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
What a wonderful idea! I often have green tomatoes and don’t always want to fry, so I will try this for sure.
Would they then freeze well after grilling? Last year I roasted and froze red tomatoes to use through the winter in sauces, etc. This year we have lots of green ones that I want to preserve.
We haven’t ever tried freezing them. We’d love to hear how it turns out if you try.
I am always knocking tomatoes off, and I never would have thought to use them..duh these look amazing
Heather- we always have green tomatoes from knocking them off, now we have this recipe to make use of them!
My ong ngoai has a huge green thumb and we always have buckets and buckets of tomatoes (as well as the beloved types of Vietnamese rau) every summer. I’ll be sure to grab a bucket from him and try this! It looks sooooo good. =) Thank you for sharing! Lovely photos as always!
Lisa- thanks! and yay for Vietnamese rau. Love them.
I love green tomatoes! It is so refreshing to see someone else who gets into these things; I usually deep fry mine, and I use them a lot in slow cook dishes, but I am going to be grilling some in just a few more weeks – can’t wait to try this!
Mmmm! Grilled green tomatoes with a dash of lemon juice and olive oil sound so perfect for summer! I also love the sound of grilled green tomato chutney.
I’ve never tried green tomatoes before — this look so delish! Hope to get my hands on some soon 🙂
Super yum!
Love pickled green tomatoes but I never thought of grilling them. This is a great idea and would have helped with all the greenies I had last Jan.! Can’t wait to try it!
That looks DELISH!!
Love this idea; you’re brilliant!
kalyn- you’re so sweet. Thank you!
I, too, accidentally knock tomatoes off the vines while tending the garden. I’ll have to try this recipe…sounds yummy.
wonderful idea!!! do the dogs eat the tomatoes? my daughter was staying here and taught her dogs to pick them and eat them……ours haven’t figured it out yet, but they love the figs. keep up the great work!!! thanks
Harveys Mom- No, the dogs don’t eat the tomatoes. So more for us! Wow, her dogs ate tomatoes?!
Our new obsession for green tomatoes is pickled fried green tomatoes (just batter and fry your pickled green tomatoes). They are seriously the best thing ever. This sounds delish as well – we’ll have to try it!
Emily- we love fried green tomatoes, but pickled? we’d love to try it soon. thanks!
I have never had a green tomato and I have no idea why. I love all tomates so why not green! Grilling them is genius!
I love tomatoes – red, green, cherry, baked, raw, fresh, grape, you name it, love ’em. This sounds lovely. And I love the plate and little cloth you put underneath it. Thanks for inspiring me with your photography, always!