Crispy Fried Green Tomatoes With White BBQ Sauce

When I want a Southern snack that brings big crunch, bright tomato tang, and a sauce worth swiping every last bite through, I make these fried green tomato chunks with white BBQ sauce. Crispy Fried Green Tomatoes With White BBQ Sauce hits that sweet spot between backyard appetizer and straight up comfort food.

Watch How to Make It

I’m cutting mine into bite size chunks instead of the usual rounds, and that means more craggy seasoned crust in every handful. They fry up golden in bacon grease, stay tender in the middle, and disappear faster than a cold beer in July.

This is the kind of plate I set down while everybody is standing around the grill, because nobody needs a fork and nobody can resist grabbing one. That cool, tangy white BBQ sauce against the hot crunchy coating – man, trust me on this one.

Why You'll Love This Recipe

The first thing you’ll love is that crunch. We’re using a flour and cornmeal breading, so these little green tomato bites come out with a crisp, rugged shell instead of a thin coating that goes soft the second it hits the plate.

Bacon grease gives the crust a deep savory flavor that plain oil just cannot match. It also works real nice with the naturally tart green tomatoes, so every bite has salt, pepper, garlic, onion, paprika, and that little pop of tang.

And unlike sliced fried green tomatoes, these chunks are easy to share. Put out a bowl of warm bites and a dish of white BBQ sauce, then stand back a little because folks will be circling that plate.

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Ingredients & Tools You'll Need

I keep this one simple with green tomatoes, eggs, milk, all purpose flour, cornmeal, all purpose seasoning, bacon grease, and white BBQ sauce for dipping. The tomatoes need to be truly green and firm, not pale tomatoes that are already starting to soften or turn pink.

For seasoning, I like an all purpose blend with salt, pepper, garlic, onion powder, and paprika. You’re seasoning both the egg mixture and the dry coating here, which builds flavor all the way through instead of leaving the inside bland.

You’ll also want a cast iron skillet, two mixing bowls, tongs or a slotted spoon, and a wire rack set over a sheet pan or tray. That wire rack matters more than people think, because it lets steam escape instead of trapping it underneath and softening that hard earned crust.

Use enough bacon grease in the skillet that the chunks can fry with room to move around. I don’t crowd my skillet either – a packed pan drops the heat fast and turns crisp fried goodness into a greasy situation.

How To Make It

This cook is easy, but a little setup makes it smooth. Get your dredging station built before the grease gets hot, keep one hand for dry ingredients and one hand for the egg mixture, and have that wire rack waiting nearby.

The goal is a craggy double coating that holds on tight while the tomato gets tender. We’re not chasing a dark brown crust here – we want a rich golden color, a steady sizzle, and bites that feel light and crisp when you pick them up.

Preparation

Start by heating the bacon grease to 325 degrees in your cast iron skillet. While it comes up to temperature, cut 4 to 5 firm green tomatoes into chunks about 1 inch by 1 inch, trying to keep the pieces close in size so they fry evenly.

In one bowl, whisk together the 3 eggs and 1 cup of milk. Season that wet mixture with your all purpose seasoning, then stir it well so the spices are spread through the whole bowl.

In a separate bowl, mix the 1 cup of all purpose flour with the 1 cup of cornmeal. Season this dry mixture too, and don’t be shy about it – this is where that crunchy outside gets its personality.

Drop a tomato chunk into the dry mixture first and press it around gently so the flour and cornmeal cling. Move it into the egg wash, let the extra drip away for a second, then return it to the dry bowl for the final coat.

This is where most recipes go wrong – the traditional approach often gives the tomatoes one quick coat and sends them straight to the skillet, but I use the dry, wet, dry method so the cornmeal crust has more texture and stays attached when frying.

Let the breaded pieces sit on a tray for about 5 minutes before they go in the grease. That short rest helps the coating hydrate and grip the tomato instead of shedding off into the skillet.

Cooking

Once the bacon grease is holding around 325 degrees, carefully lower in a small batch of breaded tomato chunks. You should hear a lively, steady sizzle right away – not a weak hiss and not an angry popping mess.

Give the pieces room in the skillet and turn them as needed. As they cook, the coating will go from pale and powdery to golden with darker toasted cornmeal flecks, and the smell will shift from raw flour to warm bacon and roasted spices.

Fry until every side is crisp and golden brown. The tomatoes should feel firm enough to turn easily with tongs, while the crust sounds lightly crunchy when the pieces bump together in the pan.

If the breading is browning too quickly before the chunks have had a chance to crisp, your grease is running hot. If they look pale, feel heavy, or barely sizzle, bring the heat back up before starting the next batch.

Pull the finished pieces from the skillet and place them straight onto the wire rack. Give them a dash of all purpose seasoning while they’re still hot, because that last little layer sticks best right out of the grease.

Don’t pile them in a bowl right away. Let them breathe on the rack for a minute, then move them to a serving plate while they’re still hot enough to make that white BBQ sauce loosen up around the edges.

Serving & Variations

Serve these hot with a generous bowl of white BBQ sauce right in the middle. The creamy, peppery sauce brings a cool tang that cuts through the bacon grease and cornmeal crust, while the green tomatoes keep every bite lively instead of heavy.

A common consensus among home cooks is: fried green tomatoes are at their best the moment they leave the fryer, especially when they are held on a rack instead of a paper towel lined plate. I’m with that all day – the rack protects the crunch, and crunch is the whole point.

My pro tip is to dip only the bite you’re about to eat instead of drizzling sauce over the whole batch. That keeps the crust crisp from first grab to last grab, and it gives everybody control over how saucy they want to get.

These work great beside smoked chicken, pulled pork, ribs, burgers, or a pile of grilled sausage. I also like them as a game day starter with pickles, sliced onions, and extra white BBQ sauce for anybody who wants to double dip – no judgment at my house.

If you’ve got leftovers, store the fried tomato chunks and sauce separately in the refrigerator. Reheat the tomatoes on a wire rack in a hot oven or air fryer until the coating is crisp again, then bring the sauce back out for dipping.

Wrapping Up

These crunchy little bites prove you don’t need a complicated appetizer to make everybody happy. Firm green tomatoes, a good seasoned double dredge, bacon grease, and white BBQ sauce – that’s backyard cooking done right.

Keep the skillet from getting crowded, let the finished pieces rest on a wire rack, and eat them while that crust is still crackling. Recipe created by Big Ks Que for Trust Me Try It.

Crispy Fried Green Tomatoes With White BBQ Sauce

Print Pin Rate

Prep Time: 15 minutes minutes

Cook Time: 15 minutes minutes

Total Time: 30 minutes minutes

Servings: 4

Ingredients

• 1 tub of Bacon up bacon grease
• 4-5 green tomatoes
• 3 eggs
• 1 cup milk
• 1 cup AP flour
• White bbq sauce for dipping
• 1 cup cornmeal
• All purpose seasoning

Instructions

• Start by heating your bacon grease to 325 degrees in a cast iron skillet
• While that’s warming up , cube up your tomatoes in approx 1” x1” chunks
• In a bowl mix eggs and milk
• In a separate bowl mix flour ,& cornmeal
• Then season both your wet and dry ingredients with a good all purpose seasoning
• I like to use something with salt ,pepper , garlic, onion powder and paprika
• Then place your tomatoes in dry batter , then wet , and finish in the dry batter
• Then fry till golden brown
• Turning as needed
• Place on a wire rack when done frying
• Sprinkle with a dash of seasoning and enjoy !