Fried Green Tomatoes

Fried Green Tomatoes are a classic Southern side dish, made using unripe tomatoes. Battered and fried, they're served with ranch dressing or remoulade sauce for dipping.

Update: This post was originally shared in January 2016. In January 2021 it was republished with new photos and an improved recipe.

All of the fresh produce in the summer makes me so happy. Corn, peaches, cherries, cucumber, zucchini and tomatoes make a rotation into our meals at least once a week.

Marylander's are a tad bit snobby when it comes to our tomatoes. There is just something about a locally grown Maryland tomato that tastes so much better than anything you can buy from the grocery store. Does every state feel this way about their local produce?

For years "Fried Green Tomatoes" was nothing more than the title of a movie to me, but once I tried them, that changed. If you're impatiently waiting for some tomatoes to ripen, why not skip the wait and fry them up instead?

So what are fried green tomatoes anyway?

A fried green tomato is just an unripe tomato that has been battered and fried. They're a popular dish in the southern states, most notably Georgia where the movie was filmed and the Whistle Stop Cafe exists.

As for taste, they are really mild. A ripe tomato is going to be juicy and bursting with flavor. An unripe tomato would instead be firmer with less developed flavor, which allows them to handle the heat of being fried. If you've ever had pickles or zucchini that has been fried in a cornmeal batter, the texture is pretty similar.

What dipping sauce do you use?

Ranch dressing is commonly served as a dipping sauce for fried green tomatoes, but remoulade is a close second. Remoulade is a French style sauce that can be pretty spicy depending on how you make it. As the tomatoes are pretty bland on their own, you're going to want a dressing or sauce that packs a punch of flavor and pairs well with the tomatoes.

Can you reheat them?

Surprisingly, yes! You can reheat them in a skillet, in the toaster oven or in the air fryer. But first, let's talk about how to store them after they're fried. Drain all excess oil on a paper towel directly after frying. Once completely cooled, transfer to a container with a lid. They'll keep in the fridge for 2-3 days.

Ingredients for this recipe

• green, unripe tomatoes - as you can see from the pictures, mine started to ripen a little (they were fully green 12 hours before making this!) They still taste delicious, but a fully green tomato is a classic "fried green tomato"
• all purpose flour - you could probably replace this with half whole wheat flour but I have not tried it
• yellow cornmeal - you can use white, but I always pick up yellow. I think it's prettier
• breadcrumbs - any kind will do, you just want them to be on the finer side
• salt and pepper
• egg - I only buy large eggs
• milk - I used 2% for this recipe, but you can use whole milk or even buttermilk
• canola oil, for frying - I had canola oil on hand, but you can use vegetable oil instead

how to make fried green tomatoes

1. Rinse the tomatoes in water and pat them dry with a paper towel, then cut into ½ inch slices.
2. Gather 3 shallow dishes. In the first one, combine flour and salt. In the second one, whisk together the egg and milk and in the third one, combine cornmeal, breadcrumbs, salt and pepper.
3. Dip tomato slices into the flour, followed by the egg mixture and then into the breadcrumb mixture, shaking off any excess at each step.
4. Heat canola oil in a cast iron or heavy bottomed skillet over medium high heat.
5. Fry no more than 4 tomatoes at a time, cooking 2-3 minutes on each side or until they are a golden brown color.
6. Drain on paper towels.

how to serve

• with ranch dressing or remoulade sauce (a must!)
• alongside fried chicken, fish or crab cakes
• put on a BLT, po boy or grilled cheese sandwich
• as the star of eggs benedict

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