Carolina Gold BBQ Sauce Recipe
Carolina Gold BBQ Sauce – Bright, tangy, and just a bit sweet, this sauce is the perfect way to elevate smoked and grilled meats to a new level. It’s also super easy to whip up! Just a dozen pantry staples, and you’ve got a golden delicacy ready to slather over all your favorite meats. 💛
Everybody loves a good homemade BBQ sauce. And this Carolina mustard BBQ sauce is no exception. But don’t let the from-scratch element scare you off because this recipe is easy! Just gather your ingredients, do some mixing, and be ready to taste test. 😋
Plus, this sauce is crazy versatile! It tastes great on any meat – and I mean any meat. Chicken, pork, beef, and even lamb or venison – you name it, Carolina Gold will enhance it. What’s more, you can use it as a marinade, drizzling sauce, or dipping sauce.
What Does Carolina Gold BBQ Sauce Taste Like?
If you’re new to Carolina Gold BBQ sauce, you’re in for a treat. To get an idea, envision honey mustard with deeper umami notes, smokey elements, a kick of spice, and a hearty dose of tang from the apple cider vinegar. Get ready to delight your taste buds with this one! 🤤
Recipe Ingredients
- Wet Ingredients – This vinegar-based sauce calls for yellow mustard, honey, apple cider vinegar, tomato paste, and Worcestershire sauce.
- Dry Ingredients – Just a few pantry staples round out this sauce. Garlic and onion powder, brown sugar, smoked paprika, cayenne pepper, and some S&P are all you need.
How to Make Carolina Gold BBQ Sauce
- Mix – In a medium bowl, mix yellow mustard, honey, garlic powder, onion powder, brown sugar, apple cider vinegar, smoked paprika, tomato paste, Worcestershire sauce, cayenne pepper, and ground black pepper until thoroughly combined.
- Taste Test – Adjust seasonings to taste. If you want a sweeter sauce, add more honey; if you prefer a more acidic sauce, add more vinegar. Taste and adjust ingredients as you go.
- Store – Once you’re happy with the flavor, store your sauce in an airtight container and refrigerate until ready to use.
Recipe Variations
- Keto-friendly: Omit the brown sugar and honey and add stevia or monkfruit for your slight sweetness.
- Keep it mild: I like a kick of spice, but if you want a milder sauce, just omit the cayenne pepper.
- Extra spicy: On the other hand, if you love spicy food, up the heat with extra cayenne and a dash of your favorite hot sauce. ❤️🔥
Tips and Tricks
- Yellow mustard is best for this recipe. It’s less spicy than Dijon or brown mustard, with a milder, smoother flavor that forms the perfect base for this sauce. Trust the Southerners on this one. 😉
- Don’t skip the taste test. You want a perfect balance between the mustard and apple cider vinegar’s tang, the sweetness of the honey and brown sugar, and the savory ingredients. Taste, and don’t be afraid to modify the ingredient as you go.
- If you become a huge fan of homemade Carolina Gold, buy yourself a restaurant-style squeeze bottle to store the sauce. It makes dispensing the sauce for dipping or dousing super easy, and you won’t need to clean up spills. 😅
Make-Ahead Instructions
This sauce keeps well for about a week in the fridge and up to three months in the freezer, so making it ahead is totally an option. If you freeze it, just let it thaw in the fridge the night before you use it.
Serving and Storage Instructions
Serve Carolina Gold BBQ sauce drizzled over grilled or smoked meats or in little ramekins as a dipping sauce.
After your meal, store the leftover sauce airtight in the fridge for up to a week.
FAQs
It’s not usually super spicy, but you can make it as mild or spicy as you want by adjusting the cayenne!
This Southern delicacy originated in South Carolina. German settlers fused their love of mustard with the local BBQ tradition, and voila! Mustard-based barbecue sauce, Carolina Gold, was born.
Mainly, the tang of vinegar and mustard sets Carolina Gold apart. Also, the mustard base gives it a lovely yellow color, unlike the traditional red color most tomato-based BBQ sauces have.
How to Use Carolina Gold BBQ Sauce
One of my favorite ways to use this sauce is by dousing my smoked pulled pork in it! But it really goes great with so many things. Try marinating your grilled chicken thighs with it, for instance.
It also goes amazing on sandwiches. Try it on smoked brisket sliders or a tri-tip sandwich, and prepare to be delighted. 🤩
More Homemade Seasonings to Try
Conclusion
Get ready to wow your guests with your rave-worthy homemade Carolina Gold BBQ sauce, friends! Already made it? If you love it as much as I do, I hope you’ll leave me a comment below. 😘
Carolina Gold BBQ Sauce
Ingredients
- 1 cup yellow mustard
- ¼-⅓ cup honey
- 2 teaspoons garlic powder
- 2 teaspoons onion powder
- 3-4 tablespoons brown sugar
- ⅓ cup apple cider vinegar
- 1 teaspoon smoked paprika
- 1-2 tablespoons tomato paste
- 1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
- ¼ teaspoon cayenne pepper
- 1-2 teaspoons black pepper, freshly ground
- Salt, to taste
Instructions
- In a medium bowl mix together yellow mustard, honey, garlic powder, onion powder, brown sugar, apple cider vinegar, smoked paprika, tomato paste, Worcestershire sauce, cayenne pepper, and ground black pepper until they are fully combined.
- If you want a sweeter sauce add more honey or if you prefer a more acidic sauce add more vinegar. Taste and adjust ingredients as you go.
- Once you’re happy with the flavor, place the sauce in an airtight container of your choice and refrigerate until you’re ready to use it.
Notes
- Make it keto-friendly. Omit the honey and use a brown sugar alternative to keep the sweet notes.
- Keep it mild. I like a little kick of spice, but if you want a milder sauce, just omit the cayenne pepper.
- Make it extra spicy. On the other hand, if you’re a big fan of spicy foods, you can up the heat by adding extra cayenne and a dash or two of your favorite hot sauce.
- Yellow mustard is best for this recipe. It’s less spicy than Dijon or brown mustard and has a milder and smoother flavor that forms the perfect base for this sauce.
- Please remember that the nutritional information is a rough estimate and can vary significantly based on the products used in the recipe.
