Have you ever eaten fried green tomatoes?

Fried green tomatoes are in season!

It seems that every fall, without fail, you will end up with a certain amount of green tomatoes. That is, assuming you have a tomato plant or two growing in your garden.

If you have yet to find sufficient space to grow tomatoes at home, you will find that green tomatoes can be purchased for next to little money at the market. So if you don’t have enough green tomatoes, someone else does.

What to do with so many unripe tomatoes?

Therefore, here are twenty recipes to get you started.

Instead, you may attempt to speed up the ripening of your green tomatoes, or you can accept them as they are.

If you give green tomatoes a chance, they may be really filling. They’re not as sour or as harsh as one may think. In fact, they are tasty in ways that your tongue may struggle to fathom.

Delicious green tomatoes sprinkled with cornmeal, among other things!

Just cook them until they are delectably juicy on the inside and wonderfully crunchy and crispy on the exterior. That brings us to our favorite method to prepare them: fried green tomatoes. That’s all I had for lunch today.

If you want to try anything other than fried green tomatoes, go through our selection of 20 green tomato recipes for utilizing unripe tomatoes to discover the appropriate one for you.

For the time being, prepare your cast iron skillet, gather a few green tomatoes, and let’s get started!

Ingredients you’ll need

Fried green tomatoes may be made in a variety of ways. Served with or without buttermilk. Cornmeal-coated or dredged in plain flour and egg.

In our kitchen, we usually make do with what we have on hand. Life is more fun that way, without stressing whether you have enough ingredients to make a dish.

Therefore, if you need to cook fried green tomatoes quickly, here’s what you’ll need:

• 4-5 medium-sized green tomatoes that are still firm to the touch
• 1 cup flour
• 2 large eggs
• 1 cup cornmeal
• salt, to taste
• lard or vegetable oil for frying in

Try some dried marjoram (or other green spice) mixed with a cup of water buffalo yogurt, or any full-fat yogurt of your choice, to produce the simplest of dipping sauces.

How to make fried green tomatoes

When you’ve gathered your supplies, start laying out your flour, egg, and cornmeal.

Yeah, it can be a shambles. Depending on who is preparing the food. And you may go through more dishes than you care to wash, but trust me, every bite is worth it.

1. Wash and cut your tomatoes into thick slices, no thicker than 1/4-inch and no thicker than 1/2-inch.
2. In your favorite thick-bottomed pan, heat a generous amount of lard or vegetable oil over medium heat.
3. In the meantime, set flour aside in a small bowl or plate. On another dish, whisk the eggs, and in the third, place the cornmeal.
4. Dip the tomato slices in flour first, then in the egg mixture, and last in the cornmeal. Make sure the last layer is nice and thick for a spectacular crunch.
5. Once the lard/oil is hot, place the coated tomatoes one by one into the hot fat and fry until they are golden brown. If they cook too fast, they will be crunchy inside and out. Therefore, take your time. Cook them slowly enough on the first side, around 3 minutes before flipping.
6. After frying, set them on a wire rack to cool.

Be careful to serve the fried green tomatoes before they totally cool.

Dip them in sauce and marvel at what a green tomato can do.

Whatever you do, don’t discard the “unused” ends of the green tomatoes. You know, the ones with uneven slices.

Instead, chop them up into bite-sized pieces and fry them in a skillet with some more cornmeal. After the tomatoes have softened sufficiently, whisk some eggs and scramble everything together.

Add some bacon and you have a breakfast fit for a gardener. To anybody who needs a good lunch to get their day started.

How to keep fried green tomatoes crispy for longer?

If you are frying up a large batch of fried green tomatoes for a crowd (or a dinner party) the last thing you want to happen is to serve soggy green tomatoes. Nobody like soggy fried meals.

Fried green tomatoes are delicious at room temperature, but they are much better when slightly heated.

For that crisp and hot combo, simply set your oven to 250 °F and place the fried green tomatoes on a cooling rack. After you’ve finished frying the final batch, serve.

Which brings us to another tip.

Don’t overcrowd the tomatoes. Give them plenty of space in the frying pan.

And whatever you do, do not set them on and soak up the grease with paper towels. This may also cause them to get wet.

Also be aware, this fried green tomato recipe does not apply to green heirloom tomato varieties. Unripe tomatoes have a brighter future ahead of them.

How are you going to eat your fried green tomatoes?

For breakfast or lunch?

As an appetizer or the main attraction of a meal?

With dip or a remoulade sauce?

The next time life offers you lemons, uh, green tomatoes, fry them up. It may not change your life, but it will shift the way you think about underripe tomatoes and food waste in general.

If fried green tomatoes aren’t your thing, try this zingy green tomato salsa instead.

Ingredients

• 4-5 medium-sized green tomatoes that are still firm to the touch
• 1 cup flour
• 2 large eggs
• 1 cup cornmeal
• salt, to taste
• lard or vegetable oil

Instructions

1. Wash and cut your tomatoes into thick slices, no thicker than 1/4-inch and no thicker than 1/2-inch.
2. In your favorite thick-bottomed pan, heat a generous amount of lard or vegetable oil over medium heat.
3. Meanwhile, place the flour in a small basin or plate. Whisk eggs in another, and use the third plate for cornmeal.
4. Dip the tomato slices in flour first, then in the egg mixture, and last in the cornmeal. Make sure the last layer is nice and thick for a spectacular crunch.
5. When the lard/oil is heated, drop the coated tomatoes in one at a time and fry till golden brown. If you cook them too quickly, they will be crispy on the inside and out. Therefore, take your time. Cook them slowly enough, about 3 minutes on the first side, before flipping.
6. After frying, set them on a wire rack to cool.

Related Questions

• Is it OK to eat fried green tomatoes?

  Green tomatoes are safe to consume whether cooked or raw.

• What’s the famous line from fried green tomatoes?

  “You know, a heart may be shattered, yet it continues to beat.”

• What does a fried green tomato taste like?

  The crispy, crunchy coating complements the somewhat sour (but not in a negative manner) and acidic taste of the green tomatoes. The acidic green tomatoes mellow out when cooked and the firm to the point of being crunchy texture softens but doesn’t turn to mush.

• What is so special about fried green tomatoes?

  Yet there was something special about this dish—the mix of firm-fleshed tomato with crispy cornmeal covering, the subtle sharpness of the unripe fruit matching the oiliness of the surface.