Carolina Mustard BBQ Sauce is a rich, bold, and flavorful addition to your pulled pork, chicken, and so much more. This sauce is sweet and tangy with a touch of spice that you can easily adjust.
WHAT IS CAROLINA MUSTARD BBQ SAUCE?
While you find Carolina Sweet BBQ Sauce in North Carolina, South Carolina is known for their mustard based BBQ sauce. What, mustard in BBQ, you ask? Absolutely! This sauce has a base of mustard and vinegar with some honey and brown sugar for sweetness and a few spices for more flavor.
It hales from South Carolina and always starts with yellow mustard. Don’t try to use Dijon or gourmet mustard, just a simple yellow mustard. The combination of mustard, vinegar, honey, sugar, and spices will result in sweet, tangy and a little spicy sauce. As always, you can adjust the spiciness with a little more or less cayenne pepper but be careful because a little cayenne goes a long way.
Many people are not used to any other BBQ sauces besides the tomato based but let me tell you, there are so many amazing sauces out there. You simply have to venture into the unfamiliar and try them all. Just like the Alabama White BBQ Sauce, this mustard based BBQ sauce will be one of your favorites.
WHAT INGREDIENTS ARE IN CAROLINA MUSTARD BBQ SAUCE?
Yellow mustard – this is a must-have, (no Dijon, no gourmet mustard).
Apple cider vinegar – this is a preferred vinegar but I have used sherry vinegar instead too with similar results.
Honey – to make it sweet.
Brown sugar – because you need more sweetness.
Tomato paste – paste, not sauce.
Worcestershire sauce – give a great depth of flavor.
Hot sauce – just a little goes a long way.
Spices – garlic powder, salt, black pepper, cayenne pepper.
HOW DO I MAKE MUSTARD BASED BBQ SAUCE
There are two simple steps to make this tasty sauce.
Start by getting all the ingredients together and whisk them well.
Transfer into a sauce pot and heat it through over medium heat. Lower the heat to medium-low and let it simmer for only about 10 minutes. Don’t let it boil! After you simmer it for a little bit, take it off the heat and serve. (Or let it cool and store in an air-tight jar, in the refrigerator.)
WHAT GOES WITH MUSTARD BASED BBQ SAUCE
This sauce is absolutely divine on pulled pork sandwiches. Pour some sauce all over freshly smoked and pulled pork and add a helping of cool coleslaw on top. You will be in barbecue heaven with this sandwich!
Mustard based BBQ sauce also goes very well with grilled and smoked chicken.
Dip grilled chicken wings and smoked chicken wings in this sauce.
Try it on grilled burgers as well, it’s really good.
HOW LONG DOES IT LAST?
Best way to store Carolina Mustard BBQ Sauce is in the refrigerator, in a glass jar with an air-tight lid. Properly stored, it should last up to 2 weeks.
P.S. It’s tastes even better after a couple of days because ingredients get a chance to mingle together and incorporate.
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Carolina Mustard BBQ Sauce
Ingredients
- 1 cup yellow mustard
- 1/3 cup honey
- 1/4 cup brown sugar
- 1/4 cup apple cider vinegar
- 2 tbsp tomato paste
- 1 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
- 1/2 tsp hot sauce
- 1 tsp garlic powder
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1/2 tsp black pepper
- 1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
Instructions
- Combine all ingredients for the sauce in a bowl and whisk together.
- Transfer into a sauce pot and heat it through over medium heat. Lower the heat to medium-low and let it gently simmer for only about 10 minutes. Don’t let it boil!
- After you simmer it for a little bit, take it off the heat and serve. (Or store for later use. The sauce tastes even better after a couple of days in the refrigerator.)
How To Store It:
- Best way to store it is in the refrigerator, in a glass jar with an air-tight lid. Properly stored, it should last up to 2 weeks.
Notes
Nutrition
What’s your favorite hot sauce to use in this recipe?
Hi Ursula! I often have Cholula on hand but I’ve also use Sriracha when that’s all I had and it was good 😉
Lyuba, have you made this in large amounts?
Sorry, for the late response! I have made a double amount for a barbecue party, yes! You can just as easily triple it as well.
My go to Carolina BBQ sauce for pulled pork!
That’s awesome! Thank you 🙂
Says it will last up to 2 weeks in the fridge. Why not longer? Which ingredient(s) gives it such a short span?
Hi James! Since homemade sauces are not made with specific additives and preservatives that are meant for long time warehouse storage and not sealed, bacteria has a much higher chance of growing in it. This is especially true if you keep opening the jar and if you are using a spoon to get more sauce out. Even though you are using other store-bought ingredients to make this, they have been opened and exposed to the elements.
With that being said, I’ve had homemade BBQ sauces last for a month in the fridge just fine. I’m giving a safer shelf life span because I can control how safely people handle their sauces at home (i.e. using spoons to get sauce out or other contaminants). If you want to extend the life even longer, you can freeze the sauce! Simple leave out as much as you want to use immediately or within a couple of weeks and portion the rest in zip-lock freezer storage bags. Seal, label, and freeze it.
I really hope this helps!
can you can this to store long term? If so how long would you process it?
Hi Kathy! You can actually freeze it if you want to store it for longer. So leave whatever you want to use from the batch and store it in the fridge and the rest, you can portion into freezer bags, seal, label, and freeze. Since homemade stuff is not meant to warehouse and store shelf storing, you should refrigerate for a couple of weeks or freeze it for longer storing time.
Can you can this in mason jars. Water method.
Hi David! Yes, you can, just make sure to follow the sterilizing and canning process carefully. Once you open it though, keep it refrigerated and it will have similar shelf life as freshly made.
Oh, and use the right mason jars and lids, of course! There is quite a bit of acid here, so make sure to use canning jars and lids meant for acidic sauces.
Best mustard based sauce we have ever had. Everyone asks us for the recipe. This is a keeper!!!
I am SO happy to hear that!! Thank you 🙂
This has been my “go to” mustard bbq sauce for several years now. It is easy and taste much better than store bought. We like a little heat with our so we up the cayenne to 1 tsp (versus 1/4 tsp) and up the hot sauce using 1 tbsp Sriracha (versus 1 tsp). We also like garlic and onions, so I add 1 tbsp of onion powder and up the garlic powder to 1 tbsp (versus 1 tsp). But these modifications are based on our preference. The recipe is fantastic if you follow it without any modifications. Thanks for sharing!
Thank you so much!