One of the things I found out when working on my Alabama Hometown Cookbook for the Hometown Cookbook series is that Alabama has several styles of barbecue sauce! That goes for every state in the United States! States and regions may have generic styles of sauce – but no two sauces served up in one barbecue joint to another is the same.
That’s half the fun for barbecue people – especially restaurant owners. Developing their sauces to serve their customers. Sure, there are “North Carolina” finishing sauces, Tennessee Whiskey Sauces, Mustard sauces, citrus-based sauces, and even Tex-Mex barbecue sauces. And countless others.
Then – there’s Alabama White Sauce!
If you’re in search of great barbecue in many parts of Alabama, as well as some other Southern barbecue hotbeds, then chances are you’ll be offered some Alabama White Barbecue Sauce. This sauce is great on smoked chicken and turkey but also does wonders for pork and beef.
The striking thing about Alabama White sauce is obvious… the color. This sauce is mayonnaise-based so it’s most often white – or a shade of white depending on the ingredients. Most sauces people are familiar with tend to be red if tomato-based or yellowish – if the main ingredient is mustard.
White sauce can be a “sauce” but it is also used as a marinade for poultry and seafood. It can be slathered over whole chickens, cut-ups, leg quarters, spatchcock-cut, and even wings while grilling or smoking. And, it can be served up as a drizzle sauce for a fresh pulled smoked chicken sandwich!
It’s a very versatile sauce! Here’s what you need to get started.
Alabama White Barbecue Sauce
This version of Alabama White barbecue sauce appeared in my cookbook titled The Alabama Hometown Cookbook. But, I’ve also used variations of it in some of my other titles as well. The main difference is the addition of some extra flavor in the way of hot sauce, jalapeno, etc.
Feel free to halve the ingredient list for a smaller batch to try – then tweaks as you wish! I’ll give two versions below so you can see my slight variations in ingredients.
Alabama White Barbecue Sauce
Ingredients
- 2 cups Mayonnaise
- ½ cup apple cider vinegar
- 2 Tbsp lemon juice
- 1 Tbsp Worcestershire sauce
- 2 tsp ground black pepper
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 tsp cayenne pepper
- 1-2 tsp horseradish optional
Instructions
- Combine in a bowl, cover, and chill before serving. You can adjustthe amount of apple cider vinegar for a thinner sauce with a bit morebite!
Nutrition
Spicy White Alabama Barbecue Sauce
This is another version of a white barbecue sauce that has a pinkish hue to it. It’s great on any poultry as well as seafood. The sour cream makes for a nice creamy texture.
Spicy Alabama White BBQ Sauce
Ingredients
- 1 ½ cup mayonnaise
- ½ cup sour cream
- ¼ cup apple cider vinegar
- ¼ cup ketchup
- 1 Tbsp hot sauce
- 1 Tbsp Worcestershire sauce
- dashes salt and pepper
- 1 tsp cayenne pepper
- 1-2 tsp horseradish optional
Instructions
- Combine in a bowl, cover, and chill before serving. You can adjust the amount of apple cider vinegar for a thinner sauce with a bit more bite!
Nutrition
Author Bio: Kent Whitaker, also known as “The Deck Chef,” is an award-winning culinary writer and cookbook author. He’s also penned Young Reader, NASCAR, and History titles. The former winner of the Emeril Live Food Network Barbecue Contest also covers football, motorsports, and bass fishing. Kent currently lives in East Tennessee with his wife, son, and a couple of dogs that love it when he fires up the smoker or grill. You can reach out to Kent at www.thedeckchef.com, Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter.