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Oven Fried Green Tomatoes (Or Air Fried)

Name: Oven Fried Green Tomatoes
Prep time: 10 min
Cook time: 17 min
Total time: 27 min
Ingredients: 3-4 tomatoes (unripe, green); 1/4 cup all-purpose flour (or all-purpose gluten-free flour); 2 eggs (large, beaten); 1 tbsp lemon juice (lemon juice); 1/2 cup parmesan cheese (grated); 1/2 cup panko bread crumbs (or gluten-free panko); 1/2 tsp dried basil; 1/2 tsp salt; 1/2 black pepper; 1/4 tsp dried oregano; 1/4 tsp dried thyme; olive oil (for misting)

Published: Oct 30, 2020 · Modified: Feb 21, 2021 by Colleen 35 Comments

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Every year around this time we harvest all of the unripe garden tomatoes before the frost hits. Many will ripen indoors but, these Oven Fried Green Tomatoes are a delicious way to use some of them up.

Why You Should Make These In The Oven or Air Fryer

Traditionally, these green tomatoes are fried in oil on the stovetop. But, just like with these Baked Zucchini Fritters, or these Gluten-Free Buffalo Cauliflower Bites you can achieve a crisp and satisfying result in a hot oven or air fryer. Eliminating the mess of frying in oil, along with all the extra calories and fat.

This recipe is seriously easy, and just as seriously yummy. Prep time is only 10 minutes, and they bake up in 20 minutes. These are an incredibly easy appetizer, especially if you have a garden (or a friend that does) and need to use up some of those unripened tomatoes.

What You Need to Make This Recipe

The first thing you need, of course, is green, unripe tomatoes. If you don't have a garden, these may be a little bit hard to find. (Try your local farmer's market). But since you're here, I am assuming that either you do have a garden, or you know someone who does. And you found this recipe with the intention of using some of them up. So hey, hi, welcome, so happy that you found us!

You'll also need the ingredients for breading the green tomato slices. They are:

Flour: I use a 1:1 all-purpose gluten-free flour, but if gluten isn't an issue for you, simply use regular all-purpose flour
Eggs: 2 large eggs will give you enough to coat all the tomato slices.
Panko: I use gluten-free panko crumbs, but again, feel free to use regular panko
Parmesan: Freshly grated Parmesan is always best. The pre-grated powdery stuff that's sold in the can may have its place in your kitchen. (See In Defense of Powdered Parmesan). However, it simply doesn't taste as good, or melt as well, as the real deal.
Seasonings: salt and pepper, of course, as well as basil and oregano. Or if you prefer, use an Italian seasoning blend. Along with the Parmesan cheese, this is going to give our oven fried green tomatoes an Italian twist. (See later in this post for variations).
Caesar Salad Dressing: for dipping. You can also use ranch dressing.

How To Make This Recipe (Step By Step)

Slice tomatoes into ¼ inch slices. (discard the rounded end and stem end)

2.Beat the eggs and lemon juice in a small bowl

3.Put the flour into another small bowl

4.Combine the panko crumbs, parmesan, salt, pepper, basil, oregano & thyme in a larger bowl.

5.Set up your breading station: line things up in this order: sliced tomatoes, flour, egg, panko mixture, prepared baking sheet.

6.One by one, dredge each tomato slice in the flour to coat, shaking off the excess.

7.Then dip the flour dredged tomato slice in the beaten egg to coat.

8.Finally put the tomato slice in the panko mixture, turning and pressing to coat

9. Arrange, spaced apart, on the prepared baking sheet.

10. Bake until crisp and golden in a 400° oven for 20 minutes, turning halfway through

Garnish with paprika, if you like, and serve hot, with Caesar dressing for dipping

Tips For Perfect Oven Fried Green Tomatoes

Use tomatoes that are all green and don't have any red yet. The riper the tomato is, the juicier it is. Which we don't want here because we don't want soggy oven-fried tomatoes.

For easy cleanup, use parchment or foil to line your baking pan.

a misting of olive oil on both sides will improve crispness and colour, but if you are using parchment paper to line the baking pan, you can skip the oil.

These are best served hot, but you can make them ahead, cool and freeze them. After defrosting, bake them again for 5-6 minutes at 350° to crisp and warm them.

You can use an air fryer for this recipe. See the recipe for instructions.

Variation Suggestions

Make this recipe gluten-free by using the same amounts of gluten-free all-purpose flour and gluten-free panko.

Make it dairy-free by omitting the parmesan cheese & increasing the panko.

Try a more Southern version by using Cajun spices in place of the Italian ones, omitting the cheese, and using a buttermilk ranch dressing for dipping.

Try a Tex-Mex version. Use lime juice in place of lemon, Omit the cheese and replace with cornmeal, replace the Italian seasonings with chilli powder or taco seasoning and use chipotle mayonnaise for dipping.

How To Eat Them?

These crispy appetizers are a natural choice while sipping on Spiked Iced Tea. We love them for replacing the ripe tomato in BLT's, and burgers like Chipotle BLT Cheeseburgers or Bean & Lentil Veggie Burgers