Southern Fried Green Tomatoes Recipe - the hungry bluebird (2024)

4.84 from 6 votes

Prep Time: 10 minutes minutes

Cook Time: 40 minutes minutes

Total Time: 50 minutes minutes

Author: Kelly Wildenhaus

• ▢ 4 green tomatoes, ends removed, sliced ¼-inch thick
• ▢ 1 cup cornmeal, medium grind, preferably stone ground
• ▢ 1 cup all purpose flour
• ▢ 1 teaspoon garlic powder
• ▢ ½ teaspoon onion powder
• ▢ ½ teaspoon smoked paprika
• ▢ ¼ teaspoon cayenne
• ▢ 1½ cups buttermilk
• ▢ A few shakes of hot sauce
• ▢ ½-1 cup vegetable oil (I used avocado oil)
• ▢ 1 tablespoon butter (or bacon drippings)
• ▢ Kosher salt
• ▢ Lemon wedges, hot sauce and/or rémoulade sauce for serving

Rémoulade Sauce:

• ▢ 1 cup good quality mayonnaise (the southern choice would be Duke's)
• ▢ 2 tablespoons Dijon mustard
• ▢ 1 tablespoon lemon juice
• ▢ 1 tablespoon finely chopped flat-leaf parsley
• ▢ 1 tablespoon Louisiana-style hot sauce
• ▢ 2 teaspoons creole mustard, whole-grain mustard
• ▢ 2 cloves garlic, minced
• ▢ 2 teaspoons capers, finely chopped
• ▢ 1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
• ▢ 1 teaspoon paprika
• ▢ 1 scallion, finely chopped
• ▢ ¼ teaspoon kosher salt

• If serving, make rémoulade sauce. Whisk together all sauce ingredients in a small bowl until well-combined and smooth. Let sit for one hour so flavors meld while you prepare the tomatoes. (Cover and refrigerate any leftover sauce.)

• Pre-heat oven to 200º and fit a sheet pan with wire rack, set aside.

• In a wide bowl or pie plate, combine flour, cornmeal and seasonings. In another small bowl, combine buttermilk with a few shakes of hot sauce and a little salt and pepper. Dip green tomato slice in buttermilk mixture, shake off excess, then dredge in cornmeal-flour mixture until well-coated. Repeat and put tomato slices on a plate.

• Heat oil in a large cast iron pan, about a ½-inch high. Add the butter and mix in, it gives flavor and helps with browning. When hot, but not smoking, add tomato slices to skillet, and working in batches, fry until golden, about 3-4 minutes a side. Transfer to paper towel-lined plate to drain and sprinkle with salt while hot. Transfer fried slices to sheet pan with rack and keep warm in oven while continuing to fry remaining slices.

• Serve hot green tomatoes with lemon wedges, Louisiana hot sauce and/or rémoulade sauce. Enjoy!

• Green tomatoes can be hard to slice in ¼-inch slices. If you have a mandolin, and are comfortable using one, that would be a great option for slicing.
• Adding a little butter to the hot oil helps with browning and gives a little flavor. Bacon drippings would also work!
• These are best served hot and crispy, although the cornmeal helps keep that crispiness even as they cool.