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This fried green tomatoes recipe made with simple ingredients and brings the traditional taste of the South to your own home in a matter of minutes.
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This fried green tomatoes recipe brings the traditional taste of the South to your own home in a matter of minutes. Made with simple ingredients, using unripened tomatoes that are deliciously battered, fried, and perfectly crispy on the outside and tender in the middle.

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Gloriously Golden Fried Green Tomatoes

I may not be from the South, but once you try my version of fried green tomatoes, you will wonder why you’ve never tasted this southern classic.

We take slices of unripe green tomato, dredge them in a savory batter, and fry them to a golden crispy crunch, creating a heavenly thick crust around a soft, but not mushy, interior. Every bite is filled with an explosion of firm, fresh, and pleasantly tart green tomato inside with a crunchy perfectly seasoned crust.

Green tomatoes are a great sign that summer is soon ending and fall is on its way. This recipe is an easy must-make when cooler weather delivers an abundance of this produce. Green tomatoes have the perfect texture to coat and fry for your next best bite of tangy, tender tomato.

showing the inside of fried green tomatoes

Why We Love This Fried Green Tomatoes Recipe

  • Ready in under 20 minutes.
  • Easy to make and taste delicious every time.
  • Golden and crispy on the outside; tender in the middle.
  • Perfectly seasoned crunchy coating.
  • Serve them as an appetizer or side dish, a party snack, or make them the main attraction. 
  • Enjoy them in a variety of ways: dip them for snacking, stack them in a sandwich, top them on your favorite grilled food.
fried green tomatoes stacked on a plate

Ingredients / Shopping List

  • Green tomatoes
  • Vegetable oil: I find that vegetable oil works best for frying.
  • All-purpose flour: I recommend using regular all-purpose flour instead of heavier whole grain flours. All-purpose flour will keep the tomatoes light and crispy.
  • Buttermilk: Buttermilk adds a nice tang, but if milk is all you have, that will work too.
  • Egg
  • Hot sauce
  • Bread crumbs
  • Yellow cornmeal: Do not use a seasoned cornmeal for this recipe.
  • Lawry’s seasoning salt
  • White pepper
  • Garlic powder
fried green tomatoes dipped to ranch dressing

Substitutions and Additions

  • Breading: While this recipe uses the traditional cornmeal, breadcrumb, and flour coating, it is possible to coat your tomatoes in finely ground cracker crumbs or in a batter much like you’d use to fry fish.
  • Air Frying: Fried green tomatoes can absolutely be made in an air fryer instead of fried in oil. This is great if you are avoiding fried foods, but the air fried green tomatoes will not be as crispy as the traditional pan fried ones. Be sure to follow your air fryer instructions for this method.
  • Seasoning: If you want to make your own seasoning, you can use a combination of basil, oregano, rosemary, thyme, garlic powder, sage, or coriander.
  • Parmesan: Grated cheese will add nutty flavor to the crust.
  • Dips: Serve with your favorite dips for snacking. Some ideas include salsa, guacamole, bean dip, or ketchup. 
  • Add Some Heat: If you like a little spicy kick, you can increase the amount of hot sauce in your buttermilk mixture. You can also substitute 2 teaspoons of a creole seasoning blend instead of the other spices in your breadcrumb mixture.

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How to Make the Recipe

These fried green tomatoes are quick and easy to make. Crispy, crunchy coating on the outside; tangy, tender-but-not-mushy on the inside.

  1. Slice your tomatoes and remove any excess moisture with a paper towel.
    fried green tomatoes on top of paper towels
  2. Prepare your dredging station in 3 separate shallow dishes.
    • Dish 1: Add flour.
    • Dish 2: Whisk together buttermilk, eggs and hot sauce.
    • Dish 3: Combine bread crumbs, cornmeal, seasoning salt, garlic powder and pepper.
  3. Coat your first green tomato slice in flour, letting any excess fall back into the dish.
    fried green tomatoes dipped in the flour
  4. Dip flour-coated tomato into the buttermilk mixture.
    green tomatoes dipped in buttermilk mixture
  5. Dip the flour-buttermilk coated tomato in the bread crumb mixture and shake off any excess coating.
    green tomato dipped in breadcrumbs
  6. Set aside the coated tomato slice and repeat steps 3-5 until all green tomatoes are coated.
  7. Fry 3-4 tomatoes at a time in your preheated skillet until they are a golden brown color.
    Pro-Tip: It is best to use a thermometer so that you have an accurate reading of your oil temperature. You want to make sure your oil stays at 350°F. If you have an electric fryer, that will work great also.
    fried green tomatoes
  8. Place fried green tomatoes on a paper towel-lined plate to absorb excess oil.
  9. Repeat until all green tomatoes are fried and sprinkle hot fried green tomatoes with kosher salt. Enjoy!
    fried green tomatoes

Tips

  • It’s important to draw some of the juice from the tomato slices to help the breading adhere. Don’t skip the step of blotting with paper towels.
  • Choose green, firm tomatoes for the best result.
  • For the perfect crispy fried green tomato it is important to slice the tomato thin and evenly.
  • If you buy tomatoes for this recipe, make sure you’re actually buying unripe tomatoes, and not heirloom tomatoes that just happen to be green. Remember that all tomato varieties taste different, so that also goes for green tomatoes. Just try to find your favorite variety. A great place to find green tomatoes is at local farmers’ markets. 
  • These are best served immediately, but if you have some leftovers, try placing them under the broiler for a few minutes on each side until they crisp back up. They are tasty served warm or room temperature.
fried green tomatoes served with dipping sauce

Storage Tips

  • To Store: If you have any leftover you can store in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 2 days and heat until warm in an air fryer or skillet.
  • To Freeze: Instead of frying your green tomatoes, lay them out on a baking tray and freeze. Once hardened, transfer the breaded green tomato slices to a Ziplock bag. When you are ready to fry the tomatoes, simply remove and fry–there’s no need to thaw them first.
fried green tomatoes stacked

Frequently Asked Questions

Why green tomatoes?

The green tomatoes used in this recipe are unripe tomatoes. Unripe tomatoes are firmer and less juicy than their ripe counterparts. They are also tangier and milder in flavor, perfect for this batter-fried treatment.

Are Fried Green Tomatoes just unripe tomatoes?

Tomatoes used to make fried green tomatoes are tomatoes that are cut from the vine before they have matured and ripened nice and red. Unripened tomatoes are firmer and will hold up better when fried.

How do I serve fried green tomatoes?

There are so many ways to serve fried green tomatoes. Serve them as an appetizer with a simple side of ranch dipping sauce, order a plate of these gems stacked high, or try them as an addition to a favorite dish. Top a burger, serve with shrimp Remoulade, toss in a salad, or slice and serve with mozzarella and basil. They also make a fantastic BLT sandwich. You will just substitute your sliced red tomatoes for these fried green tomatoes.

Is it safe to eat fried green tomatoes?

Just like a cooked red tomato, green tomatoes are perfectly safe to eat and have a long history rooted in Southern tradition.

Why are my fried green tomatoes soggy?

If the oil is not hot enough, you end up with soggy-crusted, limp green tomatoes. If the oil is too hot, the outside will brown too quickly and your tomatoes won’t be cooked all the way through. Keep your oil level shallow – you don’t want to completely submerge the slices in the oil.

fried green tomatoes lined up on long plates

Other Easy Classic Recipes

5 from 1 vote
fried green tomatoes featured image

Fried Green Tomatoes

Serves — 14
This fried green tomatoes recipe made with simple ingredients and brings the traditional taste of the South to your own home in a matter of minutes.
Prep Time 15 minutes
Fry time (per batch) 2 minutes
Total Time 17 minutes

Ingredients
  

  • 3 Green tomatoes sliced
  • Vegetable oil for frying you will need enough oil to come up about 1½ inches in your skillet
  • 1 cup all-purpose flour
  • cups buttermilk
  • 1 egg
  • 6 dashes hot sauce
  • 1 cup regular bread crumbs
  • ½ cup yellow cornmeal
  • 1 tsp Lawry’s seasoning salt
  • ½ tsp white pepper
  • ½ tsp garlic powder
  • kosher salt for garnish after frying

Instructions
 

  • In a heavy-duty skillet that is at least 3 inches deep, heat your oil to 350°F. It is best to use a thermometer so that you have an accurate reading of your oil temperature. *If you have an electric fryer, that will work great also.*
  • Prepare a clean plate with paper towels to place tomatoes on once fried and set aside.
  • Slice your tomatoes into ¼ inch thick slices and lay them on a plate lined with paper towels. Once all of your tomatoes are sliced, place another paper towel on top of them and blot away as much excess moisture as possible.
  • Set up your dredging station by setting out 3 shallow dishes (about 2 inches deep). Pie plates work great for this.
  • In the first dish, place your flour.
  • In the second dish, place your buttermilk, eggs and hot sauce. Whisk them together.
  • In the third dish, place the bread crumbs, cornmeal, seasoning salt, garlic powder and pepper. Mix them together until they are evenly combined.
  • You will start dredging your green tomato slices by first evenly coating them in the flour. You will want to carefully shake off any excess flour back into the dish.
  • Next, dip your flour-coated green tomato into the buttermilk mixture again, allowing any excess buttermilk to drip off back into the dish.
  • Finally, you will place your buttermilk-coated green tomato into the last dish with the breadcrumb mixture. Make sure all sides are evenly coated, and any excess mixture is gently shaken off back into the dish.
  • Gently place your coated green tomato slice onto a clean plate and repeat this process until all of your green tomatoes are ready to be fried.
  • Carefully place 3-4 tomatoes into the hot oil and allow them to fry for 2 minutes or until a beautiful golden brown. Make sure to not overcrowd your skillet and keep an eye on your oil temperature. You want to make sure your oil stays at 350°F.
  • Remove the fried green tomatoes and place them onto the prepared plate to absorb excess oil. Repeat this process until all the green tomatoes are fried. At this point, you can sprinkle a small pinch of kosher salt onto the hot fried tomatoes.

Jenn’s Notes

Storage:
To Store: If you have any leftover you can store in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 2 days and heat until warm in an air fryer or skillet.
To Freeze: Instead of frying your green tomatoes, lay them out on a baking tray and freeze. Once hardened, transfer the breaded green tomato slices to a Ziplock bag. When you are ready to fry the tomatoes, simply remove and fry–there’s no need to thaw them first.
Tips: 
  • It’s important to draw some of the juice from the tomato slices to help the breading adhere. Don’t skip the step of blotting with paper towels.
  • Choose green, firm tomatoes for the best result.
  • For the perfect crispy fried green tomato it is important to slice the tomato thin and evenly.
  • If you buy tomatoes for this recipe, make sure you’re actually buying unripe tomatoes, and not heirloom tomatoes that just happen to be green. Remember that all tomato varieties taste different, so that also goes for green tomatoes. Just try to find your favorite variety. A great place to find green tomatoes is at local farmers’ markets.
  • These are best served immediately, but if you have some leftovers, try placing them under the broiler for a few minutes on each side until they crisp back up. They are tasty served warm or room temperature.

Nutrition Info

Calories: 112kcal | Carbohydrates: 19g | Protein: 4g | Fat: 2g | Saturated Fat: 1g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 1g | Monounsaturated Fat: 1g | Trans Fat: 1g | Cholesterol: 15mg | Sodium: 259mg | Potassium: 137mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 3g | Vitamin A: 229IU | Vitamin C: 6mg | Calcium: 51mg | Iron: 1mg

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  1. Thank You For Sharing JEN 👍🏼♥️ G-d♥️Bless😊GREAT TIME of Year to MAKE THIS FOR SURE ❗️❗️❗️