Even though Fall is officially upon us, the temperature in many places is still perfect for grilling. That’s why I wanted to go ahead and share this Alabama White BBQ Sauce with you. Now, most folks are probably scratching their heads right now and saying, “White barbecue sauce?” This mayo-based concoction is hugely popular in north Alabama and was made famous by the amazing barbecue joint Big Bob Gibson. I love it on grilled or smoked chicken or turkey, but it’s also great on pork. I recommend basting with it toward the end of cooking and serving it with the meat as a dipping sauce. It’s also great on lots of other things, too – salads, as a dip for chips or pretzels, you name it! If you’ve never tried this, I bet you’re going to love this deliciously tangy sauce.
Recipe Card
Alabama White BBQ Sauce
Ingredients
- 1 cup mayonnaise
- 1 tablespoon creole mustard
- 1 teaspoon prepared horseradish
- 1 clove garlic, minced
- 1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper (or more to taste)
- 1/4 cup white vinegar
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 teaspoon paprika
Instructions
- Combine the ingredients in a medium bowl. Refrigerate at least 1 hour to allow the flavors to develop. Keep refrigerated in an airtight container for up to a week.
Notes
We used to live in Northern Alabama and when we moved to Texas we missed the white barbeque sauce. This is the best Alabama White BBQ Sauce recipe out there! I have been making it for 5 years or so. Delicious!!
Our favorite way to eat it is on a pulled pork loaded baked potato. I like mine with this sauce, and traditional BBQ sauce. Yum!!
Lots of our friends here in Texas are now big fans of Alabama White BBQ Sauce! Thanks for the recipe!!
Thank you so much!
There are numerous options to food that is traditional Korean barbecue. Los Angeles is home to several restaurants offering Korean bulgogi and Korean barbecue. There are numerous Korean hot pots that customers can try. These are generally served with rice. In the Korean barbecue section in the menu you will find numerous options to choose from. It is possible to find the best Korean BBQ spot to satisfy your appetite. You can also find restaurants in Koreatown offering this food.
I gave this recipe for stars for ease to prepare. I am not from the South, and prefer a sweeter BBQ sauce. Is there any way to sweeten this sauce? Thank you and have a great day!
This is Tracy Silies. I meant to say that I gave the recipe FOUR stars. LOL
Thanks, Tracy! This isn’t meant to be like a tomato-based typical bbq sauce, but I certainly think you could ad more sugar to it if you wanted.
more sugar? Is there supposed to be sugar in the recipe?
Thanks!
Love Alabama White Sauce on my brisket.
No, it was just a little slip. When you’ve got thousands of recipes, it’s hard to remember all the little details. 🙂
Hi, Stacey!!
The only two things I use horseradish for is in my cocktail sauce for boiled shrimp, and my Bloody Mary’s! lol Otherwise I can’t stand the stuff, so I leave it out of my White BBQ Sauce, and it works just fine for me! 🙂
What kind of mayonnaise did you use?
I’m usually not brand specific except for flour, ketchup, and mayo. In my house, we only use Duke’s Mayo.
It was pretty good but the apple vinegar overpowered the flavor. Is there a way to cut that flavor, maybe with sugar?
This definitely has a vinegar-based flavor, but I’ve never found it overpowering. Did you use unfiltered vinegar by chance?
Can you freeze this?
I’m not a big fan of freezing mayo based sauces.
is It safe to warm the sauce and leave out as a condiment at a pig roast for a couple hours or should it be kept cold
This is really best served chilled since it has the mayo in it.
I’m an avid bbq/smoker/griller and have used Bob Gibson’s White BBQ sauce in the past. When I found your recipe I decided to give it a try. I soaked boneless/skinless chicken thighs in your sauce for 24 hrs. Today, I put them in my smoker for a couple of hrs. (along with a rack of rubbed ribs) using pecan and hickory chunks. Finished them directly over the coals for a few minutes each side, flipping often to prevent burning. Very nice! Thank you for sharing your recipe. I will using it again. I’m tempted to try soaking a rack of ribs in it one of these days.
I’m so glad you enjoyed it, Don!
I can remember this sauce being served/given from a bbq rest. in Decatur, Al. almost 46 yrs. ago, and it’s still going around.
Oh, yes!
We tried it and we loved it. Thank you for this recipe!
So glad!
Having been born and raised in Decatur, Alabama, I of course have deep frequent cravings for this tangy white barbeque sauce …. it is the ONLY sauce I want on my barbequed chicken! Thanks for sharing it!
However … I must correct a small typo …. it was originated and is served at Big Bob Gibson’s Barbeque …. NOT Gipson’s … restaurant right near the center of the city on Hwy 31 N/ 6th Ave SE.
My pleasure, Sandra! Enjoy!!
Sound Good , Thank you Sharing, I Live Missouri .can I ask you send to cookbook I want Look see cookbook , this is ok . Let me know? I’am Deaf . nice meet you too.
Never had this growing up in Alabama. I was told about the strangeness of White Alabama BBQ sauce while living in North Carolina. So I decided to make it and try it myself. Now I’m living Iowa and sharing the Joy and wondrous goodness of this sauce with all my in laws and neighbors. It’s not their first choice, but the ones who have tried it love it.
We sure enjoy here at our house! Glad y’all are too!
Thank you so much for sharing this recipe!! There is quite a bit of things that I can not eat simply because my body rejects it. I have to avoid all grains, preservatives and “fake” foods…which really isn’t bad as it makes for a healthy body. However, adjusting to this lifestyle was quite eye opening as far as all of the crap that is in the majority of all pre-made food and an up and down adventure to say the least. There are so many amazing recipes out there that help me live the lifestyle with food that I need to live BUT I have yet to find a bar-b-q sauce that I really enjoy that my body will tolerate. I discovered white bar-b-q sauce at a restaurant a couple of years ago and have struggled to find a recipe and there are NO pre-made sauces that are pure enough. Now I have found your recipe and I can not express enough how happy I feel over it! LOL! Sounds pathetic but I like food that tastes GOOD so having this yummy sauce when there are very few sauces I can eat, is very exciting!! We use it as a dipping sauce for smoked brisket and it is AMAZING. I will also now use it in coleslaw and on other meats but the brisket is my favorite. Thank you SO much for sharing!!
Wonderful! So glad you’re enjoying it!!
Tammy, thank you so much for sharing your story. I can relate as I too can’t eat many things. It’s definitely NOT pathetic to have a “sophistacated”, if you will, taste buds! Haha…
Again, thank you Tammy and good luck on your quest for delicious foods! ????
I grew up in north Alabama and have been using this white sauce for years and years. Nothing compares. Whenever we have dinner guests from the North, I like to cook a real southern meal and this never disappoints. We usually grill chicken leg quarters because a breast just isn’t enough for one person!! Now….if you could replicate Gibson’s BBQ Bean recipe, I’d be a happy gal!! So delicious.
Ha! Sounds great, Robbie!
Robbie, in my opinion, the beans at The Pig Stand on Hwy 31 in Hartselle can’t be beat. They add some of their shredded BBQ meat to the bean mixture and it’s fantastic. When you make baked beans, don’t forget to add a little ginger…stops the “toots”…
I never knew that about the ginger! Thanks Genie.
My husband’s family is from Cullman, AL and he says they use this sauce on everything! Can’t wait to surprise him with this!
Keep up the good work, Stacey!
I sure hope he’ll enjoy it!
I’ve been making a version of this for years but yours offers some new add-ins I haven’t tried. Mine has more black pepper and a pinch of sugar. I will definitely try adding mustard next time.
I don’t have plain white vinegar but I have cider vinegar…. think it will taste the same?
The taste will be slightly different, but just as delicious!
After the first time I made it as shown, I tried cider vinegar the next time and loved the flavor.
Glad you enjoyed it!
Hi Stacey! I just got back from Alabama and had this while I was there. I can’t wait to whip-up a batch using your recipe. Love it!
I hope you’ll enjoy it, Melissa!
Thanks for sharing!
Absolutely! My pleasure!
I LOVE white sauce! The old Greenbrier makes my favorite 🙂
Love theirs, too!
I can’t wait to make this! Thanks for sharing!
Enjoy!
I have only recently heard of White BBQ sauce. I have been missing out. Can’t want to try this.
It’s so good! Enjoy!
While we are in Memphis and of course favor Memphis style BBQ, we also love Alabama style white sauce. It’s amazing how few people have heard of it, but it’s fantastic.
Yes it is! We love it!
Hi Stacy! I live in Northeast Alabama and I have never heard of this sauce until a recent visit to Sonny’s Bar-b-que in Geirgia! It sounds like a delicious sauce! Thanks for sharing the recipe! Blessings from Bama!
You are so welcome! Thank you!
My mouth is watering right now! Can’t wait to try it!
I hope you’ll enjoy it!
We do competition BBQ and we baste our chicken in this very same sauce. We also use as a cole slaw dressing and dipping sauce. It is a very versatile sauce. You will love it.
Yum!!
My daughter got to try the Alabama BBQ sauce this past weekend while we were there for the retreat. She went to a BBQ place and they served it. She said she never heard of it. Passing along your recipe to her…she really enjoyed it.
I hope she will enjoy this one too!
This is SO good! We keep a jar in our fridge at ALL times, but ours has quite a bit more horseradish.
This sauce looks so delicious! Thanks Stacey!
You are so welcome! Enjoy!
Thanks for th new recipe, Stacey! I can’t wait to try it!
I sure hope you’ll enjoy it!
I have never had the pleasure of white BBQ sauce but this looks great. I have all of the ingredients on hand so I will mix some up today.
This seems like it would be good as a slaw dressing. I don’t cook much at home and I do t know if I could use this dressing within a week. Or I could share with my neighbor if you don’t think it would make a good slaw dressing.
I think it certainly would make a good slaw dressing.
Stacey, I loved the white BBQ sauce! I let it meld in the fridge for about 6 hours and then used it as a dipping sauce for my first pork tenderloin (that I made myself). Sides were yellow rice and okra/tomatoes . They went together perfectly! Now I am a convert to Alabama white Bbq sauce! Move over, red BBQ sauce! Thanks!
So glad y’all enjoyed it!!
I’ve kept it refrigerated much longer than a week without any problems.
How much longer? haha
Do not have creole mustard in Canada what could I use instead to make the white allabama barbecue sauce.It sounds so could can you suggest another mustard I could maybe use thanks so much
Charlene, do you have stone ground mustard in Canada? It would be the closest thing I can imagine. You might also try Googling a creole mustard recipe. Good luck!
Yep, that will work, too!
Any spicy brown mustard should work fine.