Fried Green Tomatoes – Tips & Recipe

Fried tomatoes are all mine at our house!  R. just can’t wrap his head around this dish.  I do siip some chopped green tomatoes into stir fry when I can, but if the chunks are big enough to recognize, he will pick them out!

 The earliest references to fried green tomatoes seem to come from the early 20th century.  The movie “Fried Green Tomatoes” (1991) may have stimulated the dish’s appearance on menus.  I have enjoyed them since childhood (that’s not as long as they’ve been around, but definitely longer than the movie has been available and influential. . 

My mom fixed us a mess of fried green tomatoes often during the summer season. She used really GREEN tomatoes which I liked just fine.  As time goes on, I like to get that ‘mater just as it is beginning to turn yellow. 

Tomatoes that are barely ripening have a lemony flavor, just a bit sweeter than the very green fruit.  Be fairly warned, the slices can be a little more messy to cook.  

I avoid extra batter, simply dredging the slices in seasoned flour. Then, because I don’t like burns from grease spatter, I gently place into shallow hot fat in a cast iron skillet! Not ‘deep frying’, but enough to prevent sticking. The sugars in the tomatoes can get ‘sticky.’ Turn the heat to medium.

Patience Is the Key Virtue

Patience is key. The skillet and fat should be hot, but then turn the temperature down to medium. When you have arranged the tomato slices in the skillet, find something else to do in the kitchen for at least one minute, preferably two minutes. Be watchful, but don’t be flipping the slices! 

Now, keep your spatula and fork to yourself! Don’t turn the slices for at least a minute! It is difficult to leave them alone to let them set up. But, if you can wait, you get the most delightful browning and brown bits when you flip the slices.

For delicious, just gather the good stuff

• Essentials:
• Green Tomatoes
• Flour
• Hot Fat
• Cast Iron Skillet
• Patience

Green (unripe) tomatoes, which have been sliced, leaving the peels on. Dredge the slices in flour only, plus a little salt and pepper, but no other breading. For fats, I like to use coconut oil or some of my home-rendered lard.  The cast iron skillet is the next essential item. I can’t imagine a decent fried tomato on any other surface. Biggest of all is PATIENCE.  

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Because of the light flour coating, the tomato slices will be delicate as they begin to cook. Leaving the first side in the fat for three to four minutes or till you just KNOW the time is right, will help keep the slice in one piece.  The cooked slices will be very tender. It is easier to keep the slice together when I leave the peel in place.

The slices are VERY tender. The tenderness should not be perceived as soggy.

IMO

Serving Tips for the Green Tomatoes

Eat ‘em while they are hot enough to sue the cook!  I don’t let a good slice get away from me, but the colder slices are not as good as the ones that are almost too hot to have in my mouth! 

Serve with a steak knife to get through the peel.  That darn peel will be stubborn when you try to make a slice into more than one bite.  It is a big help in controlling the tomato ‘meat’ and juices. You can pour boiling water over a green tomato and get the peel to lift as you can with a ripe tomato. But, again, I feel the peel will help to contain the tomato ‘innards.’

Which Tomato Varieties are Best?

I like a ‘traditional’ shape — nice wide globe. I like using Early Girls although they are smaller. Better Boy beauties make delightful slices.  You want a medium to larger medium fruit. Too small won’t have good slices. Huge or misshapen tomatoes are harder to keep together.

Perfection being described, I’m here to tell you that if my mouth is set for a good fried tomato, I will cook whatever is available!  I recommend enjoying perfection if you have it in the garden, but don’t pass on an imperfect opportunity!

To Grow or Not to Grow

My traditional frying convictions have always supported using tomatoes that were grown in my garden.  FRESH, green tomatoes that were possibly destined to be blue ribbon material if permitted to stay in their natural environment to ripen. Instead, the green globe was ripped from the stem too early and abused into deliciousness!

I have never tried a tomato purchased from the market and supposedly ripe. I know that generally, ‘fresh tomatoes’ at the produce section are so close to cardboard as to make one believe in stealth GMO activity.  That describes a tomato that could decorate your salad. Not tasty at all. However, I don’t believe they truly are cardboard, only picked very green to accommodate shipping and storage. 

If you aren’t growing your own Grab one of these ‘fresh’ babies and give yourself a culinary treat.  Who knows, perhaps all salad eaters who have been avoiding the cardboard decor for their salad bowl may find a new way to enjoy ‘fresh’ tomatoes.  

Updated – September 02, 2019 — Fried Tomato Hack

Curiosity got the best of me! I purchased a small/medium size tomato at the market for THIRTY-FIVE cents! The slices are not green, but a pale red. Deep red color isn’t required to prove ripeness for some varieties.  All of the tomatoes in the display were pale, but so were many Early Girl tomatoes in my patch. The tomato feels ‘tender’ to the touch which tells me it’s getting too ripe to squeeze!

Floured and fried, the ‘store-bought-tomato’ is not the same as green fried tomatoes, but close enough if you don’t have a tomato patch where you can pick a green one.

Baked? Fried Green Tomatoes??

Some ‘fryers’ have developed a different process that doesn’t risk tearing the slice. Baking doesn’t lead to tearing nor does it contaminate the skillet with breading bits that will burn. Baked slices of tomato can fulfill that longing we all have for CRISP and CRUST — delicious breading. Baked ‘fried’ green tomatoes could be peeled before preparation because they will finish in the oven. No flipping is required.   

As noted earlier, unless the frying slices are handled with care, their tenderness can lead to their destruction. Presentation cannot be everything with fried green tomatoes. But, I like to recognize slices and the tomato ‘body of flesh’ along with those little seed sections. Patiently flipping skillet fried slices is a bit of art.

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Do you like Fried Green Tomatoes? Enjoy my recipe, but olease share your experiences and preferred methods in the comments!