The best fried green tomatoes recipe using garden green tomatoes! This Southern inspired recipe makes flavorful green tomatoes that are crispy on the outside but melt in your mouth in the inside! You’ll love the crunchy tasty coating that doesn’t fall off too!
The BEST Fried Green Tomatoes
Do you have an abundance of green tomatoes in the garden? I love them! You need to make these fried green tomatoes! (And then you need to can some green tomato relish and make green tomato salsa too!)
These fried green tomatoes are crispy and crunchy on the outside (just like zucchini fritters!), but inside they taste creamy and smooth. You’ll love them so much you might start being excited for all those green beefsteak and roma tomatoes you have left on the vine every year!
Enjoy this perfect fried green tomatoes recipe!
What are green tomatoes?
Green tomatoes are tomatoes that haven’t turned red yet, most likely because it’s the end of the season. Because they are unripe, they don’t have much water content inside which makes them perfect for frying.
How to Make Fried Green Tomatoes
Slice tomatoes into 1/2 inch thick slices. Some people discard the ends but I like to fry them up too. No piece of a tomato goes to waste for me!
You’ll have 3 bowls ready to go to dip the tomatoes in: 1) flour, salt and pepper. 2) buttermilk 3) cornmeal, salt, garlic powder, paprika and parsley.
Dip each tomato slice into each bowl to coat them. First the flour, then the buttermilk and then the cornmeal mixture.
I like to coat them on the light side, so you can still see pieces of the green tomatoes through the coating. This makes them extra crispy and not taste so heavy.
Heat vegetable oil up in a skillet or saucepan. You’ll want the oil to be about 1/2 inch deep so use the amount that equals that, probably about 3-4 cups.
Brown the green tomatoes on both sides until crispy.
Place on paper towels to remove excess oil.
Serve and enjoy these yummy fried green tomatoes warm!
How to Serve
You can serve green tomatoes as is, on a fried green tomato sandwich, or along with a dipping sauce! Lots of people love them served with a creamy ranch or cajun dressing, honey mustard or sweet chili sauce.
They make an amazing appetizer or snack, but I also love them plain on a bed of greens for an end of garden season meal.
For a yummy cajun ranch dipping sauce mix 1/2 cup ranch dressing, 1 teaspoon dried oregano, 1 teaspoon paprika, 1 teaspoon cayenne pepper and 1 teaspoon black pepper together. Add 1-2 drops of hot sauce for extra spice.
Recipe Tweaks
- Don’t have buttermilk? Make homemade buttermilk (it’s so easy) or just use whole milk instead.
- Looking for vegan fried tomatoes recipe? This is pretty easy because the recipe already doesn’t use eggs. Instead of buttermilk use almond milk.
- Don’t have cornmeal? Use plain bread crumbs (like progresso) or panko instead.
- Need gluten free alternative? Use gluten-free rice flour instead.
How to Store Leftovers
Green tomatoes are the best when they’re hot and just made, but if you have leftovers, you can store them in the refrigerator for 2 days. I would recommend heating them up in a skillet with a little bit of olive oil to crisp them up again.
Pin for later:
Crispy Fried Green Tomatoes
PrintIngredients
- 4 large green tomatoes cut into 1/2 inch thick slices
- 1 cup all-purpose flour
- 2 teaspoons salt divided
- 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
- 1 cup buttermilk
- 1 cup cornmeal
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1 teaspoon paprika
- 1/2 dried parsley
- 3-4 cups vegetable oil (depends on skillet size)
Instructions
- Slice tomatoes into 1/2 inch thick slices. Some people discard the ends but I like to fry them up too.
- In a shallow bowl mix flour, 1 teaspoon salt and pepper together. Add buttermilk into another shallow bowl. In a 3rd bowl mix cornmeal, 1 teaspoon salt, garlic powder, paprika and parsley together.
- Dip each tomato slice first into the flour mixture to coat both sides, and then dip in buttermilk and then dip in cornmeal mixture to coat. I like to have the coating on the light side, so you can still see pieces of the green tomatoes through the coating. Place tomatoes on a baking sheet or wire rack to sit until you’re ready for them.
- In a large skillet or frying pan, pour vegetable oil in so it's about 1/2 inch deep and heat over medium heat. Once oil is heated up, carefully place tomatoes in the skillet. You'll want to do this in batches so the tomatoes aren't overcrowded.
- Brown the one side of the tomatoes, and then flip and fry the other side. Immediately remove from the skillet and move them to a baking sheet that’s been lined with paper towels to remove excess oil.
- Serve warm and enjoy!
Cathi M. says
I made this recipe last night. I didn’t have buttermilk, so I tried the buttermilk hack. It never thickened for me, so I won’t use it again. I did add 2 eggs to the milk/vinegar mixture and did a double dip in the flour before dipping the tomato in panko as my husband didn’t want the cornmeal. We all loved the crispness of these tomatoes. They were delicious and my husband told me to keep this recipe. Next time I will make sure to have actual buttermilk on hand!
Julie says
It’s by far the best fried green tomato recipe I’ve ever made or tasted including at a restaurant! Thank you! Very cool garden too!
Pamela Reed says
So happy to hear you liked the fried green tomatoes Julie! Thanks for stopping by!