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Baked Fried Green Tomatoes

Love fried green tomatoes? This version of the classic has a crispy coating — no frying required! Baked Fried Green Tomatoes, anyone?

Baked Fried Green Tomatoes recipe

A few weeks ago, I was standing in my parents’ backyard in Connecticut, surveying their massive tomato plants. The tall, leafy, full plants were laden with an abundance of fruit in various stages of ripening.

Here in Maine, my tomato plants never quite reached bushy status. In fact, they’ve remained pretty small. But one has produced a dozen or so little sungold tomatoes, and another has a small but lovely big boy tomato ripening.

To say my plants produced a small harvest is a huge understatement. It was tiny. Miniscule. Itty bitty. Still, for us, it was a success. My daughter Paige, 7, and I planted these plants as an experiment, along with some herbs that I’ve been plucking for cooking. We forgot tomato cages until it was too late, and never found the organic fertilizer I wanted to feed the plants with, so the plants were left to just grow however. And apparently in my small back porch container garden, that meant staying petite.

But still, the plants grew enough to flower and spawn fruit. Maybe next year we’ll work on a fuller garden, using the implements we skipped this year. But for now, this was enough.

I think about the concept of “enough” a lot — not just with regards to our garden, but with regards to our life and our choices too. What is “enough”?

If you’d asked me a few weeks ago if my kids had “enough” clothes, I would have said they had too many — more than enough. But then I cleaned their dressers and discovered that they’d outgrown a lot. After packing up and donating the outgrown clothes, we finally could see the reality of their clothes situation. They still had enough, but once we removed the items that no longer fit, the amount was greatly reduced. And that was okay. It was better even, because it no longer felt like we were living in excess.

As a mother, I often wonder if I am enough for my children. I can manage mornings, schedules and homework. My kids are clean. And I encourage them to get out and make friends. But sometimes, it feels like I spend so much time parenting that I forget about the things that actually make memories with me — their mom. The things that produce fun and laughter. It’s haunting to think that in navigating the maze of trying to raise two polite, bright, kind kids, they don’t actually make enough good memories with me.

This summer, with some help, the kids and I did a lot more together. We hiked and swam. We tried new things. We explored together. And that has made me feel closer to enough for them.

And that’s really what I want to be, to my kids, my friends and my loved ones: enough.

Our harvest was enough. For now. But I hope in the future that my garden, as in life, that our bounty grows and flourishes.

What is enough for you?

With my parents permission, I plucked some tomatoes from their generous vines before heading north to Maine. Among what I picked? A few green tomatoes to make these Baked Fried Green Tomatoes, something I’d been thinking of for awhile.

Baked Fried Green Tomatoes

With a cornmeal coating, these tomatoes “fry” in the oven thanks to a little cooking oil spray. The result is a tender, warm tomato with a crispy coating. It’s pleasant and tasty.

I served these Baked Fried Green Tomatoes with creamy avocado, which was a satisfying textural contrast to the meaty tomatoes, and a sprinkle of smoked sea salt. But these are also good in sandwiches, on salads or however you like to serve your fried green tomatoes.

Baked Fried Green Tomatoes

Baked Fried Green Tomatoes

Yield: 4 servings
Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cook Time: 20 minutes
Total Time: 30 minutes

Ingredients

  • cooking oil spray
  • 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
  • 1 tsp salt
  • 1/2 tsp pepper
  • 1 large egg, beaten well
  • 1/2 cup cornmeal
  • 1 large green tomato, sliced into 1/4-inch slices

Instructions

  1. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Line a baking sheet with aluminum foil. Spray with cooking oil spray.
  2. In a small bowl, stir together the flour, salt and pepper. In another small bowl, add the egg. In a third small bowl, add the cornmeal. The bowls should be wide enough to accommodate the tomato slices.
  3. Dip the tomato slices first in the flour mixture, then in the egg and finally in the cornmeal. Place in a single layer on the baking sheet and repeat until all the tomato slices have been coated. Spray with cooking oil spray.
  4. Bake for 15-20 minutes, flipping once, until golden.

JR

Thursday 19th of October 2023

Do any of y'all slice your tomatoes, than salt both side and let them rest for 10 mins or so to get the bitter water out of them? Then rinse them very quickly and lay on a paper towel to drain before prepping them for the oven. Just wondering. I've ate them both ways, but the salted ones always have a better flavor. Thanks for letting me share! 🙂

Sarah Walker Caron

Sunday 22nd of October 2023

Hi JR, I've never done that, but interesting idea. I have a green tomato waiting to be fried. I will have to try this!

Denise | Sweet Peas & Saffron

Thursday 10th of September 2015

Oh, that's so sweet! I've been having some good quality time with my son this summer too, I've been so busy with school, it has been nice to have those little 'moments' together. Love the looks of these tomatoes, mine never ever turn red, so fried green tomatoes is just perfect. Baked=even better :)

Sarah Walker Caron

Friday 11th of September 2015

So glad you had a good summer with your son too. Those moments are the best.

Erin @ Texanerin Baking

Tuesday 8th of September 2015

I'm so jealous of your plants, even if they're not producing tons of tomatoes yet! I was actually looking at fried green tomato recipes recently and didn't come across any that were baked. Love this!

Angie | Big Bear's Wife

Tuesday 8th of September 2015

I love fried green tomatoes and I just bought some green tomatoes at the farmers market this past weekend to make some but I think now that I've seen yours that I want to make BAKED green tomatoes instead!

Lora @cakeduchess

Tuesday 8th of September 2015

That is so nice that you had luck with your tomatoes...I wish I had luck with mine here in FL (I'd take even petite plants like yours). A great idea to bake them instead of frying. And yes, it's perfect to be enough as a mom!

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