Air Fried Green Tomatoes with Bacon Aioli
Air Fried Green Tomatoes with Bacon Aioli- Tart tomatoes are crisped to perfection in the air fryer and served with a creamy bacon dip.
June 7, 2021 by Nicole Collins
The sounds of summer...
What would you guys say those are?
Fireworks? The ice cream truck? Waves crashing?
For me right now (and everyone else in the Mid Atlantic region), the sound of summer is one very happy, very noisy, very loudly screaming insect.
Cicadas.
I know that they're just here temporarily. And, I know that we only get a visit from them every 17 years. But, these little bugs are driving me a little nuts.
They are SOOOOOOOO loud.
They're constantly screaming allllll day long. And, it's not just a sound that you hear when you walk outside. I can be inside the house with all the windows closed and the TV turned up loud, and I still hear them screaming away.
So this year, that is my sound of summer. And as much as I'm ready for them to go back underground, at least I know all the fun summery things that also come along at the same time as them. So, that's what we're going to celebrate today.
Today, we're making Air Fried Green Tomatoes with Bacon Aioli!
We're taking a classic summertime treat, lightening it up by swapping out the deep fryer for the air fyer, and serving it alongside a creamy and savory bacon dipping sauce.
So, let's get to it!
Let's start with the tomatoes. Green tomatoes are just regular tomatoes that never ripened. They're nice and firm. And, they taste a little bit tart. That makes them the perfect candidate for frying, or air frying in our case today.
To prepare the tomatoes, we're going to slice them to ¼ inch thick and dress them up in a standard breading station of flour, egg, and panko. Now traditionally, fried green tomatoes are coated in cornmeal. But since we're air frying these, we're swapping out the cornmeal for panko breadcrumbs to ensure we get a nice, crispy exterior.
Once the tomatoes are breaded, we'll give them a spritz of cooking spray, and to the air fryer they go for about 10 minutes. It's important to make sure we arrange the tomatoes in a single layer in the air fryer basket so that they have plenty of opportunity for the hot air to circulate all around them. So, you'll likely have to cook these in batches. And it will be totally worth it; because when they're finished cooking, the end result is a golden, crispy, delicious medallion of goodness.
Now air fried green tomatoes are a delicious snack, as is. But, it wouldn't be right to serve them without a dipper! So, we're going to whip up a super quick bacon aioli. All we need is some mayonnaise, some crispy bacon, a little leftover bacon grease, and a sprinkle of garlic powder. Mix it all together, and our sauce is complete!
When you're ready to serve, there are plenty of options. You could serve these as is like an appetizer with a dip. You could use the tomatoes and aioli in a sammie like a mock BLT. Or, my personal favorite way to eat this is like a benedict of sorts. Toast up an english muffin, schmear on the aioli, top it with a tomato and a poached egg, then finish it with a light touch of microgreens. Talk about delish!
These tomatoes hit so many sensory notes. They're slightly soft on the insides after cooking while being super crisp and crunchy on the outside. They're a little tart and a little savory. And that bacony, garlicky dipping sauce really bumps up the volume of amazingness in this summery bite.
I may be over my current sounds of summer, but I'll never get tired of the tastes of summer when it tastes like this!
I hope you all enjoy. And, let's eat!
Air Fried Green Tomatoes with Bacon Aioli
Serves: 4 Print
Ingredients:
For the Air Fried Green Tomatoes:
4 green tomatoes, sliced ¼ inch thick
¾ cup flour
1 ½ tsp salt
¾ tsp pepper
2 eggs
2 cups panko breadcrumbs
cooking spray
For the Bacon Aioli:
½ cup mayonnaise
4 slices bacon, cooked and finely chopped with 2 tsp bacon grease, reserved
¼ tsp garlic powder
¼ tsp pepper
Directions:
Prepare the breading station: In a shallow bowl, combine flour, salt, and pepper. To a second shallow bowl, add well beaten egg. To a third shallow bowl, add panko breadcrumbs.
Take a tomato slice, and coat in flour mixture. Shake off excess flour. Next, coat the tomato slice in the egg and let any excess drip off. Finally, coat tomato slice in panko, gently pressing to adhere. Repeat with remaining slices.
Preheat air fryer to 400 degrees. Spray the basket of the air fryer with cooking spray. Working in batches, arrange tomato slices in a single layer, and spritz the top of the tomatoes with cooking spray. Cook for 5 minutes. Flip the tomatoes, spritz the top of the tomatoes with a little more cooking spray, and cook for another 4-5 minutes until the tomatoes are golden brown and crisp. Repeat with remaining tomatoes, as necessary.
Meanwhile, make the Bacon Aioli: To a mixing bowl, add mayonnaise, 2 tsp leftover bacon grease, minced bacon, garlic powder, and pepper. Stir to combine. Set aside.
Serve air fried green tomatoes with bacon aioli. Enjoy!
Recipe notes:
*These fried tomatoes are great on their own or as a component to a bigger meal. I LOVE them on an english muffin schmeared with bacon aioli and topped with a poached egg. They're also great as a replacement for tomatoes on sandwiches like a BLT.
*These are definitely best served fresh. But, leftovers can be somewhat revived in the oven. To serve leftovers, bake the tomatoes in the oven at 400 degrees for about 8-10 minutes until the breading is crisp again.
*The Ninja Foodi Grill is my all time favorite multi purpose device to use for an air fryer. You can find it on Amazon!
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