Alabama BBQ Sauce
Alabama bbq sauce, or Alabama white sauce depending on where you're from, is a vinegary barbecue sauce made with a mayonnaise base. It tastes incredible on seasoned chicken breasts or pulled pork.
Chat with anyone from the south about their favorite barbecue sauce and brace yourself for the big debate: Tomato based or Mustard based? Which is the winner?
It took me over ten years of living in North Carolina to realize there is a third option: the Alabama bbq sauce known as Alabama white sauce.
This dish has a mayonnaise base but is still super vinegary--just the way I love it.
Drizzle a little over heavily seasoned baked barbecue chicken and I'm ready for dinner!
Jump to:
- Why This is the Best Recipe
- Ingredients
- How to Make the Sauce
- Storage Tips
- How to Use Alabama White Sauce
- 12 Easy Baked Chicken Breast Recipes
- Cajun Blackened Chicken Thighs {Air Fryer or Oven}
- Chicken Wing Dry Rub Seasoning
- Pulled Pork in the Oven or Slow Cooker
- More Homemade Sauces
- Light and Sweet BBQ Sauce
- Copycat Chick-Fil-A Sauce
- Green Peppercorn Sauce
- Spicy Remoulade Sauce for Crab Cakes
- 📖 Recipe
- 💬 Comments
Why This is the Best Recipe
It took me over a decade of living in the South before I finally encountered one of the most beloved barbecue condiments in the region: Alabama white sauce.
Now that I've tried it, there's no going back. I think this is the best Alabama bbq sauce recipe because:
- Perfect Sharp BBQ Bite: The whole point of barbecue sauce is to enhance your savory seasoned meats. The burst of vinegar in this white sauce hits the back of your throat in all the best ways. Yes, mayo is involved, but I wouldn't describe this as a creamy sauce like you would a ranch dressing that clings.
- Just a Hint of Horseradish: Oh gosh I love the sinus-clearing kick from the taste of horseradish. The flavor is not too strong in this recipe, it just adds a subtle kick. If you love horseradish a lot, then you're looking for my sour cream horseradish sauce instead.
- Easy Prep: You can mix this whole condiment together in 5 minutes. No need to cook it or simmer it. It does taste better when you chill it before using, though.
Ingredients
The wonderful thing about Alabama bbq sauce is you likely have most of the ingredients hiding in your fridge right now:
- Mayonnaise: If you're making a Southern recipe, you simply must use Duke's.
- Apple Cider Vinegar: I love the hint of sweetness in an apple cider vinegar but it does affect the final color of the white sauce. If you're looking for a crisp-white white sauce, you may want to substitute a white vinegar here.
- Prepared Horseradish: This is just the horseradish itself, not the bottled horseradish cream sauce you can find in the condiment aisle.
- Worcestershire Sauce
- Cayenne Pepper: This does give the bbq sauce quite a kick but you could always adjust it to your taste.
- Salt and Pepper
How to Make the Sauce
Measure all the ingredients into a mixing bowl and whisk them together.
The sauce will be very light and slightly runny. It is not meant to be thick and clingy like a salad dressing.
I recommend chilling it for 2 hours before using so that the flavors have a chance to really mingle.
Storage Tips
This easy barbecue sauce has a shorter shelf life since it is so fresh. Store it in the fridge for up to 2 days.
As with most recipes that involve mayo, if you attempt to freeze the sauce expect that it may separate a bit during the thawing process.
In my experience, you can just whisk it back together but it's never quite as cohesive as when you make it fresh.
On a busy night? That's a trade-off I'm willing to make. So go ahead and freeze it if you want.
How to Use Alabama White Sauce
If you've never tried Alabama bbq sauce, you're in for a real treat. My baked Alabama bbq chicken recipe uses my favorite chicken wing dry rub and it pairs so well with this sauce!
You can bake chicken breasts, chicken thighs, broil chicken tenderloins, all with that seasoning.
If you're more a pulled pork fan, you can use Alabama white sauce in place of a more traditional tomato-based bbq sauce on pulled pork sandwiches or even these bbq chicken sliders made with pulled pork instead of the chicken.
More Homemade Sauces
I think a quick and easy sauce is often the star of the dinner plate. Elevate your favorite easy protein with one of these delicious dips:
📖 Recipe
Alabama BBQ Sauce
Ingredients
- 3/4 cup mayonnaise
- 2 tablespoons cider vinegar could substitute white vinegar for a more crisp white color to the sauce
- 2 teaspoons sugar
- 1 teaspoon prepared horseradish
- 1/2 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon pepper
- 1/4 teaspoon cayenne
Instructions
- Simply whisk all the ingredients together in a small bowl by hand. The small amount of horseradish will just blend right in and the sauce will be nice and smooth.
- Store prepared bbq sauce in the fridge for up to 2 days.
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