Grilled Green Tomatoes, An Accidental Dish
Our grilled green tomatoes recipe wasn’t planned. It was a result of an accident. At some point during our garden duties of tying up the tomato vines on the trellis, we inevitably bump a healthy green tomato and watch it fall to the ground. Darn it.
Easy Grilled Green Tomatoes Recipe
There’s nothing more frustrating than to watch a beautiful heirloom tomato grow to it’s perfect shape and never see it to its full ripened stage. Our clumsy hands somehow manage to break tender vines that are laden with tomato flowers. We accidentally bump green tomatoes off the plants. It’s for reasons like these that we find the excuse to grow about twenty heirloom tomatoes because not only are we “slightly” obsessed, but also to balance out all the green tomatoes that fall to the ground. We’ve pickled many-a-green tomatoes and we’ve churned out several batches of fried green tomatoes. But this afternoon, after staring at two beautiful green heirlooms that bumped to the ground, we decided to do something different. Our motto for lunch was : Grill-it-Green.
Video: Grilled Green Tomatoes
Grill Them Green
We heated up the grill for a Vietnamese pork lunch and with some leftover marinade, we decided to to just lather the slices of green tomato in the sauce and throw it on the grill. What did we have to lose? If we didn’t like the taste of it, at least we tried to make use of fallen green fruit. Our marinade was simple and garlicky and if it was good enough for pork, we felt that it would be good enough for two humble and plump green tomatoes.
Oh my. Why didn’t we grill green tomatoes before? Why oh why did this just come into our lives now?
Every bite was a delicious surprise. We weren’t really expecting much out of this last minute dish. Because we’re so partial to pickled green tomatoes, we didn’t think any other green tomato variation was better. Boy, were we wrong and ate every single slice on our plates. The combination of a savory marinade combined with the char of the bbq equals perfection on a green tomato.
Grilled green tomatoes are a wonderful Summer dish to add to burgers, salads or even just as a side dish. We’re excited to just try a slice of grilled green tomatoes on our next burger. Now that, is a dish that’s on our next party menu. Grilled green tomato salad with feta cheese and herbs? As grilled cheese sandwiches? How about grilled green tomato chutney? Yummy grilled green tomato caprese?
Our minds are already churning like mad for all the possibilities for green tomatoes. And you know what that means? Having to “bump” a few more green tomatoes off their vines. Ooooops. Darn it.
hugs,
diane & todd
Check out more of our heirloom tomato recipes here and here.
This recipe was originally published in 2013 and re-published in 2019 with a new video!
Grilled Green Tomatoes
Ingredients
- 1 pound (454 g) green tomatoes , approximately
- 2 Tablespoons (30 ml) cooking oil , such as grape seed oil or olive oil
- 3 cloves (3 cloves) garlic , minced or crushed
- 1 teaspoon (5 ml) brown sugar
- 1 Tablespoon (15 ml) Worcestershire or fish sauce, soy sauce (Use Tamari for gluten free)
- salt, to taste
- fresh cracked black pepper to taste
- 1/4 cup (60 ml) grated parmesan cheese
- 1/4 cup (60 ml) chopped fresh basil leaves
Instructions
- Heat grill. Slice green tomatoes about 1/4 inch thick.
- In medium bowl, combine oil, garlic, brown sugar, Worcestershire (or fish sauce, soy sauce, Tamari), salt and black pepper
- Add green tomatoes slices to bowl and evenly coat all the slices with the marinade.
- Grill each side of the tomato until your desired texture (about 2-4 minutes on each side). How thick you slice your tomato will determine how long it cooks.
- Top with fresh parmesan cheese and chopped basil.
- Serve as a side dish, on burgers or chopped in a salad
This recipe was delicious! Instead of tossing the tomatoes with the sauce I brushed the marinade on each one so that none of it went to waste. I then broiled them on high for about 20 minutes (I used a breville toaster oven) and they were so good. Definitely recommend and will be making again!
Thanks Alexis! What a great idea to broil them in your toaster oven.
Has anyone ever fried green tomatoes in just butter with salt and pepper? I love them cooked this way, never attempted breaded type. I also like red tomatoes fried like this, they turn out rather soupy, but I just classify them as a chunky tomato soup.
That sounds amazing!
Hey Louise! I tried broiling the tomatoes since I didn’t want to go through the effort of turning on our grill and it was SOO good. I can’t compare them to the grilled versions but I was really impressed and satisfied with how they came out. They would also be delicious in place of red tomatoes for a Caprese salad or on toasted sourdough bread.
I don’t have a grill – can you suggest a method to use my broiler? I would love not to fry them I love your cookbook!
Hi Phyllis,
It should definitely work in the broiler, we just haven’t tested it that way so aren’t sure on the timing. We suggest having the tray about 6″ from the broiling elements and then watch it closely. Things cook quick under a broiler. After the first side is browned, flip and cook the other side. Good luck.
So glad you love the cookbook!
I’ve actually never tried green tomato before! I tried green tomatoes and SO GOOD!! I love discovering new things here!
What an awesome idea! I always felt bad for not knowing what to do with green tomatoes. So glad I saw this!