Recipe Makeover: Fried Green Tomatoes

Fried green tomatoes are a classic Southern summer treat often cooked in bacon grease and dunked in a mayo-based sauce. They are wonderfully delicious, with their combination of tart, juicy tomato slices and crisp, seasoned breading. This is a dish that absolutely needs to break away from its regional roots. But it's difficult to justify a 600-calorie side dish. Could we keep the tart tomatoes and crunchy breading and save a bushel of calories? Y'all know we could: We live in the heart of FGT country.

Classic 
574 calories each
40.7 grams total fat
717 milligrams sodium

Makeover
154 calories each
7.7 grams total fat
215 milligrams sodium

Most tomatoes are salted before and after frying; instead, we season with a quick brine to save 100mg sodium per serving.

We toast the panko for more crunch and pan-sear in olive oil to save 111 calories over frying in bacon grease.

Avoid the dunk; drizzle instead. We use nonfat buttermilk and brighten with herbs to save 28g fat over heavy ranch.