Fried Green Tomatoes
I was meandering through a Farmers Market last weekend and I was seriously on the hunt for something different. Something I’ve not had in awhile or something truly new to me. I came across a few things but honestly one that caught my eye was just simply a basket of under ripe green tomatoes. In the south eastern part of the United States, fried green tomatoes are a very popular food. Now I don’t have a deep fryer at my boyfriends house which is where I was going to be cooking, but I thought I would really like to try a tomato like this. I am a fan of any other tomato, so why shouldn’t I like a green one? As I understand it, green tomatoes are not a type necessarily. The farmer told me that his green tomatoes were simply just picked before they were ripe. They have a different more firm texture which makes them easily stand up to cooking.
I created a super simple breading and I fried the tomato, but I did not deep fry it. 
I used canola oil at a medium high temp to get a crispy crust on the tomato and then I plopped the thick slices on a baking sheet and finished them in the oven. The extra baking in the oven softens the tomato but does not really soften the crust. Fried green tomatoes are my new favorite food. They are really delicious. I think I would like to experiment more with this recipe though and I’m confident that August will be a good time to do that. I have read a few recipes that use corn meal for a batter. I’m going to try that next. I didn’t care to spend time in the grocery store wading through varieties of batter or bread crumbs yesterday. I literally just used what I had on hand at home already which was AP flour, eggs and crackers.
The finished product was really good. It was a nice texture and the flavor was not overly sweet or salty.
You’re really going to love this recipe and this summer is a perfect time to try it. Enjoy!
Fried Green Tomatoes
A sweet green tomato covered in a crispy crust.
Ingredients
- 1 each large green tomato
- 3/4 cup all purpose flour
- 1 each egg
- 1 cup breadcrumbs or light cracker crumbs
- 1 Tablespoon kosher salt
- 1 1/2 tsp black pepper
Instructions
-
Start by slicing a green tomato into 4-6 thick slices and set them aside. In a small bowl, whisk the egg. Turn your oven on to preheat at 350 degrees and lay out a baking sheet pan covered with either foil or baking parchment paper.
-
Lay out three separate medium size plates. Put the flour in the first plate and add half of the salt and all of the pepper. In the second plate, add the whisked egg. In the third plate, add the breadcrumbs or cracker crumbs.
-
Add the oil to a saute pan and heat on medium heat. While the oil is heating, take turns coating the tomatoes into first the flour, then the egg and last the breadcrumbs. Lay out the coated slices onto the sheet pan.
-
After all the tomato slices are coated, turn the heat up on the oil to medium high and then carefully, by using tongs, add 2 to 3 slices at a time into the oil and cook for 2 to 3 minutes on each side or until the tomato has a bit of a golden brown crust. Lay each slice onto the baking sheet.
-
After all of the slices have been cooked in the oil, put the baking sheet into the oven for 7 minutes to soften the tomatoes completely. After the tomatoes come out of the oven, sprinkle on the rest of the kosher salt on to the tomatoes and let them cool for a few minutes before eating them. Enjoy!
The information and images used in this blog post are my own. Please do not use them without permission. The post may contain affiliate links which help sustain this blog.
