Easy Fried Green Tomatoes Recipe

When most people think of fried green tomatoes, they think of the classic Southern cuisine. Believe it or not, fried green tomatoes did not originate in the southern United States. We know, it's totally new information to most of us. According to Bon Appétit, fried green tomatoes originated in the Midwest, and some recipes were even found in 20th century Jewish cookbooks. Either way, Southerners love to eat this dish as an appetizer or side, and it goes great with ranch or any other creamy dip.

Recipe developer Christina Musgrave of Tasting With Tina came up with this delicious recipe that gets five stars in our book. "I love how light and flavorful these fried green tomatoes are," Musgrave raves. "They [are] so light and delicious that I wanted to recreate them at home." Bright tomatoes fried to perfection in a crispy batter, then dunked in an irresistibly creamy sauce — does a snack get much better than that? Just in time for summer, give this fried green tomatoes recipe a spin!

For the first step, you will need to head to the grocery store and gather all of the ingredients necessary to make this recipe. Pick up green tomatoes, salt, pepper, garlic powder, breadcrumbs, flour, eggs, buttermilk, and vegetable oil.

Grab a bowl and start adding ingredients to make the breadcrumb mixture, which is the part that makes the fried green tomatoes crispy on the outside. Simply toss in 1 teaspoon of salt, 1 teaspoon of black pepper, 2 tablespoons of garlic powder, and 1 cup of breadcrumbs into the bowl. Use a spoon to stir, and then set the bowl to the side until you need it again.

In addition to the breadcrumb mixture, you also need a flour mixture. To make it, measure out 1 cup of flour and dump it into a shallow bowl. If you don't have a bowl that's shallow enough, you can use a plate instead. Then, set the dish to the side until you need it again.

Now that the two dry mixtures are good to go, it's time to make the wet mix, or the "glue" that holds everything together. Add three eggs and ½ cup of buttermilk into a bowl. Then, grab the other two bowls and create a dipping station. Dip the tomatoes in the flour first, followed by the egg mixture, and then the breadcrumb mixture. Repeat these steps until you finish all the tomatoes.

It's time to fry the tomatoes! In a large pot, add 2 cups of vegetable oil and turn the heat to medium. Once the oil is hot, add the tomatoes in batches, making sure that you don't overcrowd the pan. Cook each tomato for about 2 minutes per side and repeat until the tomatoes have a nice, crispy outer shell. Alternatively, Musgrave says you "can definitely make these in the air fryer." 

It's best to enjoy these fried green tomatoes while they're hot. "Serve as an appetizer with a ranch dipping sauce," Musgrave suggests, noting that leftovers won't keep very well. No worries, though — with an appetizer this good, the tomatoes will be gone before you know it.