What can I make with green tomatoes?

Lisa Brunette wrote:We just went through a huge batch of fried green tomatoes, sharing them with family. They're great accompanied by eggs. You can either fry the egg and eat it on the side with the fried green tomatoes, or a nice breakfast followup is to reheat the fried green tomatoes, dice them, and add to an omelet. Delicious!

I used this recipe from Southern Living:
Fried Green Tomatoes with Buttermilk

Many thanks for this recipe, Lisa! I cooked Fried Green Tomato Parmesan for the first time yesterday (contains eggs). I love it… the perfect Halloween treat. Here’s the recipe I used: https://www.allrecipes.com/recipe/254970/fried-green-tomato-parmesan/ Best wishes, Gemma

Lisa Brunette wrote:We just went through a huge batch of fried green tomatoes, sharing them with family. They're great accompanied by eggs. You can either fry the egg and eat it on the side with the fried green tomatoes, or a nice breakfast followup is to reheat the fried green tomatoes, dice them, and add to an omelet. Delicious!

I used this recipe from Southern Living:
Fried Green Tomatoes with Buttermilk

Thank you for this recipe, Lisa! I made Fried Green Tomato Parmesan for the first time yesterday. I loved it! Here’s the recipe: https://www.allrecipes.com/recipe/254970/fried-green-tomato-parmesan/ Best wishes, Gemma

Dave Bross wrote:Here's quite a few ideas on what to do with tomatoes. Scroll down past all the how to grow stuff and there are 100 or so old time simple recipes for cooking and pickling:

https://aggie-horticulture.tamu.edu/vegetable/additional-resources/carver-tomato/

Wonderful Dave; thank you for taking the time to post this. Best wishes, Gemma

Merilee Karr wrote:Green Tomato Pie is a traditional fall dessert. Make pie of the last tomatoes that won't ripen.

My favorite recipe: [url=https://www.reneesgarden.com/blogs/gardening-resources/97089665-apple-and-green-tomato-pie?gclid=Cj0KCQjw--2aBhD5ARIsALiRlwDDvh0t4ay-F9ZDkMokPeqrjTL99LNRpwd7DkIbM69FbmTIE-oRAkYaAvQlEALw_wcB]

Renee's Garden Green Tomato and Apple Pie[/url]

Merilee - thank you for the recipe! I’m definitely going to try the green tomato and apple pie! Best wishes, Gemma

Katie Dee wrote:

Gemma Boyd wrote:

James Freyr wrote:You can fry them. It's a southern thing, and they're delicious. Basically sliced a 1/4 or 1/2 inch thick, breaded and pan fried. An internet search for fried green tomatoes will yield a variety of recipes, and the 1990's movie by the same name.

James; green fried tomato sounds amazing. I shall give them a go and let you know what I think. All the best, Gemma

Gemma and James -  I make a spicy mayonnaise dip for the fried green tomatoes:  mix mayonnaise and (to taste) a little chili powder, a little garlic powder and a little cayenne pepper.  

There is also a "Green Tomato Casserole" that is a traditional deep South dish.  There are a number of recipes online.  It is a little like scalloped potatoes, but has a tangy flavor.

Katie, Many thanks for the mayonnaise and casserole ideas. I shall try them! James - I made Fried Green Tomato Parmesan for the first time yesterday. I can’t stop eating it! Best wishes, Gemma

Thekla McDaniels wrote:I bet they would be good as chutney.  As for the ripening, my experience has been that they turn red, but they don’t produce more sugars, they are similar to grocery  store tomatoes, which are also picked green… still worth having, but it’s worth mentioning.  One year I had thirty plus flat boxes of heirloom tomatoes I picked before first frost.  I had them spread around the living room and kitchen (full daylight in south facing room with lots of windows, temperature 55 F roughly), and picked the out of the boxes as they ripened.  I made and canned maybe 2 dozen quarts of juice.  They very much left something to be desired.  

Another thought:  putting an apple into an enclosed space (paper bag) will speed the ripening.  The apple gives off ethylene gas which speeds ripening.

I vote for the uses that depend on other ingredients for flavor!

Thank you, Thekla! I made green tomato chutney and it was still edible and tasty 2 years on! Best wishes, Gemma

Dadgumit, where was this thread last year when I had 40+ pounds of green tomatoes? I ended up making:
- pomodori verde (pasta sauce, heavy on the basil and amazing with some heavy cream)
- ketchup
- pickled green cherry tomatoes
- plain canned green tomatoes, which primarily went into white chili

and the winner…green tomato mincemeat. This stuff is amazing. Drop a couple spoonfuls into plain yogurt. Pop it into thumbprint cookies. Oh, if you’re not imaginative, then make mincemeat pie. It is so, so good. I had barely enough green tomatoes to make a batch this year, which came out of the canner this morning. Mmmmmm.

Shawn Foster wrote:Dadgumit, where was this thread last year when I had 40+ pounds of green tomatoes? I ended up making:
- pomodori verde (pasta sauce, heavy on the basil and amazing with some heavy cream)
- ketchup
- pickled green cherry tomatoes
- plain canned green tomatoes, which primarily went into white chili

and the winner…green tomato mincemeat. This stuff is amazing. Drop a couple spoonfuls into plain yogurt. Pop it into thumbprint cookies. Oh, if you’re not imaginative, then make mincemeat pie. It is so, so good. I had barely enough green tomatoes to make a batch this year, which came out of the canner this morning. Mmmmmm.

Shawn; thank you so much for these suggestions! The mincemeat sounds really amazing… so do thumbprint cookies! Best wishes, Gemma

Shawn Foster wrote:Dadgumit, where was this thread last year when I had 40+ pounds of green tomatoes? I ended up making:
- pomodori verde (pasta sauce, heavy on the basil and amazing with some heavy cream)
- ketchup
- pickled green cherry tomatoes
- plain canned green tomatoes, which primarily went into white chili

and the winner…green tomato mincemeat. This stuff is amazing. Drop a couple spoonfuls into plain yogurt. Pop it into thumbprint cookies. Oh, if you’re not imaginative, then make mincemeat pie. It is so, so good. I had barely enough green tomatoes to make a batch this year, which came out of the canner this morning. Mmmmmm.

Shawn, I wonder if you would share your recipes for pomodori verde and the mincemeat?

They both sound wonderful !

Sure, Thekla!

Pomodori Verdi recipe

Green Tomato Mincemeat This one doesn’t list timing; I used 25 minutes, which is the timing Ball lists for their apple chutney. I figured the two have a lot of ingredients in common, so the densities would be similar.

Many thanks

Christopher Weeks wrote:You can make fermented dill pickles with green tomatoes at the end of the season just exactly like you would with cukes and they're pretty good. (I do it with garlic, bay, and chiles -- dill is optional.)

Fermented green tomato pickles mixed with cukes or just by themselves is a great one. I also make a sauerkraut with sliced green tomatoes, green sweet peppers, chiles, cabbage, herbs and onions (if you like them in your kraut).  

Old thread, but I wanted to add mine!  

Last year I fermented about 5 L of green tomato pickles:  cut them into quarters, add chopped onion, garlic, some bay leaves, black peppercorns, and approximately 1 T salt per litre jar.  They were great: on chili, on scrambled eggs with cheese, on a salad and more.  I actually have about 500 mL left in one jar, pretty sour but still great.

This year I only had 2 L and I made fermented green tomato salsa.  This was a lot simpler:  chop toms, onion, garlic in the food processor till chunky but not a paste, stir in plenty of gochugaru (or any other chili flakes), salt the same ratio as above.  This stuff is so good!  I don't know how long it would last in the fridge, but I have a feeling I'll eat it all before I find out.

I messed with a Green Tomato Mincemeat recipe, and then messed with it some more until I got this:

Ingredients
8 lbs green, unripe tomatoes, finely chopped and undrained (enough to yield 8 cups when finely diced)
4 lbs apples, unpeeled, cored and finely chopped (enough to yield 4 cups when cored and finely diced)
1 lb raisins, (approximately 4 cups) I used 4 cups home-dried figs
1 lb dried plums, prunes, or dates, finely chopped
2 cups date sugar, date syrup, or brown sugar - I used none as the dates and figs were sweet enough
¼ cup fancy molasses
⅔ cup apple cider vinegar
2 tablespoons ground cinnamon
½ teaspoon ground allspice
¼  teaspoon ground cloves
⅛ teaspoon black pepper
½ teaspoon sea salt
⅓ cup coconut oil

Instructions
Make the mincemeat
Chop the tomatoes and apples. Finely chop (or coarsely grind) the tomatoes and apples, placing each in a separate bowl and setting aside.
Measure out 8 cups of the chopped tomatoes and place in a colander to drain. If your tomatoes drain a lot, add some apple juice as needed.  Bring the mincemeat to a boil.
Place all remaining ingredients except for the coconut oil in a large stockpot or Dutch oven. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat, then reduce heat and cover. Let simmer, stirring frequently, until individual pieces begin to break down, 20-30 minutes.
Simmer the mincemeat. Remove cover and continue to simmer on low, stirring frequently, until thick and the mixture has reduced by about one-third, 1-2 hours. Alternatively, for the best flavor, keep the mixture covered and simmer over low heat for 5-6 hours, stirring frequently.
Stir in coconut oil. Add coconut oil and stir well.
Store or use the mincemeat. Freeze, can, or use the mincemeat immediately.

My friend and I made this recipe at her house. She has a small food processor which made short work of mushing the tomatoes, but it also creates much more juice, which needs to be drained off and find another use for it. Hand chopping didn't generate near as much extra liquid.

Green Tomato Cake

Ingredients
3 cups grated green tomatoes drained
2 cups granulated sugar
1 ½ cups vegetable oil
3 large eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
3 cups all purpose flour
1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon ground cloves
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
½ teaspoon salt

Instructions
1. Preheat the oven to 350º Fahrenheit. Grease a 9×13 baking pan.
2. Use a food processor or a grater to grate enough green tomatoes to make 3 cups. Don’t
skin them, just take out the core and grate. Allow the juice to drain off the tomatoes as
you make the cake batter. 3 cups grated green tomatoes drained.
3. In a large bowl, whisk together the sugar, oil, eggs and vanilla.
4. In a small bowl, whisk together the flour, cinnamon, baking soda, cloves, nutmeg and salt
5. Add the dry ingredients to the wet and mix just until combined. Fold the drained tomatoes
into the cake batter mixture. Pour the batter into the prepared pan.
6. Bake for 45-50 minutes or until the cake tests done.

They gave options for icing. Personally, I didn't need any icing with this cake, but my friend's family tends to like things sweeter than I do.