The place was jam-packed full of railroad men at lunchtime, so Grady Kilgore went to the kitchen door and hollered in, “Fix me a mess of them fried green tomatoes and some ice tea, will ya, Sipsey? I’m in a hurry.”
– Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Cafe
As a child, part of me longed to live in the American south. I devoured novels like The Adventures of Tom Sawyer and Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. My grandpa’s favorite movie was Gone with the Wind; I remember spending many a rainy afternoon snuggled on the couch with my grandparents, feeling shock as Rhett declared, “Frankly my dear, I don’t give a damn!” My grandpa grew up in Texas, and on the paternal side my ancestry stretches back to the first royal governor of Virginia, so perhaps the south is in my blood– the warm, balmy nights, the endless green fields, the porch swings, the old fashioned gentility.
As I grew up, I learned that my romanticized view of southern life was flawed; there was a darker side to the idyllic landscape I’d imagined. I began to read novels that touched on the social issues of the old south– slavery, segregation, women’s rights. When I was 14 or so, I picked up a novel at the library: Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Cafe by Fannie Flagg. I remember recognizing the theme of racial injustice woven throughout the story. As I became attached to the characters, the racial segregation that I’d read about in school seemed more real. I was immediately drawn into the friendship between Evelyn Couch, an overweight middle-aged housewife, and Ninny Threadgoode, an aging woman in a nursing home. Throughout the novel, Ninny shares her memories with Evelyn, recounting the adventures of her relatives and friends in Whistle Stop, Alabama. Most of the memories center around her sister-in-law’s restaurant, The Whistle Stop Cafe.
What I wouldn’t give for a plate of fried green tomatoes like we used to have at the cafe…
– Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Cafe
One of the things I remember most about the novel is the food imagery. My mouth watered as author Fannie Flagg poetically described those rich and mouthwatering southern recipes– fruit pies, deep fried chicken, and of course those iconic southern fried green tomatoes.
Recently, I rented the movie Fried Green Tomatoes on iTunes. I’d seen it when I was 16 or so, a couple of years after I read the novel, and I felt ready to revisit the characters and the story. While the movie isn’t exactly like the book, it does a beautiful job of building the Whistle Stop Cafe as I’d seen it in my imagination. As I watched the movie a second time, I suddenly got the urge to cook up some fried green tomatoes… I’d never tasted them before, but I’d always imagined what they might be like. When searching for an authentic recipe, I stumbled onto a gem of a book– Fannie Flagg’s Original Whistle Stop Cafe Cookbook. There are, of course, multiple recipes for Fried Green Tomatoes in the book. I was ready to tackle something new (and vintage), so I went for it!
I had a heck of a time finding green tomatoes here in Los Angeles. For some reason, green tomatoes just aren’t as popular here as they are in the south. After searching in several grocery stores, I tried my luck at the Hollywood Farmer’s Market (yes, Hollywood has a terrific farmer’s market, believe it or not!). I finally found one stand with some green tomatoes for sale. Two dollars a pound, what a bargain!
I picked through to find the greenest tomatoes in the bunch and brought them home, planning to fry them up the next day. Imagine my surprise when I found a few of them already starting to turn red, just a day after I bought them:
I figured I’d better get to work, before all my green tomatoes went red! Some people prefer the pinkish-tinged green tomatoes, as they are slightly sweeter than the firm green ones. I wanted to taste the real deal, so I cooked up the greenest ones first.
There are three Fried Green Tomato recipes in the Fannie Flagg cookbook– Fried Green Tomatoes I, Fried Green Tomatoes II, and Fried Green Tomatoes with Milk Gravy. I couldn’t decide which one to try, so I combined elements from I and II, replacing the regular milk in recipe I with buttermilk, as suggested in recipe II. As I assembled the ingredients, my husband (who ate fried green tomatoes regularly when he lived in Virginia) suggested I serve them with some sort of sauce. The Fannie Flagg cookbook had a milk gravy recipe, but I wanted something with a little more color and flavor– something zippy. I invited my friend Tammy over, whose grandmother hails from the deep south. She suggested a creamy sauce with a mayonnaise base. I wanted to keep things simple, so I mixed mayo with a little ketchup and cayenne. I thought I’d leave it to Tammy to be the taste tester.
After battering the tomato slices, I fried them up. The result was great– crispy, tangy, with a light crunch from the cornmeal. They were best right out of the frying pan; the longer they sat, the more soggy they became. Tammy swore they tasted just like her grandma made. She liked the sauce, too, but suggested I cut down the sweetness a touch. I reduced the amount of ketchup slightly, and after that she gave a big thumbs up. That night, we dined on fried green tomatoes and sweet iced tea, a fun Southern meal for a hot summer night.
Keep in mind that the sauce recipe is my own creation. If you want to be more authentic, you might want to fry the tomatoes in bacon grease and serve them with milk gravy. Or you can serve them without sauce, au naturale. In my opinion, they’re better with some sort of an accompaniment. I’m thinking buttermilk ranch dressing would be great, too!
If you’re a fan of the book or the movie, be sure to check out Fannie Flagg’s Original Whistle Stop Cafe Cookbook. It’s packed with terrific recipes that will give you an authentic taste of the American south.
Recommended Products:
We are a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for us to earn fees by linking to Amazon.com and affiliated sites. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.
Fried Green Tomatoes
Ingredients
Fried Green Tomato Ingredients
- 3/4 cup self rising flour
- 1/4 cup cornmeal
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 teaspoon pepper
- 3/4 cup buttermilk (or substitute regular milk)
- 3-4 green tomatoes sliced into 1/4 inch thick rounds
- Vegetable oil or bacon grease for frying (I used peanut oil)
Sauce Ingredients
- 1/2 cup mayonnaise
- 2 tablespoons ketchup
- Pinch cayenne, or more to taste
Instructions
- In a mixing bowl, combine the flour, cornmeal, salt, pepper, and buttermilk. Use a fork to mix the ingredients into a pancake-like batter. Use more buttermilk to thin the batter, if needed.
- Heat 2 inches of oil in a skillet until hot enough to fry. Dip tomato slices in batter, letting the excess batter drip back into the bowl. Put the dipped slices immediately into the frying pan. The oil should sizzle strongly but not pop when the tomatoes hit the oil-- if the oil pops or splatters, it's too hot. Let it cool down a bit before proceeding.
- Fry the tomato slices in batches of 4 or 5 at a time (don't crowd the pan) for 2-3 minutes per side, turning carefully with tongs when the coating turns golden brown.Transfer to a colander or wire cooling rack to drain. To keep the tomatoes from getting soggy before they're served, Fannie suggest standing them up like wheels in the serving dish instead of stacking them.
- To make the sauce, whisk together the mayonnaise, ketchup, and cayenne in a bowl. Taste and season more, if needed. Serve sauce over the fresh fried green tomatoes.Fried green tomatoes are best eaten fresh out of the frying pan, they will become soggy fast if you don't enjoy them within a few minutes of frying.
Nutrition
tried this recipe?
Let us know in the comments!
SaveSave
Hi Tori,
I typed in that movie on google and I’m very excited that you found the book of recipes! I’m making fried green tomatoes for my boyfriend whose never had them and I wanted to let you know that I always go picking at underwood family farms in moor park (Ventura county) They have a ton of actual “green tomatoes” and lots of other types. They also have a smaller farm in Somis.
Thanks for the recipes!! 😊
I am going to try these recipes! I mostly wanted to say I really enjoyed just reading your post! Very sweet and thoughtful.
I haven’t made it for some years – long story, like I’ve been about 1/2 of my lifetime and 1/2 world away – my copy is in storage, and I was looking online for the original recipe from Fried Green Tomatoes At The Whistle Stop Cafe recipe and found yours – am going to quote it in my blog post being written just now at pickledgizzards.com and will create a link to this page. I love the recipe and emo for baking butternut squash and the seeds – and as it just happens there is one in the kitchen right now, soI will do some for tonight, though I was going to make soup …. I’ve bookmarked and will visit again. Thanks for a great page Tori. cheers – Alison
Oh my goodness, I’m salivating over this recipe. I live in Asheville, NC, but still have a hard time finding restaurant’s that serve good fried green tomatoes. They seem to always be served on a bed of grits. I don’t want the grits, just the awesome fried green tomatoes, with a mayonnaise based dipping sauce, no ranch for me. I loved the book, the movie, and especially the fried green tomatoes. I can’t wait to find some green tomatoes and try this recipe.
Absolutely love this version. I see many readers writing in their recipes instead yet I never understand why folks do that when you are providing the recipe. Anyway, I’ve tried many, simple dredging, standard breading (dry, wet, dry), different textures of cornmeal, etc. I have enjoyed these the best and my friends went crazy for them. So thanks!!!
So happy to hear that Lauren! Thank you for writing 🙂
It is turning to fall fast in WA state and am trying to preserve as much as I can from my garden. I’m wondering if anyone has tried this… I was thinking of battering the green tomatoes and then placing them on a cookie sheet in my freezer so that I could bag them up and freeze them. Has anyone tried this before. If not I’ll let you know how it turns out.. don’t want all my fruits to go to waste.
I’ve done this but not with a batter. Use a flour/cornmeal dredge with milk and egg wash. Place on sheet pan in freezer until frozen (a couple of hours) and then put in freezer bags. I do the same with summer ssquash. I always add a little sugar in the flour mixture.
Can you tell me where the Whistle Stop Cafe is located going from Charleston, SC to Juliette, Ga. I would be traveling I-95 towards Fla. Or I-20 towards Atlanta. I can’t find it on the map?? Thanks
Its not called whistle stop cafe, it is the Irondale Cafe. It is a great meat and three…sometimes very crowded but the line moves fast.
How do you cook them from the freezer, from frozen?
Delicious !
Thank you ooodles !
Love the southern fried green tomatoes but would steer away from the southern BAR-B-Q’s !! hehehee
thanks again
anita*
Can you put your batter in oven. Trying to be healthy too.
I love fried green tomatoes! My mother used to make them all the time, I think your recipe is the closest to hers that I have found. Thank you for sharing!
I love fried green tomatoes. I like to fix them for breakfast along with very thinly sliced pork chops, fried eggs, grits, biscuits and gravy and cantaloupe. If we have frog legs, I fry those as our meat of choice, if not, it’s bacon or sausage. In South Carolina, we can find green tomatoes everywhere. When I slice them, I place them between paper towels for about 20 minutes. This soaks up a lot of the extra juice and also helps the batter stay on them while they’re frying. I fry up a big plate and snack on them all day. I like them hot, lukewarm or cold. We usually have them several times a week because they go with pretty much everything. When it comes to green tomatoes, I’m very easy to please.
My recipe is also a old one. I mix buttermilk with a few drops of tobacco. Then dip in a mixture of corn,eat, flour,salt and pepper. Then fry.as per your recipe. Do not drain on paper towels . Use brown to drain to prevent sogginess.
Fried green tomatoes were originally a seasonal item in the South. It was a thrifty and creative way to use up those last few tomatoes on the vines that stay green in backyard gardens when the weather turns in the Fall. Now they are so popular some grocery stores and farmers’ markets carry them. Yes, they are bitter raw, but when cooked they develop a lemony tartness that is delicious. You can also make mock apple pie with them. They should have no touch of red. They may begin to ripen at room temperature, so store them in the refrigerator.
In Appalachia we used to add a little onion powder to the cornmeal dredge, it goes great when frying in bacon !
That’s pretty close. I live in the deep south and make fried green tomatoes and fried pickles all the time. Don’t use regular milk. Too thin. We actually use an egg wash separate from the meal. You have to pat the tomatoes dry first on paper towels or the breading doesn’t stick real good. The portions are reversed here though. More meal – less flour. Once you pat them dry, then salt them and let them sit a minute. Then dunk them in the egg wash and then in the meal mix. We add salt and pepper and sometimes Old Bay and little cayenne pepper in the meal mix. The old folks used to do it in an iron skillet but it’s so easy to burn them. I’ve always deep fried them and when they float to the top and are brown they are done. But yes, self rising flour. It gives it that silkiness along with the crunch. We always use ranch dressing to dunk them in if we dunk them in at all. If they are done right you don’t need any dippin’ sauce. They are heavenly without it! Those in the pictures shown have way too much flour in them. I can’t tell you what the mix is because I never measure. I just use the “that looks about right” guide. LOL! I put my meal mix in a baggie and double bread them. Let them sit a minute and then put them back in the baggie and shake them up again. Fried pickles are done the same way except you use much more seasoning like old bay and pepper. They have a bite to them. Then there’s always fried Snicker’s that are “slap yo granny” good!
my granny did it this way
Yes, Seywhut, that’s right! More cornmeal for sure…just a little flour. Egg wash, dip, pat the meal in, then fry. I add pepper and onion powder and am sure to use sweet cornmeal mix or I would add a tablespoon or two of sugar. Big hit at my house, lol!
I make these using the recipes (sorta combined like you did) from the book, but, I top mine with lump crabmeat and a roumalade sauce (mayo, ketchup, a tad of sugar, a bit of worcestershire sauce and a few good shakes of tabasco, optional add a few diced pickles or pickle relish – we use this at our crawfish boils)