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
So happy to find this recipe! I grew up in Madison and my grandmother lived on Greenbrier Rd. I live in Georgia now and a trip to the OLD Greenbrier is a requirement when me and my family come to visit! There’s just something about this sauce…on the hushpuppies, on the fries, the chicken, the pork, and as crazy as it sounds…the slaw! Thanks for sharing 🙂
Hi Christy:) I was born and raised in Louisiana (but now live in the barren north – Chicago!) . I’ve been visiting your site for a few years now and love it. I had never had White BBQ sauce. I made it last July 4th and shared it with my Alabama neighbor who was shocked!:) I think it made his day – I know I’ll be making it as a standard every summer from now on. It’s sooo good on EVERYTHING!! I also wanted to tell you that I bought your cookbook and absolutely love it;) I also gave it to my Aunt Ruth for Christmas last year and she loves it! Recipes are so familiar to what we had growing up. Excellent job:)
I bet you got the neighbor of the year award Kathryn!!! I am so glad you liked the cookbook, it has a piece of my heart and it always makes my day when someone says they like it.
my mama would add yellow mustard to ours and we used it for salad dressing. we always liked it and i was raised in MI.
The white BBQ sauce sounds absolutely delicious! It is similiar to what we mix with our southern style mayo-cole slaw.
I also love the vinegar slaw, which is easy to mix and keeps well for days!
It is a good dish for potlucks and church dinners, and prepared the night before. It compliments most all southern dishes.
I use a large bag of slaw mix with cabbage and carrots. Chop one medium onion and one medium green pepper and mix with the slaw mix. Then mix one-half cup of white vinegar, 1/2 cup sugar, and 1/2 cup of vegetable oil together and pour all over the slaw mix, stirring well. Salt and pepper to taste.
Keep in fridge overnight for best flavor and stir before serving.
An older version of the recipe says to heat the mixture but I’ve found it wilts the slaw mixture unless you wait until it cools completely. The recipe works just as good simply mixing the oil, sugar, and white vinegar, then pour it over the slaw and mixing well.
Thanks for all the wonderful goldmine of recipe shared with us!
Jo Ann from Tennessee
My Husband and I love White BBQ sauce. We’ve often wondered how to make it. When I read your recipe and seen how easy it was I forwarded it to my hubby and when he walked in from work he had a grocery bag with him with everything you listed. He made it and it is now BY FAR our favorite white BBQ sauce and that’s saying somehting when you’ve tried them all and live in Alabama. Thanks for sharing this!
LOVE white BBQ sauce! I make mine with red wine vinegar and I also add garlic powder to it!
My husband and I stopped at a little BBQ place when we took a truckload of donations to Alabama tornado victims. They served our bbq with white sauce. I have to admit, I was at first a little (okay, more than a little) skeptical about eating this mayo-laden sauce, but I decided to give it a try. It was very good and didn’t have a heavy mayonnaise taste at all because of the spices and the vinegar. My husband and I were just talking about the white sauce yesterday. We will have to whip up a batch to share with friends and family. We are from TN, about an hour from Huntsville, AL, so we are not far away from the source of the sauce. As close as we are, we do not have white bbq sauce in our neck of the woods. It’s definitely a North AL thing.
I am so glad you tried it! A lot of people won’t even try it because it is so different, but well worth it! And thank you so much for helping out!!!