Alabama White BBQ Sauce is the perfect creamy, zesty, and tangy sauce to smother or dip your smoked chicken in. This mayonnaise-based BBQ sauce is paired with apple cider vinegar, brown sugar, and spices to give it tons of flavor.
Alabama White BBQ Sauce
Most of us are familiar with barbecue sauces that are made from a ketchup or tomato base, but did you know there’s another way to make it?
White BBQ sauce is a Southern favorite. This sauce is mayonnaise-based instead of tomato-based. It’s filled with flavor from the apple cider vinegar, brown sugar, mustard, and spices. Since there’s no tomatoes in it, that’s what gives it the signature white color.
This is one of the sauces that everyone has to try at least once. My bet is that after you try it, you’ll start keeping a jar in the fridge. That’s what we do – it makes the best dipping sauce for chicken, turkey, steak, pork chops, or even a fresh veggie tray.
Even though you can buy it at the store, it really is one of the sauces that I think tastes so much better homemade. Plus, you’ve probably already got all the ingredients you need in your pantry!
Alabama White Sauce is famous thanks to Robert Gibson at Big Bob Gibson Bar-B-Q in Decatur, Alabama. At Big Bob’s Bar-B-Q they’re know for dunking their famous smoked chicken in Alabama white sauce before serving it. Serving it this way allows the sauce to totally coat and cling to the meat, which totally coats the chicken in the amazing flavor.
This recipe is my take on the famous recipe. It shares the same sweet and tangy notes as their recipe, but it uses brown sugar instead of corn syrup, and I’ve added some additional spices for a little more zest and spice.
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What is Alabama White Sauce Made Of?
Mayonnaise: This is the base of the sauce. I definitely recommend using real mayonnaise instead of something like Miracle Whip, because the sweeter flavor will change the way the sauce tastes.
Mayonnaise is the perfect base in this recipe because it’s thick on its own, perfectly creamy, and lets the other flavors in the recipe shine through to make a delicious tangy creamy sauce.
Apple Cider Vinegar: Apple cider vinegar is the best vinegar to use for this recipe because it’s sweet and tangy (just like the sauce is supposed to be). White vinegar would be too overwhelming and powerful of a flavor.
Light Brown Sugar: This adds the sweetness that’s needed to balance out the apple cider vinegar. Having a little sweetness is really important to make this creamy sauce feel like a BBQ sauce.
Creamy Horseradish: I prefer using prepared creamy horseradish because it has less of a strong vinegar flavor than the not creamy varieties.
Dijon Mustard: Some people prefer to use spicy mustard brown, but after trying it both ways, I definitely preferred the flavor of Dijon mustard in this recipe.
Yellow Mustard: I found that using just Dijon was a little too overpowering when paired with the horseradish, so I like using a combination of Dijon and yellow mustard.
Lemon Juice: Just a little bit of freshly squeezed lemon juice adds a really lovely brightness to this sauce.
Spices: A combination of salt, black pepper, garlic powder, onion powder, and cayenne pepper adds the best flavor combination to this dipping sauce.
The amount of cayenne pepper is dependent on your spice and color preference. I preferred the flavor with a little more cayenne pepper (1/2 teaspoon instead of 1/4 teaspoon), but it makes the sauce slightly more orange, which might bother you if you really want a white BBQ sauce.
How To Make It
It couldn’t be any easier, and it only takes a couple of minutes! Just measure out all of the ingredients and add them to a bowl. Whisk them together until the sauce is totally smooth.
You can eat the sauce right away, or you can transfer it to an airtight container and store it in the refrigerator to let the flavors totally settle and mingle.
What Do You Put Alabama White Sauce On?
White BBQ sauce is most known as a dipping sauce for smoked chicken, but it’s really delicious on pretty much any meat. Grilled chicken thighs, pulled pork, steak, ribs, pork chops, and pork tenderloin are all great options.
You can even use it as a vegetable dipping sauce.
It can also be used as the dressing for coleslaw, potato salad, or pasta salad!
It doesn’t stop there, it also makes a delicious taco sauce, sandwich spread, and burger sauce.
This is definitely a versatile sauce, so feel free to try it out with whatever you’d like!
Keep In Touch
I’d love to hear what you thought of this recipe in the comments or on Instagram!@KeyToMyLime#KeyToMyLime
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Dipping Sauce Recipes
If you like this recipe, be sure to check out our entire sauce recipe section! Some reader favorite dipping sauces are:
- Best Spicy Ranch Dressing
- Cilantro Lime Sauce
- Raising Cane’s Sauce
- Cilantro Garlic Sauce
Yield: 12 servings
Alabama White BBQ Sauce is the perfect creamy, zesty, and tangy sauce to smother or dip your smoked chicken in. This mayonnaise-based BBQ sauce is paired with vinegar, brown sugar, and spices to give it tons of flavor.
Prep Time5 minutes
Total Time5 minutes
Ingredients
- 1 cup mayonnaise
- 3 Tablespoons apple cider vinegar
- 2 Tablespoons light brown sugar
- 1 Tablespoon prepared creamy horseradish
- 1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
- 1 teaspoon yellow mustard
- 1 teaspoon freshly squeezed lemon juice
- 1/2 teaspoon fine sea salt
- 1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
- 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1/2 teaspoon onion powder
- 1/4 - 1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper (depending on taste and color preference) *
Instructions
- Whisk all of the ingredients together in a small bowl. Use right away, or transfer it to an airtight container and store in the refrigerator. The sauce will taste the best after the flavors have had a chance to rest and mingle for 24 hours.
Notes
*I prefer the taste with 1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper, but it does make the sauce more orange and less white. It’s totally up to you how much you include.
Nutrition Information:
Serving Size:
1/12
Amount Per Serving:Calories: 140Total Fat: 14.2gCarbohydrates: 2.7gFiber: 0.1gSugar: 2.3gProtein: 0.3g
Nutrition information isn’t always accurate.
If you’ve never tried white BBQ sauce, you’ve got to try it at least once! You’ll quickly see why everyone loves this Bama sauce.
