Home AppetizersSouthern Pickled Green Tomatoes

Southern Pickled Green Tomatoes

Name: Southern Pickled Green Tomatoes
Prep time: 15 min
Total time: 4 h 15 min
Yield: 12
Cuisine: Southern
Ingredients: 2 pounds green tomatoes; 1 sweet onion, sliced; ⅓ cup diced red bell pepper; 1 jalapeno pepper, finely diced; 2 cups granulated sugar; 3 cups white vinegar; 1 tablespoons black peppercorns; 1 tablespoon mustard seeds; 1½ teaspoons celery seeds; 1 teaspoon kosher salt

Love fried green tomatoes? Wait until you try them pickled! These Southern Pickled Green Tomatoes are tangy, crisp, and packed with flavor. They're delicious on sandwiches, burgers, charcuterie boards, or straight from the jar. An easy way to preserve fresh garden tomatoes before the season ends!

Prep15 min
Total4 hr 15 min
Serves12

If your garden is overflowing with green tomatoes at the end of the season, don’t let them go to waste! Southern Pickled Green Tomatoes are a delicious way to preserve their crisp texture and tangy flavor. Crisp green tomato slices are marinated in a sweet and tangy vinegar-base with onions, bell peppers, and jalapenos to create a flavorful condiment that’s perfect for sandwiches, burgers, charcuterie boards and southern meals.

Southern Pickled Green Tomatoes in a bowl.

These refrigerator pickled green tomatoes are easy to make, require no canning equipment, and develop more flavor as they sit.

Why You’ll Love This Recipe

Great way to use unripe tomatoes. If you prefer to fry them be sure to try these recipes: Cornflake Crusted Fried Green Tomatoes, Air Fryer Fried Green Tomatoes, and Fried Green Tomatoes with Buttermilk Feta Dressing.
Quick and Easy Recipe
No canning required
Perfect for sandwiches and burgers
Keeps for weeks in the refrigerator
Sweet, tangy, and crunchy– the tart flavor of the green tomatoes gets turned into a delicious balance of sweet, tangy, and savory.

Pickled Green Tomatoes in a bowl with whole green tomatoes in background.

If you live in the Charleston area, you may be familiar with The Tattooed Moose. When you order a sandwich, they serve it with a few pickled green tomato slices on the side and they are the best. I wish I had the recipe. But these pickled tomatoes are delicious too. They are wonderfully sweet and tart.

How To Make Southern Pickled Green Tomatoes

(More detailed instructions in recipe card below.)

Prepare the tomatoes. Slice the tomatoes into thin slices.
Place the green tomatoes, onion, red bell pepper, and jalapenos into a large bowl.
In a saucepan, combine sugar, white vinegar, peppercorns, mustard seeds, celery seeds and salt. Bring to a simmer. Let cool 5 minutes and pour over tomatoes.
Refrigerate at least 4 to 6 hours before serving. They will get better over time.