by Texas Homesteader ~
*contains affiliate link
Okra Fritters are chopped seasoned okra that’s been mixed, battered & fried to crispy deliciousness. It’s the perfect thing to make from all that excess garden okra. 
(Note: Some links in this post will take you to other related articles for further information. But links preceded with * are affiliate links. If you click and buy something I could receive a tiny commission.)
Okra Overproduces In The Garden
There are a few veggies that are really a powerhouse in the garden. Squash & okra come to mind.
They’ll grow & produce in the most challenging weather, usually producing well enough for you to eat as much as you want & still have plenty to share with friends & family.
How To Disguise Okra’s Mucilage Inside Texture
I’ve never really gotten onboard with the mucilage texture inside of okra. So I’m always looking for ways to disguise that off-putting okra feature while still enjoying the veggie.
Fried okra – the okra slices are small and frying to crispiness seems to reduce the sliminess texture for me.
Pickled okra – I like the tanginess and the okra are all very small.
Okra and Tomatoes – My grandma made this – the acidity of the tomatoes disguised the chopped okra.
Enjoying okra in those ways seemed to cover up the slimy okra texture for me.
What To Do With A Bag Of Okra?
Luckily I was gifted with a bag of okra from a friend’s garden. So I got to enjoy okra without having a boatload and having to figure out what to do with it all!
But included with this bag of okra was a recipe for okra fritters.
Okra fritters? I’d never heard of such. But reading the recipe it looked super simple so I decided to give it a try.
Mixing Up Okra Fritter Batter
I mixed some flour, cornmeal and salt into a bowl. Then I chopped up my okra. (because I was afraid just slicing it wouldn’t disguise the okra’s internal texture that I’m not fond of.)
I also chopped some onion and roasted hatch chile peppers because we didn’t have any jalapenos.
Lazy-Cook’s Vegetable Chopping Tip
I’m not gonna lie, I took the cheater’s shortcut in chopping all those veggies. Because, well, I’m too lazy to stand there & chop it all with a knife.
I roughly chopped the veggies & tossed them all in my *Pico de Gallo Chopper.
A few turns of the handle and BOOM! All chopped to perfection!
After all the drudgery of finally getting all the veggies chopped 😉 I mixed the chopped veggies in with the flour mixture until it was fully incorporated.
In another bowl I mixed the egg & milk until it was smooth. Then I combined the contents of the two bowls together, stirring until fully mixed.
How To Fry Okra Fritters
It’s show time! I grabbed my cast iron skillet and put some oil in the bottom and let it heat just a bit. When the oil was hot I scooped about a tablespoon of fritter batter and dropped it into the hot oil in the skillet.
I pressed the dough down with the spatula to flatten it slightly and allowed it to cook until brown. It only took a couple of minutes.
Then I flipped the fritters and cooked the other side. The hot fritters were placed on clean newspaper to drain while I cooked the rest.
What Size To Make Fried Fritters
Larger-Sized Fritters
At first I was trying to make the fritters larger, about Potato Cake sized. But I didn’t like those as well but RancherMan preferred them that way.
Smaller Fritters Rolled In Breadcrumbs
Then I brought the size down to only 1 tablespoon of batter per fritter. And before dropping the fritters into the hot oil, I rolled them in breadcrumbs.
Again, this is similar to my procedure when making potato cakes. I typically like a crust on the outside and the softer part on the inside. I actually preferred the okra fritters made this way.
Smaller Fritters, Not Rolled in Breadcrumbs
Finally I tried making the 1-tablespoon-sized fritters but without coating with breadcrumbs.
RancherMan said there wasn’t enough difference in these compared to the ones coated in breadcrumbs, so he didn’t think I should bother with that step next time. And I agree the difference was subtle, but I still like the breadcrumb-coated version best.
Anyway, the world is your oyster – Fix ’em the way you like ’em!
Here’s the recipe.
(Oh and thanks for the recipe, Sandra!!)
Did you make these Okra Fritters? Please rate the recipe in your comment below!
Fried Okra Fritters
Ingredients
Ingredients:
- 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
- 1/4 cup cornmeal
- 1 teaspoon salt or to taste
- 2 cups sliced or diced fresh okra
- 1/2 medium onion finely chopped
- 1 medium jalapeno pepper minced
- 1/4 cup milk
- 1 egg
- course salt for sprinkling optional
Instructions
Instructions:
-
Add flour, cornmeal and salt to a bowl & stir to combine.
-
To flour mixture, add okra, onions & jalapeno pepper. Stir until vegetables are coated.
-
In a separate bowl, whisk milk & egg. Pour over vegetable mixture. Stir until fully combined.
-
Add enough cooking oil to a large cast iron skillet for 1/2 deep and heat on medium-high.
-
Drop approx 1 Tablespoon of mixture into hot oil. Press flat with the back of the spoon. Don't crowd in the pan, work in batches.
-
Cook until brown on one side.
-
Flip & repeat
-
Remove and drain on wire rack. Sprinkle with coarse salt if desired.
~TxH~
This post categorized in 
Tagged in 
Other Side Dishes We Love
- Rosemary Rice
- Buttered Rice w/Fresh Sage & Garlic
- Cilantro-Lime Rice
- Texas-Style Spanish Rice
- Favorite Ways To Flavor Plain Rice
- Ranch-Style Beans
- RancherMan’s Green-Bean Casserole
- Roasted Vegetables
- Fresh Pico de Gallo
- Fried Okra Fritters
- Homemade Cottage Cheese
- Deviled Eggs With a KICK!
- Tri-Colored Homemade Pasta
- Pasta Salad FAST
- Cooking Dry Pinto Beans in An Instant Pot
- Fun Flavor Variations For Plain Pinto Beans
…and MANY MORE!
See All Our Recipes
C’mon by & sit a spell! Come hang out at our Facebook Page. It’s like sitting in a front porch rocker with a glass of cold iced tea – lots of good folks sharing!
You can also follow along on Pinterest, Twitter or Instagram.
To receive an email when a new blog post goes live it’s EASY to
Subscribe to our blog!
We are having an abundence of okra again this week and I’ve been making them about once a week. Today I’ll be making them and dropping them on a cookie sheet to freeze for later use. I’ve not done that before and excited to see how it works.
Well be sure to let us know how they turn out Sandra. It would be even more convenient to be able to make them up & freeze them for later. ~TxH~
This post begs the question, “Is there such a thing as TOO MUCH okra?” I emphatically must state the answer, “NO!” You may know this already, but if you have okra pods get too big and woody to eat, the seeds are really good when washed and sautéed in butter. I just wash them, let them dry out on a paper towel, and add them raw to salads (at least the ones that I don’t eat before they are ready!). A quick anecdote from my childhood. My grandmother had made a batch of boiled okra in one of those big blue enamel roasters, and told me that I could eat some. I went into the kitchen, in my tall chair (we were too poor to have high chairs), and took my first bite of okra. It was heavenly, with a rich buttery taste that I loved. When I was done, I walked into the front room and announced, “Granny, I ate it all, and the stoppers too!” (the stem ends looked like tiny sink stoppers to me). I had eaten the entire pan. I don’t eat much boiled okra anymore, because I have never found anyone who could boil it up without making it slimy. I eat the small pods raw, or fried with cornmeal.
I’d never considered the seeds before Evelyn, but that’s brilliant! In the twinkling of an eye those okra can get too large. In the past that’s meant they’re relegated to the compost heap. Now there’s a way to keep from wasting them. Thanks for the tip! ~TxH~
My mother would fry the okra and make okra and tomatoes. My family loves fried okra. I freeze it during the summer so we an “fry it up” in the winter. I cook it in my big iron frying pan in the oven. Preheat my oven to about 350-360. Put enough oil in the bottom of the pan (about 1/4″ deep). When the oven is preheated, put your empty frying pan in the oven and let it heat up for about 3-5 min. Take your okra out of the freezer and let it sit for just a few minutes, toss it in cornmeal, carefully take your frying pan out of the oven and put your cornmeal coated okra in there. Put it in the oven. I set my timer for about 10-15 min. Take the pan out and stir the okra. I do this about every 10-15 min. until it is done to my satisfaction. I like some of the okra really crispy and some still not so crispy. We always say, “just cook the snot out of it”. It is so yummy.
I will try the fritters, too. They sound scrumptious.
My grandmother used to make okra & tomatoes as well Patsy, and to me the acidity in the tomatoes covered the undesirable texture of the okra. And I’d never heard of cooking okra in oil in the oven, that’s interesting. I love how we can all learn new things from each other, thanks for sharing that. Oh, and ‘cook the snot out of it’ – LOL!!! ~TxH~
My mom used to make fried okra and I absolutely love it. My okra recipe was gumbo. I don’t like the slime so much. So she’d make the fried and I’d make gumbo. Now with her gone, I’m sorry I didn’t pay more attention to the way she made it. I haven’t found any recipes like hers.
I love fried okra too Nancy. Heck down in the south I think that’s a staple! LOL. But I often have trouble with keeping the cornmeal coating on the finished fried okra. Sometimes it works, sometimes not. But I really loved these fritters and didn’t have to worry about the cornmeal coating issue. When we made our fritters, we mashed them pretty flat with the back of the spatula as they were cooking but I suppose you could keep them more round too – I was afraid that wouldn’t disguise the okra texture enough for me. But this will be my new go-to way to cook okra from now on! ~TxH~
I also love fried okra, and these fritters sound great! I also like gumbo made with okra. The slimy goo is a great thickener in the gumbo, and the texture is much more palatable. I didn’t plant okra this year, and now I wish I had 🙂
I’ve always heard it was a great thickener Patty. I wonder about dehydrating and powdering it and stirring it into winter’s beef stew? Hummmm…. Give these fritters a try – you’ll love ’em! ~TxH~
I’m with you. I like okra fried but I do not like the slimy middle. The fritters are definitely on my need to try list. They sound and look yummy!