This is our family’s go-to mustard-based BBQ sauce recipe. We give it — and our rub — as gifts to friends and family around the holidays.
And it is a staple at our annual pig pickin’ every Christmas Eve. Even people who profess to hate mustard BBQ sauces seem to love this one.
Carolina Gold sauce is probably one of the most distinctive regional barbecue sauces. Its defining aspect is mustard, and incontrovertibly so. The playground-yellow condiment is a legacy of the 18th century German settlers to South Carolina, who preferred to eat their smoked meats with mustard.
How to use Mustard-based BBQ Sauce
Any one of these “Carolina Gold” sauces can be used in a variety of ways.
In South Carolina, it is most often served on “barbecue.” By that, I mean pork, cooked low and slow preferably over wood embers. Sometimes that pork is pulled, sometimes chopped.
Maurice Bessinger’s mustard sauce on ribs. courtesy of Maurice’s. Photo by
Mustard sauces can also be used on various cuts of pork ribs. It offers a mouth-watering tanginess to the ribs.
About the only other type of meat you will regularly find mustard sauce used on is chicken. It makes for a fantastic barbecued chicken.
However, the sauce is often an ingredient in South Carolina hash, a traditional side served in roughly half of the state’s barbecue joints.
As for other uses, I have heard of folks using mustard sauces as sort of an “upgraded” plain mustard, using it on things like hot dogs, but I have never used it that way.
For our vegetarian and vegan friends, this homemade mustard sauce recipe also works great to make BBQ jackfruit. We have made it several times ourselves.
Whatever you choose to try it on, enjoy South Carolina’s Best Mustard-Based BBQ Sauce Recipe:
How to Make Mustard-based BBQ Sauce
While there are some authentic South Carolina mustard sauces available for purchase online and locally in restaurants and stores around the state, homemade mustard BBQ sauce is so easy to make — with simple ingredients that you likely already have on hand — there’s no reason not to make it yourself.
Plus, this recipe is truly the best. Try it; you’ll see.
You will need the following ingredients:
- Yellow Mustard
- White Sugar
- Light Brown Sugar
- Apple Cider Vinegar
- Water
- Chili Powder
- Black Pepper
- White Pepper
- Cayenne Pepper
- Soy Sauce
- Butter
- Liquid Smoke
- Hot sauce (optional)
Note: there is no ketchup in this barbecue sauce at all! This is true for most of “Carolina Gold” sauces, with one notable exception we’ll get to below.
Note also, that in South Carolina, we use YELLOW mustard for this sauce. If you want to whip up an authentic batch, don’t use any other kind of mustard.
Sure you could use a dijon mustard, a whole grain mustard, or even a spicy brown mustard, but you won’t get a true Carolina mustard sauce.
Personally, we use French’s, but Sauer’s is a popular brand that you might consider.
To make this quick and easy homemade, old-fashioned mustard sauce, just mix all but the last three required ingredients together in a saucepan. Bring the mix up to a simmer (don’t boil) and simmer for about a half-hour.
At this point, you will add in the final ingredients and simmer for 10 more minutes.
While you can use it right away (and we often have), you’ll find that if you make it a day ahead, the flavors have a chance to meld, making it even better.
The Hidden History You Never Knew About #BBQ Sauce | #TheTea | #SouthernLiving
FAQ
Who invented mustard based BBQ sauce?
What state is known for mustard BBQ?
Is Carolina BBQ vinegar based or mustard based?
Where did barbecue sauce originate?
Who made the first mustard barbecue sauce?
In short, the first mustard barbecue sauce recipe was likely made by someone near Holly Hill, South Carolina, in the early 1930s. There is a lot of chatter that our Carolina mustard sauce emerged from the descendants of German immigrants. It is a reasonable suggestion. Germans do enjoy their mustard (and homemade sausages ).
Where did barbecue sauce come from?
References to the sauce start occurring in both English and French literature over the next two hundred years. South Carolina mustard sauce, a type of barbecue sauce, can be traced to German settlers in the 18th century. Early homemade barbecue sauces were made with vinegar, salt, and pepper.
Does South Carolina use mustard based barbecue sauce?
Mustard-based barbecue sauces are only really something seen in South Carolina-style barbecue. Much like the North of the state, South Carolina uses its barbecue sauce as a marinade for dressing a variety of pork cuts. Yellow mustard is diluted with vinegar to give it a thinner consistency.
Is Alabama white sauce based or mustard based?
Alabama White Sauce is mayonnaise based, instead of tomato-based, which gives it a great creamy flavor profile. But in South Carolina, their sauce is mustard based. Mustard-based BBQ sauces add an extra element to BBQ sauce that you don’t always get from the more “traditional” sauces.