Alabama White Sauce

by Sabrina Snyder

Last Update:

9 Comments

5 from 3 votes
24 servings
Prep Time 5 minutes
Chill 2 hours
Total Time 2 hours 5 minutes
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Alabama White Sauce is a tangy, spicy sauce that’s perfect for your favorite grilled meats. Try it out at your next summer BBQ with friends!

If you are looking for a change from sweet, tomato-based sauces like Homemade BBQ Sauce or Root Beer BBQ Sauce, this tangy and peppery Sauce Recipe is just what you need! It won’t disappoint!

jar of sauce with a spoon in it
collage of ingredients and finished mixing in a bowl

Sabrina’s Alabama White Sauce Recipe

Alabama White Sauce is a thin, creamy barbecue sauce perfect for basting grilled and smoked chicken. This amazing and delicious barbecue sauce is my take on the Alabama-style sauce invented by Bob Gibson of Big Bob Gibson Bar-B-Que. No need to travel all the way to Decatur, Alabama or wait for a bottle to arrive to try out (and fall in love with) this different style of BBQ sauce.

Recipe Card

Dinner, then Dessert

Alabama White Sauce Recipe

Alabama White Sauce is a tangy, spicy sauce that's perfect for your favorite grilled meats. Try it out at your next summer BBQ with friends!
Yield 24 servings
Prep Time 5 minutes
Total Time 2 hours 5 minutes
Course Sauce
Cuisine American
Author Sabrina Snyder
jar of sauce with a spoon in it
PrintRate

Ingredients
 

  • 2 cups mayonnaise
  • 1/2 cup apple cider vinegar
  • 1/4 cup prepared horseradish
  • 2 tablespoons lemon juice , freshly squeezed
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons coarse ground black pepper
  • 2 teaspoons yellow mustard
  • 1 teaspoon kosher salt
  • 1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper
  • 1/4 teaspoon garlic powder

Instructions

  • Whisk all the ingredients together in a large bowl and refrigerate for at least 2 hours before using.
  • To use while cooking meat, baste in the last 5-7 minutes of cooking.

Nutrition

Calories: 130kcal | Carbohydrates: 1g | Protein: 0.3g | Fat: 14g | Saturated Fat: 2g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 8g | Monounsaturated Fat: 3g | Trans Fat: 0.03g | Cholesterol: 8mg | Sodium: 231mg | Potassium: 18mg | Fiber: 0.1g | Sugar: 0.4g | Vitamin A: 31IU | Vitamin C: 1mg | Calcium: 4mg | Iron: 0.1mg

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Sabrina’s Tip

Alabama White BBQ Sauce should be creamy and thin, perfect for drizzling or basting meat. Whisk the ingredients together until there are no clumps and it is smooth. If your sauce is too thick, add more lemon juice or cider vinegar in small amounts until the consistency is right.

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About this Recipe

Just a glance at this sauce and you know it’s like nothing you’ve had before. If you’ve never tried Alabama White BBQ Sauce, the big question is what does white barbecue sauce taste like? This recipe is tangy, peppery, with bite from the horseradish. It is not a sweet sauce, like other barbecue sauces, but the mayo makes it so creamy and delicious. What sets it apart is there are no tomatoes and you don’t have to cook it down. This no-cook barbecue sauce is simple ingredients like mayonnaise, horseradish, and cider vinegar all whisked together. It’s made in minutes and then you allow it to chill for a few hours, similar to Coleslaw, for an amazing tangy, creamy sauce.

Can this be made ahead of time?

Yes, this sauce can definitely be made ahead of time. Since it needs to cool in the fridge for two hours it’s actually best that you make it ahead of time. This sauce will also keep in the fridge for up to a week so if you are wanting to get some prep work out of the way for your Summer BBQ go ahead and make a day or two in advance.

Recipe Tips & Tricks

  • Like sweet barbecue sauces, you want to baste the meat once it has been cooking a while so the sauce doesn’t burn or separate on the grill.
  • Reserve half of the sauce before you begin marinating the chicken (or other meat) to avoid contamination. Wait until your meat has been cooking over half way before brushing on the white sauce. Sear with one final coat of sauce on each side before you take the meat off the grill.

Pairing Suggestions

You can serve Alabama White BBQ Sauce as a condiment or a marinade, after it has chilled, with all your favorites summer recipes! Brush it on Grilled Chicken, drizzle over Pulled Pork, or serve as a dipping sauce for Beef Brisket. Use this barbecue sauce to toss BBQ Chicken Wings in before you broil them at the end.

How to Store

  • Serve: Since it is mayo-based, the White Sauce needs to be chilled and can only be at room temperature for up to 2 hours.
  • Store: Keep Alabama White Sauce in an airtight container in the refrigerator up to 1 week.
  • Freeze: You should not freeze this sauce. The natural moisture will cause the mayonnaise to separate when thawed and the sauce won’t come back together.

Variations

  • Horseradish: If you want less bite, you can make the sauce without horseradish. Either leave it out or replace it with Dijon mustard.
  • Mustard: You can use any kind of mustard in this recipe. Try spicy brown mustard for more kick or a honey mustard for sweetness.
  • Sugar: If you want to make this sauce sweet, add 2 tablespoons white sugar or brown sugar. You could also add honey or maple syrup too!
  • Mayonnaise: To make Healthy White BBQ Sauce, replace the mayo with canola oil or reduced fat mayonnaise. If you use vegan mayo, reduce the vinegar because it has a lot of apple cider vinegar already.
  • Seasonings: Adjust the seasonings based on the taste you like and what you have on hand. Add a splash of Worcestershire sauce or swap in white vinegar. Make it spicy by adding your favorite hot sauce.

More Delicious Sauce Recipes

Collage of white sauce both finished and with unmixed ingredients

About the Author: Sabrina Snyder

Sabrina is a professionally trained Private Chef of over 10 years with ServSafe Manager certification in food safety. She creates all the recipes here on Dinner, then Dessert, fueled in no small part by her love for bacon.

Sabrina Snyder is a professionally trained personal and private chef of over 10 years who is the creator and developer of all the recipes on Dinner, then Dessert.

She is also the author of the cookbook Dinner, then Dessert – Satisfying Meals Using Only 3, 5 or 7 Ingredients, published by Harper Collins.

She started Dinner, then Dessert as a business in her office as a lunch service for her coworkers who admired her lunches before going to culinary school and becoming a full time personal chef and private chef.

As a personal chef Sabrina would cook for families one day a week and cook their entire week of dinners. All grocery shopping, cooking and cleaning was done along with instructions on reheating. As a private chef she cooked for private parties and cooked in family homes in the evenings for families on a nightly basis after working as a personal chef during the day.

Sabrina has been certified as a ServSafe Manager since 2007 and was a longstanding member of the USPCA Personal Chef Association including being on the board of the Washington DC Chapter of Chefs in the US Personal Chef Association when they won Chapter of the year.

As a member of the community of food website creators Sabrina Snyder has spoken at many conferences regarding her experiences as a food writer including the Indulge Food Conference, Everything Food Conference, Haven Food Conference and IACP Annual Food Professionals Conference.

Sabrina lives with her family in sunny California.

See more posts by Sabrina

Dinner, then Dessert, Inc. owns the copyright on all images and text and does not allow for its original recipes and pictures to be reproduced anywhere other than at this site unless authorization is given. Read my disclosure and copyright policy. This post may contain affiliate links.

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Comments

  2. This sauce looks so yummy and I want to try it this summer but I would need to substitute something else for the mayo because of an egg allergy. Could you possibly suggest something else I could use instead? I hate the idea of changing the recipe and I figure you would be the best person to ask.
    Thank you.
    – Lauren Rush

    Reply

    1. Hi Lauren,

      Some people have found blending avocado and sour cream adds creaminess with fat, but you’d of course have an avocado flavor to it?

      I realize this comment is very old, so I am so sorry for the delay in replying.

      Reply

  4. OMG this is so good, a neighbor made it for us last week, I’d never heard of it. Can’t wait to put it on my menu!

    Reply