Fried okra has become a fresh, summer delicacy that my son and I fight over we all look forward to. Our neighbor plants it every year in our shared garden, then we take turns picking it until we have enough for a “mess of okra.” Once I have a mess, I tell him, and he picks for a while. I’m thinking he gets the short end of the stick with the amount of okra we can put down…
Fried Okra
- 3 cups okra, ends trimmed and cut into 1/2-inch slices
- ¾ cup buttermilk
- ¾ cup flour
- ¾ cup cornmeal
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon sugar
- shake or two of ground red pepper (cayenne)
- oil for frying (I use expellar-pressed coconut oil)
Pour buttermilk over okra slices. Stir to coat.
Combine flour, cornmeal, salt, sugar, and pepper in a large ziplock bag. Remove okra from buttermilk with a slotted spoon. Add to the bag. Shake to coat.
Heat ¼ to ½ inch of oil in a heavy skillet. Shake off cornmeal mixture from okra with a fine mesh sieve or slotted spoon. Add okra to oil. Fry about 4-5 minutes, stirring and flipping as needed.
Place okra on a paper-towel lined plate to cool… if you can wait. 
Fried okra, fried zucchini, sweet corn, and fresh, sliced tomatoes. Ahhh, a summer garden feast! What do you most look forward to eating from the summer garden?
one of my FAVORITE foods! when i was little our “old” neighbor lady was a sweet southern gal and would fry up some okra whenever i stopped by for a visit – she got me hooked.
makes me miss our garden this year!
I so need to put okra on my planting list for next year! How many do suggest planting?
Ours is about an 8 foot long row of plants. I’m able to harvest a handful (5 or 6 maybe) each day and it takes 3-4 days to get enough for a meal. Hope that helps!
I had hoped to get some planted after the move but, alas, didn’t happen
. I have some Red Burgandy Okra seeds from some I grew couple summers ago. Should still be good. Let me know if you’d like some. The plants are gorgeous and could tell no difference in taste 
…
I won’t be planting anything else this summer, but remind me in the spring when I’m all “gung ho” again!
Oh yum! We didn’t get any planted this year, so farmer’s market for me…going to add to list now!
YUM!!!!
One of my favorites! That’s Southern cookin’ at its finest!