Creamy & Tangy Alabama White Barbecue Sauce
Alabama White Barbecue Sauce is a regional specialty that has received national acclaim for good reason! Uniquely sweet yet tangy, this sauce takes just 5 minutes to make and tastes great on everything from juicy grilled chicken and pulled pork to crispy French fries. Let me show you how to make it for yourself at home. One bite and you’ll be serving it with every meal!
A Quick Look At The Recipe
- Recipe Name: Alabama White Barbecue Sauce
- Ready In: 5 minutes
- Serves: 4
- Main Ingredients: mayonnaise, salt, black pepper, white vinegar, lemon juice, white sugar
- Why You'll Love It: Uniquely sweet yet tangy, serve this homemade recipe for nationally-acclaimed Alabama white barbecue sauce with main meat dishes and sides.
The Sweet & Tangy Sauce You’ll Put on Everything
Today, I’m bringing you a real rarity. In fact, it is pretty much unheard of outside of North Alabama. Even my husband (who is from a town in Georgia only four hours away) had never heard of it. A lot of folks in South Alabama have never heard of it.
I’m talking about Alabama white BBQ sauce. This is truly a regional thing, but also… a regional requirement. You’ll find white BBQ sauce on every menu, table, and piece of meat at every BBQ joint in North Alabama. Locals eat it with everything, from French fries and juicy smash burgers to chicken and tender BBQ ribs. My husband loves to smother his chicken with this stuff, and personally, I like to use so much that my food is always swimming in it!
This homemade white BBQ sauce has a uniquely sweet yet tangy flavor, thanks to the combination of mayonnaise, lemon juice, white vinegar, and sugar. Let me tell you, it truly is the perfect compliment to just about everything.
Reader Rating
“I’m an Alabama girl through and through, and I’ve got news for you. THIS IS FANTASTIC. No need for additional ingredients. It’s as good as any white BBQ sauce I’ve ever had. THANK YOU!!!” – Jenna
Recipe Ingredients
- Mayonnaise
- Black pepper
- Salt
- Lemon juice
- White vinegar (apple cider vinegar can be used as a substitute, or a mix!)
- Sugar (you can also use brown sugar, or a mix of both)
Mix It Up: Your Sauce, Your Rules!
- Horseradish: For a classic twist, add a couple of teaspoons of prepared horseradish.
- Mustard: Add 2 teaspoons of yellow, dijon, spicy brown, or Creole mustard for a tangy kick.
- Seasoning: For an extra pop of flavor, add 1/2 teaspoon of Cajun or Old Bay seasoning.
- Lighter Version: Replace half the mayo with sour cream or Greek yogurt to make a lighter sauce without changing the taste.
- Make it Spicy: For some heat, use hot horseradish, 1/2 teaspoon of hot sauce, and 1/4 teaspoon of cayenne pepper.
How to Make Alabama White Barbecue Sauce
To start, add your mayonnaise to a mason jar or small bowl. Then add the salt and pepper.
Next, add the sugar, vinegar, and lemon juice.
Mix all ingredients together with a whisk. Or if you’re using a mason jar with a lid, you can just give it a really good shake!
That’s all there is to it – you have just made Alabama white barbecue sauce!
Before you go wow your friends, get a French fry or a piece of chicken and give it a good dunking so you can be the first to taste it. YUM!
I could just live on this y’all, honest!
Storage
Pop the sauce in a mason jar or an airtight container and store it in the fridge for up to 4 days. But we all know it’s not gonna last that long! Luckily, it only takes 5 minutes to whip up another batch (or you can always simply double the recipe).
Alabama White Barbecue Sauce FAQs
Alabama white BBQ sauce is creamy and tangy with a good peppery kick. I make mine with a mayonnaise-and-vinegar base, so it starts off rich and cool. Then you get this sharp, zesty punch from the lemon juice and black pepper that just keeps you coming back for more. It’s truly one-of-a-kind!
Alabama white BBQ sauce originated in Decatur, Alabama. We have Robert “Big Bob” Gibson, founder of Big Bob Gibson’s Bar-B-Q, to thank for creating this unique sauce way back in 1925!
Alabama white sauce tastes fantastic with any grilled or barbecued meat, like this North Alabama-style pulled chicken, pan-seared pork chops, roasted beef brisket, crockpot beef ribs, and air fryer chicken wings. You can baste it on the meat two or three times towards the end of cooking, or simply pour it over the top when serving.
It also tastes great as a dipping sauce with fries and veggies, like my baked zucchini fries, parmesan oven fries, and roasted sweet potato wedges. Another option is to use it as a salad dressing. It tastes absolutely amazing with potato salad, coleslaw, and roasted vegetables!
From my kitchen to yours, I hope you enjoyed this recipe. Let me know by leaving a comment and a star rating!
Ingredients
- 2 cups mayonnaise
- 1 ½ tablespoons salt
- 2 tablespoons black pepper
- 6 tablespoons white vinegar
- 6 tablespoons lemon juice
- 4 tablespoons white sugar
Instructions
- Mix all ingredients together and stir well.2 cups mayonnaise, 1 ½ tablespoons salt, 2 tablespoons black pepper, 6 tablespoons white vinegar, 6 tablespoons lemon juice, 4 tablespoons white sugar
Notes
- If you don’t have white vinegar, apple cider vinegar can be used as a substitute, or a mix of them together.
- You can also swap white sugar for brown sugar, or use a combination of the two!
Nutrition
As you well know, I like new stuff and the sauce is a first for me. Sounds tasty! That restaurant looks great. Here is Texas there is alot of that kind of decor in our BBQ places. He is going to do great. I wish I lived closer. I can only imagine what his desserts are! I drug my husband all the way to Savannah for Paula Deen, why not not Athens for Bill?
Have a great weekend!
As soon as I saw your Twitter about this, I made a beeline over here to see about this white BBQ sauce. I want to try this, too. With french fries. I’m excited! I really want to try this!
And if I haven’t told you before, I really like the new digs. 🙂
Hey there. I will definitly have to try this. I have never heard of it before. Sounds really cool.
Sharon:)
I never did try this – kept saying I was going to – I saw this on paula deen’s show!
-DTW
http://www.everydaycookin.blogspot.com
Paula Deen does not use this recipe…
White BBQ sauce… Sounds interesting! Is it very vinegar-ey? My hubby is on a vinegar kick lately, we’ve recently discovered malt vinegar on french fries. I might have to try this!
Living in Biloxi currently and I’ve never heard of it, but it certainly seems like it would be right up my ally. Yum!
Arika
My Yummy Life
I suppose it would be redundant to say that I’ve never heard of that, since you already point that out in your post. But now I’m going to have to try it, and see if I can get that stuff as popular here in Idaho as it is in Alabama! 🙂
Just based on the ingredients, it seems similar to the sauce I use for making coleslaw/crab salad, except that I also add milk. Which means that I’m sure to love this white barbecue sauce, because I love my recipe for coleslaw and crab salad!
This is nearly identical to my Mother’s cole slaw dressing! It’s delicious and I will have to try it on french fries and other foods – I never thought about it being good on anything else, but I do know it’s wonderful on cole slaw.
This is not the North Alabama recipe. It is similar but missing some key ingredients.
Now I’m wondering what the missing key ingredients are…???
Would be interested to hear the key ingredients. I am 75 years old and this is the basic recipe that my parents used. I do know that in last several years ingredients have been added such as horseradish but that was unheard of in the early days. Just curious. Have a blessed day.
Me too Paulette, I’ve had this recipe for more than 50 years and it is much older than that. Bob Gibson in Decatur Alabama has a recipe online that has [gah] horseradish and other such things in it. I’ve had to talk to a couple of restaurants here in Texas and explain that they are NOT serving Alabama white sauce, it’s not horrible, but it needs another name!!