How do I make fried green tomatoes, and should I?

People I’ve known tend to think of them as an acquired taste. As to should you try the, sure, try it and see if you like it. If you’re really concerned just microwave till warm a slice of green tomato with a little salt and take a bite – it’ll end up something similar to that flavor-wise, but better.

I like them and I make ‘em pretty simple.

Heat olive oil over medium heat, and a little chopped garlic till fragrant, and just barely starting to brown.
Remove garlic, increase heat, add thick sliced tomato (skinned if you prefer, salt and pepper to taste) until starting to brown on both sides (texture is up to you, if you want mushy don’t worry about browning, just lower the heat and cook longer).
Remove tomato, top with fried garlic and eat or add optional munster (or other gooey cheese) an stick right under a hot broiler to melt.

People often bread them with panko, put them on sandwiches, eat them with eggs, ham, hot sauce, the list goes on.

I think they are delicious.

First, I would bring in some of your ripest tomatoes and place them in a sunny windowsill. They will ripen.

Next, for the fried green tomatoes, you need a batter. Flour or a mix of flour and cornmeal, a touch of salt, and water. Dredge the tomato slices in the batter and fry in heated oil (several inches deep) over medium heat.

You can serve with a dipping sauce (a mayonnaise-based sauce like a remoulade sauce would be tasty.

Southern American here. I’ve never made fried green tomatoes, but have had them cooked by Mom and in several restaurants. Personally, I don’t find them worth making. Green tomatoes have virtually no taste, so what is left is the batter and grease, plus any added flavorings.

With that said, it’s worth giving it a try. You may find that you like them. Enough people do or they wouldn’t show up on menus. There are plenty of recipes on the internet. Find one that sounds appealing. And I agree with @marinelife…a dipping sauce with a bit of tang will add additional flavor.

Huh, never thought of dredging them @marinelife. Have to try that next season. I just fry mine in butter or olive oil naked except for salt & pepper & maybe a little garlic. They are yummy…..... now I’m wishing I had some…....

They are gross! Blah!!

I’ve had them breaded with panko, and I find them delicious with a little Cholula. @Pied_Pfeffer, maybe the green tomatoes in restaurants should be viewed similarly to regular tomatoes found at most restaurants – as flavorless waterbags that happen to be tomato-shaped. The ones I grew in my garden and then fried were very flavorful.

Another great thing you can do with green tomatoes is to pickle them.

@wildpotato Good point. However, Mom’s were home grown in the back yard. Now pickled green tomatoes, I could see enjoying. And as a side topic, I love fried dill pickles that are battered first.

@syz Tell us how they turned out.

I’m a little late to this question, but it sounded interesting to me. I have never had fried green tomatoes, but they sound wonderful! I’ve had deep fried red tomatoes and avocados at the county fair and that was fantastic, so by all means you should definitely try the FGT’s and see if you like them. And read Fannie Flagg’s Book if you haven’t already! Forget about the movie version, it left out the most important theme of the book.

If you need another recipe to use up some of them green maters, you might like this recipe for Green Tomato Salsa which can be frozen if you have a lot of it.

@wildpotato ‘mmmm’ I love green tomato chow & I make another one that is kind of like an anti-pasta. Its nice though to to serve them cooked. I made out like a bandit this year with my tomatillos…. a bountiful crop indeed, so I have been frying up a storm with those little suckers.