This Fried Okra Recipe Will Make You Love the Vegetable—or Adore It Even More

I grew up in the South and I’ve always loved deep-fried okra, but I’m not sure I’ve ever tasted fried okra as good as my Birmingham-based colleague Craig Ruff’s. I had the pleasure of tasting his version multiple times when he was developing this recipe last August during peak okra season. Craig—who also developed our recipe for Southern fried shrimp—worked in restaurants in New Orleans and Mississippi before becoming a professional recipe developer, and he’s a fried food wizard.

Craig’s fried okra has a thin, super-crunchy, grease-free cornmeal crust encasing crisp-tender okra that’s completely slime-free. Along with the okra recipe below is Craig’s recipe for the aptly named “comeback sauce”—a tangy mayo-based sauce that’s also amazing with other fried vegetables, such as zucchini and onion rings. It’s also lovely as a dipper for fried seafood and a topper for burgers. If okra is not in season where you live, save the okra portion of the recipe for summer and go ahead and make the comeback sauce for dipping other foods now. You won’t regret it. 

How to Make Sure Your Fried Okra Is Crispy, Not Slimy

People have a lot of feelings about okra being slimy and I get it—while the “slime” is what makes okra an amazing thickener for gumbos and other stewed dishes, I certainly don’t want my fried okra to be mucilagenous. The first thing you can do to avoid a slimy situation is choose the right size okra pods. “Go for the smaller sized pods because the bigger guys not only seem to be slimier but also they can get tough and woody,” says Craig. “High heat cooking is also key—frying, roasting, grilling, or sautéing. Keep in mind that if the okra is crowded in the pan it will steam and they will be slimy—do not crowd them for any of these methods.”

Craig also notes that “acid generally negates slime” (as in pickled okra) so he tested batches of fried okra that had been soaked in acidic buttermilk and hot sauce for an hour before frying. “There wasn’t a noticeable difference because frying pretty much gets rid of all slime anyway,” he says. “The high heat kills the sliminess and you get a really nice crispy crunchy okra.”

The Best Oil for Frying Okra

As far as what to fry in, you can use any oil with a high smoke point, but Craig prefers peanut oil because it’s traditional in the South and because he prefers its flavor to other high smoke point oils, such as canola and vegetable. If you feel like experimenting, he says, “Using animal fat could be really interesting and add depth of flavor and richness, but animal fats are generally a little harder to come by and more expensive to fry with; although I would definitely be interested in some duck fat fried okra!” Same, Craig, same.

The Best Batter for Fried Okra

While there’s nothing inherently wrong with thick breading on fried food, I like where Craig landed for this okra: It’s super-crunchy but not so thick that it overpowers the okra. To achieve this balance, Craig uses a mixture of cornmeal, all-purpose flour, and cornstarch, all seasoned with Creole powder, to coat the pods. The cornmeal adds a bit of nubby texture while the all-purpose flour lightens the coating and the cornstarch helps the okra stay crispy for longer after frying. “Adding cornstarch to the dredge really improves the ‘crispy window’ on the coating—they honestly were still relatively crispy well over an hour after frying,” Craig says and I can verify this, as I was swinging by the kitchen all afternoon to snag “just one more” piece of okra.  Before coating the okra slices in the dry mixture, you’ll dunk them in a simple mixture of buttermilk and hot sauce, both of which add flavor and a subtle tang.

How to Serve Fried Okra

Fried okra is great as an appetizer or a side with other Southern and Soul food dishes such as fried chicken, yellow squash casserole, lima beans, black-eyed peas, and tomato salad. While fried okra is delicious straight-up, a creamy dipping sauce like ranch dressing, rémoulade, or the comeback sauce that’s included below offers a nice contrast to the crunchy fried vegetables. “The mildly sweet cornmeal dredge plays really nicely with the vegetal okra, and the creamy, aromatic punch of the comeback sauce is the perfect pairing.” Craig says, and I couldn’t agree more.

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