I absolutely love making my crispy fried green tomatoes with a tangy buttermilk batter. I spent hours testing different versions until I found the perfect recipe. The crispy batter fried onto each slice creates a perfectly crunchy crust. The inside is juicy and the ultimate bite of Summer. These tomatoes are a standout dish that always impresses at any meal!
“TOWANDA!” Have you ever seen the 1991 movie, “Fried Green Tomatoes”? If you’ve never seen it, you need to run to the grocery store (or outside to your own garden), gather up some plump green tomatoes, and put this recipe into action. It’s time to plan a movie night with your best girlfriends! It’s one of my favorites— and so is this recipe.
What Are Fried Green Tomatoes?
Fried green tomatoes are just what they sound like— green (unripe) tomatoes coated in a crispy breading and fried to golden perfection! Green tomatoes have a tart flavor and a firmer texture than fully-ripe tomatoes. I made these for Easter Brunch and have made them quite a few times since.
The fry mix really clings to these tomatoes thanks to the initial flour step and the tangy, rich, sticky, and creamy buttermilk egg dredge. The result is a perfect, crisp crust on each and every slice of green tomato. The batter is thick enough to stand up to the thick cuts of tangy green tomato, making these a true showstopper at Sunday Supper. They. Are. Perfect.
Ingredients
Here’s what you’ll need to make fried green tomatoes:
- Green Tomatoes: These underripe tomatoes can be found at farmers’ markets and the grocery store in early springtime and towards the end of tomato season. If you grow your own tomatoes, don’t be afraid to pluck a few before they ripen!
- All-Purpose Flour: Helps seal in the moisture of each tomato slice and helps bind the egg and buttermilk to the tomatoes.
- Cornmeal: Adds a delightful crunch and a slightly sweet flavor. This gives the tomatoes a perfect texture!
- BBQ Rub Powder: If you can’t find BBQ seasoning, you can skip this and save a little money, but it definitely adds great flavor and contributes to the beautiful color once fried!
- Salt and Pepper: Enhances the natural flavor of the tomatoes.
- Eggs and Buttermilk: Form a culinary glue to help the seasoned cornmeal stick to the tomatoes.
- Canola Oil: Helps the tomatoes fry up crispy and golden brown.
Can I Fry Red Tomatoes?
In my experience, red tomatoes are usually too juicy for frying. They have a softer texture and are too wet for the breading to really stick properly. Underripe green tomatoes are the best choice for this recipe.
Tips and Suggestions
- I like to slice off just a sliver from the end of each tomato where the rounded bottom and stem are, so I can use as much of the tomato as possible. Doing this ensures there’s enough of the moist inner part of the tomato surface exposed for all of the yummy ingredients to stick to.
- Using just cornmeal to coat these tomatoes caused the breading to fall off, so I mixed in flour to help bind everything together. The method in this recipe yields a perfect fried crust that covers the tomatoes completely!
- You can flip the tomatoes as many times as you need to while frying, but I recommend babysitting them a bit! If you burn one batch, the next batch will have a burnt flavor, too. I like mine a little darker in color, but no one likes them burnt! If you watch the film, you’ll see Ruth would agree. ;) Flipping them too often can sometimes make the breading fall off. Just keep an eye on them!
- Fried treats are yummy in moderation, but leftover cooking oil is no fun! I found some great tips on using leftover fry oil that I thought you might enjoy.
Serving Suggestions
Fried Green Tomatoes can be served on their own (trust me, they are THAT good) or with our sriracha pimento cheese, crumbled goat’s cheese, homemade ranch dressing or BBQ sauce. (As Sipsey would say, “The secret’s in the sauce!”)
They’re also great to jazz up a classic BLT or can be served in a salad over a bed of mixed greens or arugula.
Fried Green Tomatoes
Servings 5 (3 slices each)Ingredients
- 4 large green tomatoes, cut into 1/3-inch slices ($3.49)
- 1/2 cup all-purpose flour, divided ($0.07)
- 1/2 cup cornmeal ($0.38)
- 1 Tbsp BBQ rub powder, optional ($0.69 )
- 1 tsp salt, divided ($0.02)
- 1/2 tsp black pepper ($0.03)
- 1/2 cup buttermilk ($0.32)
- 2 eggs ($0.34)
- 1 1/3 cups canola oil* ($1.23)
Instructions
- Cut the tomatoes into 1/3-inch slices horizontally, discarding the end with the stem and the very bottom which is smooth.
- Combine 1/4 cup flour, 1/2 cup cornmeal, 1 Tbsp BBQ seasoning powder, and 1/2 tsp salt in one small bowl. Whisk to combine.
- In another small bowl, pour in the remaining 1/4 cup flour by itself.
- In a third bowl, whisk together the eggs and buttermilk.
- In an assembly line fashion, dip your cut tomatoes into the flour, then the buttermilk egg mixture, and finally the cornmeal BBQ seasoning mixture. Place each slice of tomato off to the side and continue this assembly line process until all tomatoes have been dredged in this magical trio!
- Once your tomatoes are dredged and off to the side, heat up the canola oil in a thick bottom pan on high heat until it is very hot! (Take a droplet of water on your finger and drip it into the pan. Once it lands, if it pops and hisses, it’s ready to fry the tomatoes!)
- Gently place 3-4 tomatoes (depending on the size of your frying pan) into the hot oil using a spatula. Let the tomatoes fry in the shallow oil for 2-3 minutes. Flip and fry the other side for around the same time, sometimes a minute longer.
- Remove tomatoes as they are done to a paper towel lined plate or cooling rack so they aren’t sitting in any excess oil.
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Equipment
Notes
Nutrition
how to make Fried Green Tomatoes – step by step photos
Cut 4 large green tomatoes into 1/3-inch slices horizontally, discarding the end with the stem and the very bottom which is smooth.
Combine 1/4 cup flour, 1/2 cup cornmeal, 1 Tbsp BBQ seasoning powder, and 1/2 tsp salt in one small bowl. Whisk to combine. In another small bowl, pour in the remaining 1/4 cup flour by itself.
In a third bowl, whisk together 2 eggs and 1/2 cup buttermilk.
In an assembly line fashion, dip your cut tomatoes into the flour, then the buttermilk egg mixture, and finally the cornmeal BBQ seasoning mixture. Place each slice of tomato off to the side and continue this assembly line process until all tomatoes have been dredged in this magical trio!
Once your tomatoes are dredged and off to the side, heat up 1 1/3 cups canola oil in a thick bottom pan on high heat until it is very hot! (Take a droplet of water on your finger and drip it into the pan. Once it lands, if it pops and hisses, it’s ready to fry the tomatoes!)
Gently place 3-4 tomatoes (depending on the size of your frying pan) into the hot oil using a spatula. Let the tomatoes fry in the shallow oil for 2-3 minutes. Flip and fry the other side for around the same time, sometimes a minute longer.
Remove tomatoes as they are done to a paper towel-lined plate or cooling rack so they aren’t sitting in any excess oil.
These crispy, crunchy fried green tomatoes are the perfect summer appetizer!
Just wondering if these could be air fried instead of fried and taste the same? Like your eggplant Parmesan recipe….
Hi, Susan! I actually tested an air fryer recipe for these simultaneously when I was perfecting this one. They came out good, but I found the fry texture and the color to be inconsistent. You can definitely try it out!
I just finished listening to the book Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Cafe by Fannie Flagg when this recipe came to my inbox. Once my tomatoes get a little bigger, then I will be trying this recipe. They look delicious and I can just imagine Big George cooking these up for the customers at the cafe. Thank you for posting!!
Cat, this is the best comment. Haha! I loved the book and the movie, too. This recipe does not disappoint. I hope you love it!
Does anyone have suggestions where to find green tomatoes? My grocery store does not carry them and I would love to drive this!
You could check your local farmers market. You can ask a farmer to pick some early if you’re willing to preorder— or try a neighbor who grows tomatoes! Depending on where you live, you may see them pop up at the grocery store throughout the season. Sometimes you can ask the produce manager to bring some different items in, too. I hope you find some! These are yummy!
I love these, but, sadly, have never once seen them for sale in my community–not even in the farmers’ markets. Your recipe is the one I always use, minus the BBQ powder and using milk instead of buttermilk, which I plan to try next time I find a green one. I’ve always used a very small addition of cayenne, but there’s plenty of BBQ rub in my house and plenty more recipes for it. I think some restaurants that have fried green tomatoes on the menu have gardens–I just have deer, so no joy. Fried green tomatoes, in my life, have always been an end of season treat. You know the one–harvest every tomato in sight before the frost hits and store them spread out on newspapers in a cool dark place where they will slowly ripen. I have, however, fried hard underripe roma tomatoes from my supermarket to pretty good success. They lack the tart deliciousness of a green tomato, but are firm enough to fry and still taste darn good. You are right about the fragility and moisture content of a ripe tomato.
A couple of additional comments–this recipe doesn’t use a batter, but standard “breading” technique. Also, these fried green tomatoes make spectacular BLT sandwiches. Additionally, don’t ever purchase frozen fried green tomatoes–they are dreadful! Believe me, I tried some of those.
Oooh. I’ve never seen them available frozen before. Frozen would surely change the texture. They are really common to see in the grocery store this time of year here in Tennessee. I hope you can find some!