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Light and crispy Italian Tomato Fritters are loaded with fresh tomatoes and herbs. Serve with a dollop of thick and creamy sauce on the side for even more tomato flavor.
Italian-Style Garden Tomato Fritters with a Creamy Sauce
With dozens of delicious tomato recipes on our site, these fried Italian Tomato Fritters are one of our new favorites. We think you’ll love them just as much as we do!
They have a light and crispy crunch and are bursting with fresh tomato flavor. That’s complemented by sun dried tomatoes, fresh basil, and other seasonings in the fritter batter. A thick and creamy sauce is served alongside the fritters – with more sun dried tomatoes and herbs mixed in. Every bite is intensely good!
These Italian Tomato Fritters are wonderful way to use up end-of-season tomatoes and basil from your backyard garden. Any variety of tomato can be used – just be sure to remove excess seeds and let them drain well before you mix them into the fritter batter.
Key Ingredients
- Garden Tomatoes – We used a mix of Roma and small beef steak tomatoes from our backyard garden.
- Fresh Basil
- Sweet Onion – Such as Vidalia.
- Sun Dried Tomatoes – Buy the dry packed sun dried tomatoes, not the ones packed in oil in a jar.
- Fresh Farmer’s Cheese – This is a cow’s milk fresh cheese often found in the gourmet cheese aisle of your supermarket. You could also use a Mexican cheese called Queso Blanco. This cheese is the same consistency as feta, but milder in flavor and dry packaged, not packed in a brine.
- All-Purpose Flour
- Baking Powder
- Dry Breadcrumbs – We used plain breadcrumbs to let the fresh tomato flavors really shine though, but the Italian seasoned version can also work. You might consider cutting out some of the other seasonings if you are using seasoned breadcrumbs.
- Eggs – You use a whole egg plus one egg yolk.
- Extra Virgin Olive Oil
- Seasonings – Kosher salt, ground black pepper, and dry oregano.
- Canola or vegetable oil – Used to fry the fritters.
- Creamy Spread – We mixed crème fraiche with more of the sun dried tomatoes, fresh basil, dry oregano, kosher salt, and black pepper.
Tomato Fritter Cooking Tips and Tricks
- Give yourself plenty of time to drain your chopped tomatoes. You want to drain as much of the juices as possible so your fritter batter doesn’t get too wet.
- Do not overwork the batter. You ideally want the chunks of tomatoes to stay whole and not get mushed in, so mix just enough to combine the ingredients.
- Make sure your frying oil is heated to the proper temperature (between 325 to 350 degrees F) before you start to fry. Also make sure the oil heats back up to temp before you start to cook the next batch. (See product recommendation below to help with this.)
- Don’t overcrowd the pan when frying your fritters to ensure even cooking. You want to maintain the hot oil temp and adding too many fritters in at a time will drop the oil temperature – making the fritters soggy.
Product Recommendation
Use an infrared temperature gun to measure the cooking oil temperature before you begin to fry.
You can also measure the temp as the fritters cook – adjusting the flame under your pan higher or lower to maintain the optimal frying temperature.
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Italian Tomato Fritters
Light and crispy Italian Tomato Fritters are loaded with fresh tomatoes and herbs. Serve with a dollop of thick and creamy sauce on the side for even more tomato flavor.
Ingredients
2 pounds fresh garden tomatoes, any variety
1 tablespoon kosher salt
Sauce
3/4 cup crème fraiche
1/3 cup dry packed sun dried tomatoes, chopped small
2 tablespoon fresh basil, chopped small
1/2 teaspoon dry oregano
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
Fritter Mix
1/4 cup fresh basil, chopped small
1/4 cup sweet onion, chopped small
1/2 cup dry packed sun dried tomatoes, chopped small
3 ounces fresh cow’s milk farmer’s cheese or Mexican Queso Blanco, shredded with a fork
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
3 tablespoons plain breadcrumbs
1 whole egg
1 egg yolk
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
1 teaspoon dry oregano
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
Canola or vegetable oil, for frying
Instructions
- Cut the core out of each tomato then cut each tomato in half horizontally.
- Over a bowl, squeeze seeds out of each half, using a finger to reach up into the seed pockets to remove.
- Discard the seeds and water.
- Cut tomatoes into half inch pieces and place them into a strainer over a bowl.
- Sprinkle on the tablespoon of kosher salt and mix around with a spoon. Let sit and drain while you prepare the sauce and other ingredients.
- Make the sauce. In a medium bowl, mix crème fraiche, one third cup of the cut-up sun-dried tomatoes, two tablespoons of the chopped basil, half teaspoon of dried oregano, half teaspoon of kosher salt and quarter teaspoon of black pepper. Set this spread aside.
- In a large bowl, add fresh basil, sweet onion, sun dried tomatoes, farmer’s cheese, flour, baking powder, breadcrumbs, whole egg and egg yolk, salt, pepper, oregano, and olive oil.
- Go back to the salted tomatoes and stir and press lightly to draw out any last liquid. Use a paper towel and blot into the tomatoes to remove any excess salt.
- Add these tomatoes to the large bowl and gently mix to combine. not over mix. Discard the tomato water.
- Heat a heavy bottomed pan or wok with 2-3 inches of canola oil to 350 degrees F., no hotter.
- Once hot, use a large serving spoon to scoop out about a quarter cup of batter and press into the spoon so it forms a flat oval shape. Then use a finger to slide it off the spoon and into the hot oil.
- Try to keep the oil between 325- and 350-degrees F. If the oil gets too hot, they will get too dark before the center cooks. If the oil is too cool, they will absorb oil and be greasy. I continually kept adjusting the flame as I fried to maintain the perfect temperature.
- Fry for about a minute or so, flip using a spider or slotted spoon and fry the other side. Remove them to paper towels to drain.
- Let the oil recover and keep frying 3-4 at a time, using all the batter.
- The batter will make twelve quarter-cup portions. Serve two per guest.
- Serve with the sauce on the side.
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Frequently Asked Questions
- Can I make Italian Tomato Fritters ahead of time? You can make the sauce ahead of time, and you can salt and drain the tomatoes ahead as well. You can even measure out and prep the other ingredients. But wait to completely combine the batter until you are ready to fry and serve. (They are best served freshly fried.)
- How do I store leftovers? Store covered in the refrigerator for up to three days.
- How do I reheat leftovers? You do not want to re-fry these but instead heat in the oven or microwave. Just note that the reheated fritters will have a softer consistency.
- Can I freeze? You could freeze the cooked fritters (we recommend wrapping them individually) but not the sauce.
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