Here in Iowa, the temps have taken a drastic turn. The forecast is for temps dipping into the 30s by the end of the week! 😫
That means my garden is about to meet a sad, cold end, and unfortunately, the tomato plants are loaded with dozens of green tomatoes that won’t have time to ripen.
Ever since the Fried Green Tomatoes movie came out in the early 90s, I’ve wanted to try this quintessential Southern dish. Can you believe it has taken me this long to get around to it?! I know.
Apparently, a garden full of green tomatoes with no place to go is what it took for me to finally get my act together. Better late than never, I guess. 😆
Slice your green tomatoes
Slice 3 to 4 green tomatoes into 1/4 inch thick slices.

Set up a breading station
You want the flour mixture first, then the milk/egg mixture, then the cornmeal mixture.

Dip the tomato slices, on both sides, in each mixture right down the line.

Then set them out on a plate to rest and let the batter set, while you heat the oil

Oil
Heat about 1/4 inch of vegetable oil in a skillet until it begins to shimmer. Then lay your tomatoes in the oil, making sure to give them plenty of room. You don’t want them to touch.
Allow them to fry for 3-4 minutes on the first side, before gently flipping them over.

They should be a nice golden brown. Allow them to fry on the second side for another 3-4 minutes until crispy.

Drain on paper towel
Allow to drain on a paper towel-lined plate for a minute or two.

Serve
Serve them while hot, with the remouldade sauce. This sauce has just the right amount of kick from the Tabasco sauce, but you can adjust the amount of hot sauce in your remoulade to dial the heat up or down to your liking.





Fried Green Tomatoes
Ingredients
For the remoulade sauce:
- ½ cup mayonnaise
- 2 tbsp lemon juice
- 1 scallion, finely chopped
- 1 tbsp dijon or whole grain mustard
- ½ tsp paprika
- ½ tsp hot sauce
- ¼ tsp garlic powder
- ¼ tsp salt
- dash of cayenne pepper
For the tomatoes:
- ⅔ cup flour divided
- 1½ tsp salt
- ¾ tsp paprika
- ¾ cup milk
- 1 large egg white
- 1½ tsp hot sauce
- ¾ cup ground corn meal
- 3 unripe green tomatoes, cut into 1/4-inch thick slices
- ½ cup vegetable oil
Instructions
- Make the remoulade sauce: Whisk all of the sauce ingredients together in a small bowl until combined. Cover and refrigerate until ready to serve.
- Stir 1/3 cup of the flour, salt, and paprika together in a wide, shallow bowl or pie plate.
- Whisk the buttermilk, egg white, and hot sauce together in second wide, shallow bowl.
- Stir the cornmeal and remaining 1/3 cup flour together in a third wide, shallow bowl.
- Dip each tomato slice in the flour mixture, followed by the buttermilk mixture, and finally the cornmeal mixture.
- Let the breaded tomato slices sit, so the coating sets while the oil heats.
- Heat the oil in a large cast iron skillet over medium-high heat until shimmering, about 5 minutes.
- Carefully add 4 to 5 tomato slices and fry until golden-brown, 3 to 4 minutes per side. Transer the fried tomatoes to a paper towel-lined plate. Fry the remaining tomato slices.
- Serve the tomatoes immediately with the remoulade sauce.
This is such a quick and easy recipe, that works great for a side dish or appetizer. If you haven’t tried Fried Green Tomatoes, please don’t wait 20 years like I did. Really, you’re missing out.

PS. If you’re a Fried Green Tomatoes connoisseur, and have a different version of the recipe, I’d love to hear about it! Drop me a comment and let me know!
I am so glad you shared this. My garden is full of green tomatoes too and I don’t think the weather is going to let them wait – or the squirrels will get them – so I am going to try out this recipe this week. Thanks so much for sharing. #HomeMattersParty
I’m glad you found it helpful, Donna! Hope you enjoy it as much as we did!
I have had these at an outdoor restaurant in TN, they were delicious! Thank you for bringing this very timely recipe to Fiesta Friday.
I have pinned to try soon; it is time to pull those tomato plants in my backyard!
This looks so good. I love green tomatoes, but have never made them. Yum
I love that movie and have always wanted to try these. Thanks for the inspiration and recipe! I’m visiting today from the Wine’d Down Wednesday link up. Have a great day Niky!
If you have an “unfinished” room in the basement with a window, you can hang the tomato plants upside down and the green tomatoes will fully ripen. They won’t grow larger though. I did this in Washington State because tomatoes ripen late in the season.
Thanks for this tip, Rebecca!