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
I’m from western Kentucky and while we have our very own proud BBQ heritage here (lots of smoked pigs), sadly white sauce is absent. On the other hand north Alabama is only 2 hours away, so I can make a run to Big Bob Gibson’s if need be. Ive loved it since I first had it from a BBQ joint in Nashville, and been lookin for a good recipe to try out.
I am so ecstatic to have found your website this morning. We just returned from visiting my Mom who lives just outside Huntsville. Of course all we want to eat when we are in Alabama is Barbecue since what is described as such in Sarasota, FL is not what we have in mind. I am going to make your pulled pork and vinegar slaw for Memorial Day and a batch of the white sauce to have in the fridge. Thank you for sharing.
I live in KY and I have never even heard of white bbq sauce so this is going to be a must try and later today I have a cook out happening so what better a time to try I can’t figure. Thank you girl I like all the ingredients in it so it should be interesting. I would also like to know like one other poster on here, is it for dipping mostly, or using like a regular bbq sauce? I would assume more for dipping but not exactly sure.
I’m Southern born & raised so white bbq sauce isn’t strange to me. I love it. But the recipe I have been using is just a bit different from this one. I’ll give this one a try. Thanks for posting it. I never can have too many recipes. I’ve got so many cookbooks, cooking magazines, homemade recipe notebooks, etc. that I’ll have to mention them in my will so they don’t get destroyed. I love cooking!
Forgot to mention that I use white pepper instead of the black in order to keep everything ‘white’.
I would like to have your recipe also, Bonnie N. I like the white pepper idea.
I will have to try this, I have never heard of white BBQ sauce either up here in MI. Have you added other seasonings to this? Like garlic powder?
Another question; when making biscuits have you tried replacing half of the liquid with ranch dressing? (Not sure if you like ranch dressing) I did and then added shredded cheddar cheese to the dough and ended up with a cheddar ranch biscuit.
I use something pretty similar to this in my pasta salad recipe and it is terrific, never thought of using it on burgers but I bet it would be awesome with the extra bit of tang in it !
I would love to print some of your recipes. sort of a beginner,etc. How,What do you recommend. I do not like going to Face Book or others,etc. why do you not provide simple spot to click on ?? Print recipe here or etc. most food sites do this, makes it so easy for anybody, without jumping thru hoops to do it.
Help, please. I am a recipe addict and I love your site. don rosebaugh
Don,
Look below the ingredients and instructions part of the recipe thats outlined with a black line, making a square around it. Look under that and you will see blue printing that says “Print This Recipe”.
Oh by the way Christy, that was the first time I have ever sent in a review. I just want to let you know that I really enjoy your encouraging words and all the scrumptious recipes. We absolutely love the Mexican Cornbread recipe and many others. Sooooo good!! I cant wait to make the White Sauce. Thank you for taking so much time out of your busy life to give us a slice of the “good ole days”. Thanks!!!!
Southern Plate should think about adding an Account login to sign up for so we can SAVE the favorite recipes that we will make a lot. Then we won’t have to look them up every time we want to cook your favorite recipes. All other cooking websites have this. What do you say Christy ??? It’s a good idea. Thanks….
Hey Cynthia! That is a neat idea and it works really well for the commercial cooking websites. This is still just a personal website, run solely by myself, and I just can’t add that type of capability without spending thousands and thousands of dollars to set it up, then thousands more to maintain it with a database and technical support each month. I like to keep the recipes free on here so avoid things like that because I’d have to switch to a pay gate for my readers, and that’s no fun :). In the meantime, please know that I appreciate you coming here, and coming back again and again. I do have a print function on my recipes for your favorites or you can do what I do and jot them down in a handwritten cookbook that your family will cherish for generations. I also have two cookbooks in print (Harper Collins and Workman publishers) and my third one comes out in just a couple of months. You can see those here: http://amzn.to/2bwSHhk
I pin my favorites to my Pinterest account!
Thank you Twila!!
I pin my favorites, as well!