I love playing around with flavor combinations and ever since I posted my recipe for my Tomato Cobbler with Pimento Cheese Biscuits, I’ve been wanting to use tomato and pimento cheese together again. There’s something about the smooth and creamy pimento cheese and the tangy acidity of the tomato that pairs perfectly.
Like any Southerner worth his salt, I knew that there had to be a way to fry it… so I did! Introducing my Tomato and Pimento Cheese Fritters.
The crisp cornbread exterior is fried to golden perfection and the inside is filled with creamy, melty pimento cheese, sweet onions, garlic, and tangy tomatoes.
Now, as it relates to the South in general, I know you’ve heard me say it… “We don’t just fry everything down here and smother it in gravy.” And that’s still true. But sometimes we do fry things.
And these fried things are absolutley scrumptious!
They might not be the prettiest things to look at, but man are they tasty!
They’re great served as an appetizer, a side dish, a snack, or all by themselves. They’re just the kind of thing that you’ll want to serve hot. As with most fried food, they just aren’t as tasty once they’ve cooled.
I love them served alongside some melted pepper jelly as a dip. The sweetness is the perfect complement to the savory fritters. I’ve also been known to top them with a little extra pimento cheese, too!
Pro tip: I served regular pimento cheese with pepper jelly, too! You’ve got to try it!
These Bacon Pimento Cheese Bites are the same idea – sweet, salty, and savory all together!
Now, these call for self-rising cornmeal. I love to keep it on hand because it saves a few steps. That said, I know not everyone can get their hands on it, so I’ve included a quick recipe to make your own just for this recipe.
Can’t find self-rising cornmeal mix? Try this quick and easy self rising cornmeal substitute – For 1 cup of self-rising cornmeal: Mix together 3/4 cup of finely ground plain corn meal, 3 tablespoons all-purpose flour, 1 tablespoon baking powder, and 1/2 teaspoon salt.
Recipe Card
Tomato and Pimento Cheese Fritters
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
- 1 cup self-rising cornmeal mix
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
- 1 teaspoon garlic power
- 1 ripe tomato – cored, seeded, and diced
- 1/2 sweet onion, diced
- 1 large egg
- 1/2 cup buttermilk
- 1/2 cup prepared pimento cheese (plus more for serving, if desired)
- 1/3 cup vegetable oil
- 1/2 cup pepper jelly, melted (optional)
Instructions
- In a large bowl combine the flour, cornmeal mix, salt, pepper, and garlic powder. Add the tomato and onion and stir to combine.
- In a small bowl, lightly beat the egg into the buttermilk, and then add in the pimento cheese and stir to combine. Add the wet mixture to the dry mixture and stir until just combined. Add a small amount if additional buttermilk if you find the batter too thick.
- Heat the oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Spoon the batter into the oil by heaping tablespoonsful. Cook 4 to 5 minutes, then flip the fritters and press them flat with the back of a spatula. Cook 4 to 5 more minutes or until crispy and golden brown. Cook in batches, adding more oil if necessary; then drain on paper towels, and serve hot. Serve with melted pepper jelly and additional pimento cheese, if desired.
Notes
Please note:
If nutritional values are provided, they are an estimate and will vary depending on the brands used. If calorie count and other nutritional values are important to you, I recommend grabbing your favorite brands and plugging those ingredients into an online nutritional calculator.
What brand of cornmeal mix do you use?
Most often I use White Lily.
OK, Stacey!
I just had to try these right NOW, so I made them and they are wonderful!!! In fact they are just too good and I ate way too many of them, but hey, you only live once, right? I’ve got to say that these will definately be on just about all of my party trays from now on. I think they will be especially good for the up coming winter holiday seasons.
They were very easy to prepare and I just happened to have a jar of jalapeno jelly in my pantry that was crying to be used, but these are good all by themselves. One word of caution, this is for all the food hogs out there like me, LOL, be careful and let them cool down just a little bit or you’ll end up with sore fingers and tongues!
Thanks Stacey for sharing this recipe. And I do hope Naomi lets us know how they turned out making them in the waffle iron as that would be a really good thing.
Claudine in Fort Worth, TX
This comment just made my day! I’m so glad you enjoyed them!!
Just wanted y’all to know that I tried the fritters in the waffle iron and they turned out great!. We just sprayed each side of the waffle iron with “Pam” (or any generic brand will work) then put the batter on. We only had to use the spray oil for the second waffle and then the rest came off fine. Since I love pimento cheese, next time I fix these I may just try putting a little more pimento cheese in the fritter batter. We loved our waffle iron fritters!
Thank you so much for letting me know! I’m going to have to try them this way!
Stacey, these delicious looking fritters have all the ingredients that this Southerner loves: cornbread, pimento cheese, and tomatoes! I love cornbread and I love the crispy part so now we just pour cornbread batter onto the waffle iron. It’s all crispy that way! I was just wondering if I can put this batter onto the waffle iron or do you think the batter would be too runny? Maybe I will just give it a try and see what happens! Thanks for all your great recipes!
That’s genius! I think it would work. This is a pretty thick batter, so I think it would work great in the waffle iron. Let me know how they turn out!
Wondering if this might work in an air fryer? I’d spray them with oil first…what do you think?
I can’t say for sure, Tim. The batter is pretty thick, so it might work. Like you, I’d definitely spray them with a little oil first.