Fried Green Tomatoes (Paleo, Whole30, Vegan)

Comfort food, anyone? When you get a craving for something crunchy and tasty, but simply can’t do the gluten and dairy, this delicious recipe is for you! Green tomatoes have a more tart flavor, and are firmer in texture, making them the perfect candidate to bread and fry up on your stove! These friend green tomatoes are so simple to make, and can be easily made vegan by swapping the eggs for flax eggs. There is also an Air Fryer version if you want to make this meal with less oil. Serve these on your next get together as an appetizer, snack, or even as a light meal if you’re looking for something tasty and comforting.

Before we jump in to the recipe, let’s talk more about green tomatoes!

Some Health Benefits of Green Tomatoes

Surprise, surprise – green tomatoes are simply unripened and immature red tomatoes, picked before they’ve had a chance to fully turn colors. Like any underripe fruit, green tomatoes are more sour than red tomatoes, and have a firmer texture. While red tomatoes can be sweet and tasty when eaten raw, many people agree that green tomatoes have a better taste and texture after being cooked.

Green tomatoes contain similar nutrients as their red counterparts – offering a great source of vitamin C and beta carotenes (that are great for your eye health!). The high levels of Vitamin C found in green tomatoes do more than just boost your immune system; high levels of vitamin C can slow the aging process, reducing the development of wrinkles from sun exposure. The study mentioned is more related to topical use of vitamin C, but with the added benefit of giving your body an immunoboost, but there is evidence that people who consume more vitamin C are less likely to have wrinkles. Not bad considering you can get all that added benefit from eating something as tasty as these tasty Fried Green Tomatoes!

Green tomatoes are also a great source of vitamin K, a fat soluble vitamin that helps strengthen bones. Vitamin K also plays a role in promoting regular blood clotting, making green tomatoes a healthy choice for people who have difficulty forming blood clots. One green tomato contains 12.5 micrograms of Vitamin K, which is almost 14% of the recommended daily intake for women, and about 10% the recommended daily intake for men. Whenever I make this recipe, I definitely eat more than just one green tomato at a time, making it an ideal source of vitamin K to promote healthy blood clotting levels. Vitamin K can also be found in leafy green vegetables such as kale and broccoli, and in soy as well. If you are soy intolerant, your best source of vitamin K will most likely be those leafy greens, and green tomatoes can also boost your intake. One more great reason to make this tasty recipe? Being a fat-soluble vitamin, vitamin K absorption improves when it is eaten with healthy fats. Just another reason to eat these the fried way!

How to make Fried Green Tomatoes

This recipe is so simple and does not need any special tools. if you are choosing to Air Fry your green tomatoes, I recommend using parchment paper so that the batter doesn’t seep out everywhere.

The ingredients in this recipe are:

• cassava flour
• salt
• pepper
• ground cumin
• green tomatoes
• ground flax seed (can substitute eggs)
• almond milk
• olive oil

While you can completely substitute real chicken eggs (or duck eggs, I guess) for the flax egg, I personally love the vegan version more! The air fryer version with eggs did hold together better, but the flax egg version also did just fine in both the air fryer and the stove top fried version.

To make the Fried Green Tomatoes, prepare the cassava mixture by combining the cassava flour, salt, pepper, and ground cumin and set aside. In a separate bowl, combine the ground flax seed with water to make a flax egg. Add in the almond milk, and stir to combine the ground flax seed, water, and almond milk. Allow the ground flax seed mixture to sit for about 10 minutes. If you are using eggs, simply whip up the eggs with the almond milk and set aside until you’re ready to batter your tomatoes.

Slice your green tomatoes into large discs. I usually cut mine about 1/4″ – 1/2″ thick. The thicker the tomato slices, the more tart green tomato flavor you’ll get with each bite, so depending on how much you love that taste, slice accordingly!

Next, heat the olive oil in a pan over medium-high heat. Keep an eye on the oil so that it doesn’t start smoking; I often have to adjust the temperature to be sure it doesn’t burn!

Once your oil is hot enough to fry, cover your tomato slices in the cassava flour mixture. Then, dip it into the flax egg or egg mixture, and then BACK into the cassava flour mixture. I promise this is what makes this batter so successful and tasty! Then place your battered tomato in the oil, where it should immediately start to bubble around the edges while frying. Cook for about 3-4 minutes and then flip. Both sides should be golden brown. Once both sides have been fried, remove from the pan and place on a plate lined with paper towels to remove the excess oil. Be prepared to turn down your heat after a few batches, as I’ve found that frying foods over time can often lead to smoky oil. These don’t take super long to make, so being vigilant is really the key, here!

If using the Air Fryer, prepare the friend green tomatoes as instructed above. Line your Air Fryer trays with parchment paper. Before placing your battered green tomatoes into the Air Fryer to cook, use some cooking spray (I used avocado oil spray) to coat both sides of the battered green tomato. Then, cook at 370°F for about 15 minutes. Check on them about halfway through to see if you need to add some more cooking spray to get the outsides crispy and brown. I also recommend flipping them about halfway through, since the parchment paper prevents the Air Fryer from evenly cooking the tomatoes.

Serve as they are, or with your favorite dipping sauce. I don’t feel like the flavors in this recipe need any extra sauces or dips, and love eating them plain!