Pan-Fried Okra Recipe (2024)

Add cornmeal to a paper bag. Add okra. Shake till coated. Season.

Finally! Okra fried the right way! My grandmothers didn't even add salt. I always make two batches so I can eat the entire first batch myself while I make the second batch for everyone else.Tip: You can almost always find fresh okra at Asian markets.

If possible, pick out your own okra from a farmers market. Look for smaller, bright green pods that are a touch soft for best results. Skip hard or overgrown pods.This recipe is similar to how my mom from Oklahoma made it fresh from our garden as I was growing up in rural Indiana, except she used less oil for a pan fry. I’m a fan of adding a good amount of fresh cracked black pepper to your cornmeal, and letting it brown a bit more. If you haven’t tried fried okra this way before, go for it!

Yes, the okra isn't slimy when it is cooked this way. Like a few others, I use bacon grease. With this much oil in the recipe, it is more like deep frying. My way of cooking it is more like frying potatoes in a skillet---not that I don't like it deep fried, but there is a difference in the outcome. Honestly it's the only way I eat okra because, like you, I am put off by the slimy texture.

Okra is like eggplant: it soaks oil. I use much less and tend the skillet. The final product may not be as crisp but the taste of the okra isn't hidden.

Vegetable oil? No way! Bacon grease. And shake the cut okra in a paper bag with equal parts flour and corn meal seasoned with salt and pepper. Oh be still my heart.

The way it's supposed to be!

The definitive fried okra is my mother's, and the most important thing is that the okra be sliced nickel-thin. A half-inch is far too thick. The slices then should be spread out on wax paper, salted and left to sit for 10 minutes or so to draw out the okra's moisture so that the cornmeal will easily adhere. This recipe does get the coating right: Just cornmeal; nothing more.

This is how the women in my extended Arkansas family always made fried okra. Now that I live in Minnesota, I get my fresh okra from an Indian market. I think food memories are some of the most uniting things on the planet.

The key with okra is that if you don't want the sliminess as a thickener, don't mix the cut pieces with liquids that aren't oil or acidic. So fried like this works, as do preparations with vinegar or tomatoes.

This is more or less my okra recipe, learned decades ago from my then-boyfriend’s mom. I grew up in a non-okra-eating culture but have thoroughly adopted the vegetable as my own cuisine! I use a little less oil (I like the okra a little charred) and a little more spice in the cornmeal.

I grew up eating fried okra since my mother was from Mississippi. It's difficult to find fresh okra in New Mexico. Would it be appropriate to use frozen? Any tips?

You can spread the okra evenly on a baking sheet and bake in a hot oven until the okra’s crisp.

I mix the cuts some thin and some slightly thicker as I want the mix of extra crispy and slightly soft. I also pan fry with much less oil. I am 70 and it is absolutely the best way to eat okra.

I add a little creole seasoning to cornmeal and toss okra in cornmeal mixture in a bag. I brown okra on cooktop in an iron skillet using canola oil. I then place skillet in 450 degree oven to crisp and brown okra, turning about every 5 minutes. Delicious! MFT Hattiesburg, MS

This is the way my Grandmother in Austin cooked okra. Only she turned it into a warm salad with chopped fried bacon, diced tomato, and red onion.

Yes! This tastes like home - and it's all about the okra. 'Bout made me cry it's so good.

This is the best fried okra! This time I used 1.5 tsp salt and next time I will probably take it down to 3/4 tsp. I only had corn flour so I used about 3/4 cup of that. Fried it in 1/4 - 1/2 inch avocado oil in 2 pans and it was perfect and everything was ready at the same time. Make sure the oil is hot enough to start and keep the heat high enough to bring it back up quickly after adding the okra.

This was really good. But I was especially shocked at how much my children loved it.

I also just shook the okra and cornmeal in a bag.

Delicious fried okra. The second time that I made this recipe I cut the salt to 1 TBS ( 3 tsp) and next I will try cutting it further. Salting the okra before adding the cornmeal draws out moisture for the corneal to stick to and distributed the seasoning well. This time I cooked it in two pans with about 1/2 inch avocado oil in each. Everything was ready at the same time and I didn’t have to try to cook the second batch in a pan with a layer of ever darkening cornmeal at the bottom

This recipe calls for 1 tsp salt per cup of okra. Can that possibly be right?!?

I dip it in an egg wash first, then in a mix of corneal and flour and fry in just a quarter inch of oil in a small skillet. The way I was taught in Texas was to add pieces of turnip (don't remember why!) Not having turnip on hand, I've been using a few chunks of potato.

I add a little diced onion to give it a little mor flavor.

Every year I grow okra just to make this for myself. It is so addictive and tasty!

i discovered fried Okra from my mothers Oklahomafamily when i was a kid. it’s better than french fries still! and that was 50 years ago. fresh okra is best, frozen and thawed is ok if you’re having a craving- i like it a quarter or half inch sliced patted almost dry and tossed with 3/4 amount of cornmeal and 1/4 amount flour and salt and pepper. let it rest and fry in a skillet as they say in the recipe oh a 1/4 inch of oil is fine til brown and drain on paper towels. YUM