I love BLT sandwiches. And I love breakfast sandwiches. So, for the most part, any kind of sandwich that has an egg on it can safely be considered a breakfast sandwich, right? I wanted to treat myself to this epic sandwich after an entire day of hunting down green plantains for a recipe development project that I’m working on that had me all the way stressed out.

My sixth and final store stop was at a Piggly Wiggly where they normally don’t even sell plantain, and what do I see as I turn the corner? A glorious mountain of local green tomatoes on a produce end cap across from where they have a basket of plátano. It’s a major win on both fronts. I bought two of those big boys with my much-needed ingredients and hauled ass home to finish my other project three whole hours behind schedule.

Thankfully, I was able to get everything completed before I lost light for shooting pics and the very next day, I was determined to enjoy these green tomatoes as a celebration for all of the trouble I went through scoring ingredients the day before. Keep in mind, there’s no real recipe here, you only need just enough flour and cornmeal to dredge one sliced tomato, so it’s nothing more than a generous shake or two of each. This is more of a guide situation since sandwiches are mostly assembly anyway. You can easily adjust the recipe to make more sandwiches, but I was cooking for one this particular afternoon. Either way, let’s get to building!

Fried Green Tomato Breakfast BLT

Serves: 1

Cook time: 20 minutes

Vegetable oil, for frying

1 large green tomato, cut into 1/2” slices

Kosher salt

Black pepper

All-purpose flour (seasoned with Tony Cachere cajun seasoning and Adobo blend to your liking)

1 large egg, beaten

Plain yellow cornmeal (seasoned with Tony Cachere cajun seasoning and Adobo blend to your liking)

2 slices of sourdough bread, lightly toasted

Mayo-ketchup (equal parts mayonnaise, ketchup, Adobo blend, pepper, and garlic powder)

Butter lettuce, rinsed and patted dry

2 slices bacon, cooked

1 fried egg, over-easy

Note: cook your bacon first and set it aside that way you can have everything ready to assemble your sandwich once your tomatoes are done frying. Then, when it’s time to cook your egg, fry it up in the bacon fat.

In a large frying pan, add about 1” of vegetable oil for a shallow fry and heat over medium heat. While the oil heats up, liberally season the green tomato slices with kosher salt and some black pepper.

I set up a simple dredging station with paper plates for super easy clean-up. One plate for the seasoned flour, one for the beaten egg, and the last one for the cornmeal. Dredge the tomato slices in a little bit of the seasoned all-purpose flour and dust off any excess. Next, flip each side into the beaten egg wash, and then press down into the seasoned cornmeal, making sure to get the entire slice covered. Set aside and let the tomatoes set for about 3-4 minutes. By now, the oil should be heated up. Take a little bit of the cornmeal and sprinkle it into the oil; if it bubbles, the oil is ready.

Quickly fry the green tomato slices until they’re golden brown and crispy all over. Remove from the oil and drain on a paper towel lined plate. Sprinkle with a tiny bit of salt and set aside.

Now, in the same pan where you cooked your bacon earlier, go ahead and fry up your egg and set aside.

To assemble the sandwich, spread mayo-ketchup on each slice of toasted bread. Personally, I don’t like my bread too toasted, I find that it makes it harder to bite into a large sandwich if the bread is too crispy (it just seems to push all of the fillings out when you press down). Next, on the bottom slice of bread and working up, place the lettuce, bacon, 2 slices of green tomato, and top with the fried egg. Marvel at the amazingness you just made and then enjoy every crunchy, tangy, and gooey bite.

¡Buen provecho!