What Is Alabama White Barbecue Sauce
Scott may be a master in Carolina-style barbecue, but in expanding his restaurant to Birmingham, the team had to have Alabama White Sauce on the menu. The creamy sauce proved to be so popular, they added it to the menu at all of their restaurant locations.
“Alabama White Sauce is the only style of sauce that’s mayo-based,” Scott explains. “The flavor profile is usually a bit creamier, more on the savory side compared to the more vinegary profiles of Carolina sauces and the sweeter Kansas City styles. It’s best served on poultry like smoked chicken or turkey.”
Whip Up Some Alabama Style Sauce Today
Dont let the base of mayo in Alabama style sauce deter you. For a moist and delectable bird that will impress all your BBQ guests, add Alabama white BBQ sauce to your cooking recipe box. Whether you use it on wings or smoke your chicken, you will have a delicious meal no matter what route you take.
If youre looking to check out other unique sauces, along with some awesome craft beer, find a BeerSauce Shop location near you.
White Bbq Sauce Recipe
Team Fed + Fit decided that it was high time that we added more BBQ sauce recipes to the website, so we did just that! We started with tomato-based BBQ sauces , and then we looked to see what other BBQ sauces were out there. As it turns out, a lot of people go crazy for this Alabama-style BBQ sauce, so we did a lot of research, and then put our own spin on this different-but-delicious take on BBQ sauce.
Alabama-style white BBQ sauce is tangy, sweet, and has a hint of spice. While this sauce is typically served on chicken, its really delicious and has the potential to be used in all of the same ways as tomato-based BBQ sauce.
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About White Bbq Sauce
Its hard to pin down the first time that white bbq sauce was served, but it is known that ever since Bob Gibson opened his BBQ restaurant in 1925, it has been on the menu.
Today, many have heard of Big Bob Gibsons Bar-B-Q, which is located in Northern Alabama, because of the awards that Pitmaster, Chef, and part-owner Chris Lilly has amassed for his delicious smoked chicken and barbecue.
If you are in Alabama or the southeast, you can easily pick up a bottle at your local grocery store. If not, then use this recipe to make your own homemade barbecue sauce. Its a versatile condiment that is low-carb and tangy.
This BBQ staple is made with simple ingredients it has a mayonnaise base, black pepper, horseradish, spices, and the addition of vinegar, making it a tangy sauce perfect for chicken breasts, pork chops, pork tenderloin, pulled pork, and just about any piece of meat that youd like. Some people even use it as a dipping sauce for things like chicken nuggets and French fries. Its not like traditional barbecue sauce recipes that are tomato-based.
We all probably have all of the ingredients already in our pantry and it comes together in no time. The hardest part about making it is waiting a few hours for the flavors to meld before using it.
How To Make White Bbq Sauce The Recipe Steps
First, add all of the ingredients to a large bowl mayonnaise, apple cider vinegar, brown mustard, brown sugar, horseradish, lemon juice, Worcestershire sauce, hot sauce, garlic powder, onion powder, cayenne pepper, and salt and pepper.
Next, whisk everything together, like so.
Make sure the resulting bbq sauce is nice and uniform. It will look like this when youre done.
BOOM! All set. You are now the happy creator of your own Alabama white sauce. Nicely done.
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Use As A Dipping Sauce For Everything
Grilled shrimp, fresh veggies, crackers, french fries, mozzarella sticks, fried pickles, pretzels, wings when it comes to dipping and dunking Alabama white sauce, you have unlimited options.
While many brands offer their own take on this creamy, tangy Alabama White Sauce, but they’re not all created equal. Check the ingredients to ensure you’re getting the best when looking for a mayo-based sauce that’s true to Alabama white barbeque.
After years competing on the barbeque circuit, Chef Charlie McKenna created a sauce for each region where hes competed, including our Northern Alabama White SauceIvory.
Our Ivory Sauce is gluten-free, dairy-free, and nut-free. Unlike other sauces, we don’t use fillers or high fructose corn syrup.
One last pro tip: if youre planning to serve a massive BBQ spread that features multiple sauces, chicken dunked in our Ivory sauce would be the ideal complement to pulled pork covered in our ENC sauce.
How To Make Alabama White Bbq Sauce
This recipe comes to us from Georgia reader Sabrina Everett, who learned about the special sauce from Alabama relatives. Every time I make the sauce, it brings back memories of those summers in Tuscaloosa, she says.
Ingredients
Step 1: Whisk and Wait
Combine all the ingredients in a large bowl and whisk well. Cover and refrigerate overnight.
Step 2: Grill and Brush
Grill or smoke your meat of choice . During the last few minutes of cooking, brush your white sauce over the meat. Remove the meat from the grill or barbecue and serve, using the remaining sauce as a dip.
Test Kitchen tip: Its important to wait until your meat is almost finished cooking before brushing on the white sauce. If applied too early, the heat can cause the sauce to separate.
Cant get enough barbecue in your life? Check out our favorite barbecue sauce recipes!
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How To Make Alabama White Barbecue Sauce
Place mayonnaise in a small bowl and add the vinegar and lemon juice.
Next, add salt, pepper, and sugar to the mixing bowl.
Mix all ingredients together with a whisk or just put all of your ingredients into a large jar with a lid and give it a really good shake. Thats 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 yall, honest!
Where Did Alabama White Bbq Sauce Originate
Alabama BBQ sauce was made famous by Big Bob Gibson Bar-B-Q in Decatur, Alabama. They have massive hickory-fed pits that house their famous smoked split chickens. These chickens are slow smoked to a glorious golden brown at 350 degree F Their flavor is out of this world, but the real showstopper is the Alabama white BBQ sauce. These chickens are then dunked whole into massive vats of their homemade white BBQ sauce for a taste like you wouldnt believe.
Smoked chicken may be the most famous vessel for transporting this tangy and smooth sauce into your mouth, but its just the beginning! Alabama white BBQ sauce is incredibly versatile and has become a BBQ staple for good reason. It offers the ideal balance of flavors to enhance smoked or grilled meats and vegetables.
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How To Make Alabama White Sauce
The tangy goodness of mayonnaise combined with apple cider vinegar and spices enhances everything that Alabama White Sauce is put on from chicken to seafood to turkey and everything in between.
This recipe creates a white bbq sauce very similar to Big Bob Gibsons Original White Sauce which is known throughout the barbecuing community as the best white barbeque sauce.
If I Use This As A Marinade Or For Basting Do I Need Any Other Seasonings Or Dry Rubs
This sauce contains everything you need in my opinion. Maybe thats why its considered an all-purpose sauce in Alabama. But if you prefer extra seasoning check out my BBQ spice rub and Steak seasoning.
If you prefer a more traditional bbq sauce thats fine. I personally love a mustard based sauce from South Carolina. Mostly because it is tangy and not overly sweet like other tomato based sauces.
This is the exact reason why this white bbq sauce is my new favorite. If you like tangy vinegar based dressings, then this bbq sauce is for you! They tend to be thinner in consistency just like this one.
Use it as a dipping sauce for your Cajun fries too!
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Placing The Chicken On The Grill
We want the chicken to cook evenly on the grill. If you have a large grill or are using a smoker, you may not need to pay too much attention to the chicken while it cooks. I’m using a basic kettle grill that is large enough to indirectly grill the chicken. To start off, place the chicken on the grill skin side up, making sure that no live coals are directly underneath it or it can burn. It is necessary to rotate and bird to allow it to cook evenly, but we will discuss that later on.
What Is Kansas City
Brendan says the barbecue sauce we find in most U.S. grocery stores is what smoked meat enthusiasts would call a Kansas City-style “finishing sauce,” a variety first developed by Henry Perry, a Black chef and restaurateur who, in 1908, got his start in the barbecue business serving smoked meats to Garment District workers in Downtown Kansas City.
Known as the “father of Kansas City barbecue,” Perry went on to open his own barbecue restaurant and was inducted into the American Royal Barbecue Hall of Fame in 2014. It’s said that the barbecue legend added a significant amount of molasses to his sauce putting Kansas City on the map as one of the most famous barbecue hubs in the country and giving its signature sauce a reputation for being thick and tomato-based with sweet, spicy and tangy flavor profiles.
Eudell Watts IV is the great-great-grandson of one of the country’s original pitmasters, Arthur Watts, who developed his barbecue sauce recipe over 160 years ago. Today, Watts carries on the family legacy with his family’s company Old Arthur’s Barbecue Sauce, which sells original and hot and spicy sauce varieties in addition to barbecue rubs.
“When it was known that we intended to make Arthur’s sauce and rubs, there was always an air of excitement in the house,” says Watts. “This was partially due to the anticipated treat that awaited, but also a pride in the uniqueness of Arthur’s legacy which we still share today.”
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What Is Alabama White Sauce
The head pitmaster of Big Bob Gibsons restaurant, Chris Lilly, first shared their restaurant original recipe which was measured in gallons and is a fairly simple mixture of mayonnaise, corn syrup, vinegar, and salt/pepper. My zesty version has the same sweet and tangy notes that make all BBQ sauces the perfect complement to smoked meats, but an Alabama white sauce is mayonnaise based, instead of tomato based, which gives it a great creamy flavor profile.
I first met Chris at a Guinness World Record event for the Largest Grilling Lesson in 2017 , and I was so incredibly impressed with his knowledge of all things BBQ. I consider my recipe an homage to the restaurant-style original with a little Hey Grill Hey kick.
Who Created Alabama White Sauce
Bob Gibson popularized the creamy, peppery sauce known nationwide as Alabama white sauce. When he opened his barbecue restaurant in northern Alabama in 1925, the white sauce was on the menu. It quickly proved to be the perfect poultry pairing, with mayo to keep the meat moist and vinegar and spice to balance the fat.
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Use On Grilled Or Smoked Chicken
Traditional Alabama-style barbeque chicken starts with whole chickens spatchcocked to lay flat with a simple salt and pepper rub. This dish is cooked at a slightly higher temperature, around 275 degrees, so the skin gets crispy. When the meat is fully smoked, dunk it in the white sauce.
You dont even need to warm the sauce before using it. The finished product youre pulling off the heat will remain warm enough to heat the sauce.
If youre grilling chicken, apply the Alabama white sauce during the chickens last five or so minutes on the grill. Avoid bringing the sauce over direct heat to create an Ivory glaze. Then, serve with more on the side.
Why You’ll Love This Recipe
All of the ingredients get whisked together without any cooking involved.
Its a great sauce that everyone can enjoy!
Youll be able to find all the ingredients at your local grocery store.
Its the perfect gift to bring to an outdoor barbecue.
Youll be able to recreate the flavour of Bob Gibsons famous sauce from scratch right at home.
Because its creamy, it has many other uses than just for grilled food.
This recipe is made with only 7 ingredients.
The spicy and tangy kick can be modified to fit your preferences.
It can be made ahead to save you time in the kitchen.
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The Legend Of Big Bob Gibson
Big Bob Gibson is a true barbecue legend in Alabama, where in 1925 he first managed with no more than some smoking wood and with a pinch of salt to cook the tastiest chicken and pork in a homemade pit.
To this day, the white dipping sauce he served with his barbecue dishes consists of a simple combination of mayonnaise, black pepper and vinegar. Meanwhile, Big Bob Gibson Bar-B-Q has grown into a national phenomenon and pilgrimage site for barbecue lovers and youll find yourself standing in a long queue in the middle of a weekday.
Alabama White Barbecue Sauce Recipe
On the surface, the idea of a tangy hot mayonnaise may not strike the mouthwatering response of its tomato-based brethren, but one taste and I’m sure you’ll be sold.
- 1 cup apple cider vinegar
- 1/2 cup apple juice
- 2 teaspoons freshly ground black pepper
- 2 teaspoons freshly squeezed juice from 1 lemon
- 1 teaspoon Kosher salt
- 1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper
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Alabama Barbecue Chicken With White Sauce
If you have never tried Alabama Barbecue Chicken with White Sauce, I know three good reasons you should. It’s easy, it’s cheap, and it’s delicious. This barbecued chicken is butterflied to help it cook quickly and evenly and while you probably have most of the ingredients for this recipe, it will not break the bank if you need to buy them. The smoked chicken is topped by a delicious, tart sauce that creates a truly unique form of barbecue that I’m certain you will make again and again.
We’re going to butterfly this chicken, give it a light coating of oil, season with salt and pepper, and cook it indirectly on the grill with some hickory chunks for smoke. At around 300 to 325 degrees F., the whole chicken should take about 3 hours to cook. From the grill, it is dipped into the sauce and then goes to the table. The process is easy and the results wonderful.
What we need:
When it comes to the equipment you need the best solution is a charcoal grill large enough to cook a whole, butterflied chicken indirectly. You can use a smoker, but we want to cook our chicken at a higher temperature than traditional low and slow barbecue . We’ll be cooking at around 300 to 325 degrees F. so, make sure to hold this temperature for about 3 to 3 1/2 hours depending on the size of your chicken.
Who Invented Alabama White Sauce
Alabama-style white barbecue sauce was invented by Robert Gibson at Big Bob Gibsons Bar-B-Q in Decatur, Alabama. He would serve it on his chickens for weekend backyard barbecues back in the 1920s before he had his restaurant. Each smoked chicken would be dipped in this sauce to keep it from drying out. The sauce began to be bottled and sold at grocery stores in the 1990s, but why buy it when you can make it anytime you are craving it?
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White Barbecue Sauce History
Bob Gibson, of Big Bob Gibson Bar-B-Q in Decatur, Alabama, is credited with creating white barbecue sauce in 1925.
The white sauce was never really intended to accompany meats like beef brisket. Instead, it was meant to accompany chicken and turkey and to be used as a finishing sauce rather than as a basting medium while the meat is grilling.
Gibson smoked whole chickens for three hours and to keep them from drying out, he devised the white sauce to dunk them in once they came off the pit and were held for service. He thought the fat in the mayonnaise helped them to stay juicy.
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What Can You Do With Leftover White Bbq Sauce
This BBQ sauce is just as versatile as the classic, tomato-based stuff! You can use it on any cooked animal protein, as a dipping sauce for french fries or chicken tenders, or as a sandwich spread . Get creative here it may even make for a really fun twist on a traditional pasta salad sauce/dressing!
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How Can You Tell If Youre Working With High
When it comes to sauces, its all about the ingredients. A good white sauce will start with real, high-quality mayothat means mayo made with real eggs. Quality Alabama white sauce also will not feature any fake sugars. The best versions will be zero sugar and keto-friendly.
If your white saucetastes like ranch, thats another sign youre not quite on the right track. Ranch is thin and buttermilky, while white sauce should be thicker and richer, with more tang from the vinegar. It will have a bite similar to that of Carolina BBQ sauce.
