Diet Fried Okra Recipe

Written by Diet Bites

Love Fried Okra But Not the Calories & Fat Grams?

Then you just may fall in love with our lower fat recipe for 'Fired Okra'.

It's got all the flavor, minimal fatty acid content and is low enough in caloric values that it can tuck nicely into most healthy weight loss plans.

Every time that I prepare this recipe, I have so many people ask me, "Where did you get that beautiful golden fried okra?"

When I tell them that it's not fried, rather baked, they can't believe it. And when they taste it, they really can't believe it's not fried. But believe me - it's not BUT it tastes like it is.

This recipe will produce golden clusters of okra that taste just like fried okra!

Ingredients for Diet Fried Okra Recipe

4 cups of fresh okra, washed and sliced thin (about 1/4 inch or thinner if desired)
1 cup of yellow cornmeal; if you wish you can use white corn OR even blue stone-ground
sea salt & cracked pepper
water
non stick cooking spray, butter flavored works best

How to Prepare This Recipe

Place sliced okra into a bowl and add cornmeal, salt and pepper. The okra will appear to be 'dusted' by the cornmeal.

Next, add a bit of water to the bowl. Add just a bit of water at a time because YOU will control the look and feel of your okra batter. Some people like their okra battered heavily, some don't.  So adjust the water accordingly.

Next, pull the loose cornmeal that has settled into the bottom of the bowl over the 'dusted' okra.  Batter should clump around the dusted okra.  

Spray a cookie sheet with the cooking spray and spread the battered okra onto the sheet. Next, spray the top of the okra with the cooking spray and be generous.

Pop the okra into a 350 degree pre-heated oven. Cook for 15 minutes, then remove and turn the okra. Spray with the buttery spray one more time and return to the oven.  

Be sure to remove the okra before spraying because the spray can ignite is you spray the pan while it is still inside of the oven.

Cook an additional 15 minutes, or until okra is golden brown.

Calories & Serving Suggestions

The entire recipe contains zero fat and about 600 calories (400 coming from the cornmeal).  Recipe will serve 4 people VERY GENEROUSLY for about 150 calories each. 

You can also prepare okra on the stove top. While frozen will work when it's thawed, fresh cut okra that has been sliced works best. Remove the stem; cut into thin circles.

Place 1 Tablespoon of extra virgin olive oil into a deep, non-stick pan. When it is warm and hot - but not popping, add the sliced okra. Add only two cups of the okra to the pan at a time.

* The less in the pan, the easier it will cook.

This plant in extremely mucilaginous and due to such, you may encounter sticking issues - which is common with okra due to the 'slime". If that happens, use a bit of cooking spray to finish the cooking.

In fact, I've omitted the olive oil in the past and used straight cooking spray - the buttered and olive oil flavors and the dish came out beautifully.

So either way works best; it's just that some individuals can experience an 'aftertaste' where cookingspray is involved, therefore our olive oil suggestion.

Whichever cooking method you use, continue to cook the okra over medium heat; turn occasionally to ensure even browning.

You can even add a can of seasoned petite diced tomatoes to the okra and cook until the juices of the tomatoes have diluted. Spoon into a serving dish and sprinkle with a bit of reduced fat cheese if you wish.

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