okra with egg/buttermilk mixture and then transfer to dry mixture and coat.
- Heat approximately 1/4 cup of oil in a skillet until hot. Dip okra from the bowl into the oil with a slotted spoon. (Leave the extra cornmeal in the bowl and throw away).1/4 cup vegetable oil
- Stir occasionally and cook until okra is brown and crisp. Take out of oil with the slotted spoon.
Nutrition
You may also enjoy these Southern recipes:
Southern Biscuits Recipe A Classic With Only 3 Ingredients
Southern Cubed Steak and Milk Gravy
Hoe Cake Recipe Southern Style From Mama
My “funny okra” story: When I was real little, my grandmother had an old woodstove w/a shelf up on the back. Once upon a time, my stepmother fried some okra for supper and when we sat down to eat, somebody commented right away that the okra tasted “funny”. After a little detective work, someone realized that instead of salt, she had sprinkled scouring powder in the frying pan. The can of powder was almost the same size and weight as the salt and she hadn’t looked apparently, just reached and sprinkled! Needless to say, that okra was not eaten! (We never let her forget it either!)
That’s funny!
Fried okra is the best. But for the adventurous bite into a fresh picked raw okra. Just rinse it off and pop it in your mouth for a delicious treat. Surprisingly, the fuzz does not bother you at all, and it is a great flavor treat. It has to be fresh picked, though.
Hopefully I haven’t overlooked this comment above, but I take okra and squash and onions and fry them together. We love it and it helps to use up all the extra from the garden.
Hi Christy,
I just found your website and really enjoy reading it. It brings back happy memories and also helps me not feel so homesick for the South. I have had many a meal of fried okra growing up. My mom taught me a trick for boiling okra. You take the whole pod and leave a little bit of the stem on. The stem prevents it from being slimmy. My mom would boil the okra with a little bit of stem. They would boil just long enough to be easily stuck with a fork. Then she would put them in a dish adding a little black pepper and butter/margarine on top. Then place in the stove under the boiler just until the butter/margarine melts. There was rarely any leftovers.
Mmmm, I’m going to have to try this next week! I haven’t had fried okra since I was a little girl. My family lived in Texas for 4 years when I was in elementary school, and the school cafeteria actually served really good food. They frequently had fried okra. Now I was a really picky kid when it came to meats and dairy products, but I liked most vegetables. Okra, fried or otherwise, was no exception! So yummy! Also I don’t think your okra corn spaghetti sounds bad- isn’t okra often served with tomatoes and corn anyway? It just has a bit of an Italian twist 😀 In any case, your first cooking endeavors sound better than mine- I was vegan for several years as a young teenager (13-15) and had to learn to cook my own food. My mom even bought me a vegan cook book. EVERY SINGLE recipe I tried turned out horribly, except for one bread recipe that I still make. Talk about discouraging- I made probably 10 recipes and they were all terrible other than that 1! I won’t even tell you what they were. Even the vegetable broth was awful. Thankfully, I got a couple of vegan cook books that were a little better and was able to turn out some reasonable things after that, but yeah. I understand 🙂
Christy, I love the way you write. It sounds just like Mama….except she can’t cook to save her life – bless her heart. 😉
I taught myself to cook when I was a teenager – and I do pretty well, thank you…and then I married a man whose last name is, well, COOK! How ironic…and now I sell gourmet food mixes…the irony just continues.
My son told me that last time I made fried okra that is was good, but not as good as my stepmother makes it (BJ who lives in GA). I’m going to wow my teenage son with your recipe.
I made fried okra last night! It was great, I’ve never had okra cooked that way before. My mum cooks okra and I have eaten it since I was a kid but she cooks it in a totally different way (it does turn out a little slimey, but don’t tell her I said that!).
I had been wanting to try fried okra for the longest time but I only ever see it sold frozen and I didn’t think it would work with frozen. The last couple of weeks I saw fresh okra in the local market so I bought some.
I had to substitute polenta for cornmeal, but it was yummy! Mine turned out looking like yours, I am so glad because I saw another recipe online and the fried okra was completely coated in the cornmeal and I was thinking I had done it wrong.