Carolina Mustard BBQ Sauce is a little sweet from honey, a little tangy from apple cider vinegar, and a little spicy from red pepper flakes.
It is delicious poured over pulled pork or slathered on grilled chicken. It is the perfect homemade BBQ sauce to have on hand for your cookouts.
My blog is pretty famous for my Carolina Barbecue Sauce Recipe. It is a Southern vinegar based barbecue sauce that is delicious poured over pulled pork and topped with cole slaw. It is umm… umm.. good!
Want to know what else is good? This Carolina Mustard BBQ Sauce!
What is Carolina Mustard BBQ Sauce?
Carolina Mustard BBQ Sauce is vinegar and mustard based. It’s roots come from South Carolina and has trickled into the homes of some of North Carolinians.
Unlike North Carolina bbq sauce which is vinegar based with ketchup, brown sugar or molasses, the Carolina Mustard BBQ Sauce is based with mustard, vinegar, sugar, and/or honey, and spices.
The result is a tangy, sweet, slightly golden bbq sauce.
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Carolina Gold Barbecue Sauce
This Carolina Mustard BBQ Sauce is also known as Carolina Gold Barbecue Sauce. The sauce gets its name from the beautiful gold color it produces.
My husband isn’t a huge mustard fan, so this isn’t his favorite bbq sauce.
However, I love the sweet and tangy mixture. I never stop at one helping with barbecue, so I am often interchanging all the lovely sauces.
Although this sauce is DELICIOUS on some pulled pork, it makes a tasty sauce for grilled chicken and grilled ribs.
Pour some of that golden love over either of those meats and you have a fantastic meal ahead of you.
How to make it
Carolina BBQ Sauce can easily be made in under 10 minutes following these easy directions!
- Combine all ingredients in a sauce pan. (Photo 1)
- Cook on low heat stirring continuously to prevent scorching for 5 to 7 minutes. (Photo 2)
- Allow to cool. Pour into a jar. Refrigerate until ready to serve.
Tip: I add 1 tablespoon of red pepper flakes to give a little kick. I don’t think that makes it too spicy. If you want it to not have any spice, you can omit the flakes. If you want more heat, add another tablespoon.
Looking for a Sweet, Thick Sauce to buy?
** I am all about homemade BBQ Sauce. However, I also have an obsession of buying different local hot sauces and BBQ Sauces when I travel. I love trying new sauces to get inspired to make my own.
I have found this Cackalacky Sweet Cheerwine Sauce 33.8 Oz
in a small little town here in NC. It is wicked good! If you are looking for a sweet, thick, slightly heated bbq sauce to have on hand, I highly recommend this one. I know you will love it. It makes a great gift also! xoxo
If you are a barbecue lover living or visiting North Carolina, be sure to try out these restaurants: Parker’s BBQ in Wilson, NC, Pik-N-Pig, and B’s Barbecue.
Please leave me a comment below if you make this Carolina Barbecue Sauce and tell me what you thought about it. I would love to hear back, and so would my readers.
Also post your picture of your sauce on Instagram or Facebook, and tag @aforkstale with #aforkstale hashtags! I will share with my followers! xoxo!
Carolina Mustard BBQ Sauce- Sweet and Tangy BBQ Sauce Recipe
Ingredients
- 3/4 cup yellow mustard
- 1/2 cup apple cider vinegar
- 1/2 cup honey
- 1 tsp Worcestershire sauce
- 2 tbsp ketchup
- 1 tsp garlic powder
- 1 tbsp red pepper flakes
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 2 tbsp brown sugar
Instructions
- Combine ¾ cup yellow mustard, ½ cup apple cider vinegar, ½ cup cup honey, 1 tsp Worcestershire sauce, 2 tbsp ketchup, 1 tsp garlic powder, 1 tbsp red pepper flakes, ½ tsp salt, 2 tbsp brown sugar in a sauce pan.
- Mix well.
- Cook on low heat stirring continuously to prevent scorching for 5 to 7 minutes.
- Cool completely. Then pour into a jar. Refrigerated until ready to serve.
Tommy says
Hi, I live here in South Carolina. A friend of mine in Virginia was asking me if I had a bbq sauce recipe and I stumbled across this one. I lived on the west coast for about 13 years. If I wanted southern food I had to learn how to make it. I have had a lot of compliments on the bbq sauce that I used to make but I really didn’t measure out amounts and I used different things each time. This recipe is very much like what I used. This is spot on for the mustard based bbq sauce. I might use this recipe as a starting point next time I make it just to get the amounts right. Thank you.
Daniel says
Amazing sauce. I’d never had it, but I heard about mustard based BBQ sauce before. Having made the Carolina BBQ sauce from your recipe, I couldn’t help but click on the link to this one. I’m happy I did. It is glorious and I know everybody at my BBQ will love it.
Katie says
Refrigerated, there are not any ingredients that really can go bad. It also has plenty of vinegar to preserve it. I would think it would be safe to eat at least for a month, but probably much longer.
Marcus Natividad says
If I made a bunch of this for multiple uses, how long would it keep?
Keegan Winfree says
Not thick like it looked like and definitely did not have the same color. But it is definitely good.
James Roller says
Katie, well done! Living in Fayetteville, I am sure SC mustard-based BBQ sauce is something you are very familiar with, despite the fact that your part of NC — heck, all of NC — favors a vinegar-pepper based sauce. Guess the only question is, do you add ketchup to yours? (Guessing not, if you’re from Fayetteville!) Interesting that you do add it to the mustard sauce. Not that that is without precedent, of course. In fact, the many Dukes BBQ restaurants that are scattered about the Lowcountry of SC actually serve a “mustard sauce” that includes ketchup and mayo, believe it or not! Having lived in SC all of my 53 years and having written about SC BBQ since 2012, I applaud you and your recipe. Cheers to doing the mustard sauce justice!
Joy W. says
We just had it with pulled pork on sweet Hawaiian rolls. Amazing!!!
Katie says
Thank you so much for sharing Tracy! I am glad you all liked it! xoxo
Tracy says
This was so good. My picky husband loved it. Licked his fingers clean so that’s 5 stars in my book!
Katie says
I am so glad you enjoyed it! Thanks for sharing!
George says
Made this today for some pulled pork. It’s great. Tell me why I have been buying sauce again!
Katie says
I am so glad you enjoyed it! Thanks for letting me know!!
Harold D Davis says
THANK YOU – – We already have an Excellent Mustard Sauce recipe, BUT it has Tons of Butter; THIS is an EXCELLENT Replacement and will be our whole family
“Go To” BBQ SAUCE. FIVE STARS.
Gary says
Made this yesterday and we loved it. Great on pull pork. But the color is not the same has the recipe. Dont,undrstand that. We make again for the next cook out.
Crystal says
As a couple of BBQ sauce enthusiasts, we’re definitely going to have to give this one a try on some pulled pork!
Ramona says
Absolutely gorgeous looking recipe. That sauce! Ohh!! Just want to dive in. Absolutely delicious. How long can you keep this in the fridge do you reckon? I’d love to make some and keep in the fridge for this bbq season. Thanks for sharing this delicious sauce recipe.
Zahra says
We have plans to light up the bbq this weekend so a recipe like this will definitely come in handy. Can’t wait to pour it over my meat. Thanks for sharing.
Beth says
This looks so delicious! I don’t know if I have ever had the liquid Gold! I will have to remedy that and make your sauce because it looks amazing!
Shanna Jones says
Oh this looks fantastic! So many ideas come to mind for this yummy sauce! Sweet + spicy + tangy = perfection.
Gabby | The Tolerant Table says
Oh this looks so good! I actually just made us a big piece of pulled lamb shoulder tonight so will happily make this gorgeous sauce to pour over the leftovers. Yum!