Dukes BBQ Style Hash Recipe
If you know South Carolina BBQ, you know the name Dukes. And if you know Dukes, you have certainly heard about Dukes BBQ hash.
If you’re looking to add one authentic South Carolina barbecue hash recipe to your arsenal, this Dukes BBQ style hash recipe is one to copy into the family cookbook.
There are a dozen Dukes restaurants in SC at the time of this writing, but while they share similar qualities, they are not all the same. Walk into Dukes of Walterboro and you will not get the exact same menu or experience as you would at the Dukes in Ridgeville.
They are not a chain or franchise, per se, but rather a loosely connected assortment of family restaurants.
One thing they all have in common is a delicacy unique to South Carolina: hash and rice. This is not to be confused with Brunswick stew, common in BBQ restaurants in NC and GA. South Carolina barbecue hash has deep and long ties to the state that echo back almost to the origins of barbecue itself.
Here’s a good look at Dukes’ hash
South Carolina barbecue hash recipes all yield a thick stew of sorts whose exact ingredients vary from family to family and restaurant to restaurant.
However, common among all the variations of SC BBQ hash recipes (see our cookbook), you’ll always find its base built upon a meat product — typically pork, sometimes beef, and often a combination.
This rich, meaty foundation is layered with some combination of onions, potatoes, and BBQ sauce. Then it is all boiled down (and often ground) into a thick, soupy stew.
Sometimes lovingly called “liquid sausage,” SC BBQ hash is generally served atop a bed of white rice.
While that may not sound delicious to the uninitiated, most native South Carolinians expect a side of hash and rice when they go out to eat barbecue. Dukes’ BBQ hash recipe is one that has kept them coming back for over five decades.
Head, Tongues, and Liver
Here’s an old clip from SCETV. (Click below to watch video in a new tab.)
In it, host Dr. Dick Pillsbury discusses the Dukes BBQ hash recipe as served at the Dukes on Whitman in Orangeburg. Do they use these unusual parts from the pig to make their hash?
Below you will find our Dukes BBQ hash recipe we received from Michael Ott.
He originally grew up in Orangeburg County, the heart of Dukes BBQ country, and has family ties to Dukes BBQ. It is not Dukes’s actual recipe.
“It’s good, but not a match for Dukes,” he said humbly.
Hash and rice is a staple at BBQ joints around the state and if you’re looking for a homemade recipe, Michael’s is friendly for the home cook.
Curious about SC BBQ Hash?
We’ve published an in-depth look at South Carolina Barbecue hash.
In either piece, we examine the origins and history of yet another SC BBQ original. In addition, you will find a current listing of every SCBBQ restaurant that serves hash.
For your convenience, we’ve included an interactive SC BBQ Hash Map which is similar to our SC BBQ Trail Map. This map filters the result to show only those places serving some version of an SC barbecue hash recipe, regardless of meat base, flavoring, or style.
How do you find the best hash and rice spot near you?
With your permission, the map will find your location and show you the closest 25 places serving hash within 100 miles of you.
And, of course, you’ll find several SC BBQ hash recipes to make at home.
Among them, you will discover a beef hash recipe (as seen in the photo above) that’s certainly a different style than Dukes’. It is more commonly found in the Upstate.
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Making the Dukes BBQ Hash Recipe
The recipe is really quite simple, though it does take time.
Cooking the Boston Butt
First, the recipe begins with the assumption that you have cooked a 5-pound Boston butt. It doesn’t really matter how you cook it for this recipe.
You can simply cook it in a crockpot or the oven if you want to keep it simple. Or you can smoke it on a smoker if you have more time and energy to invest in it.
Frankly, you could simply buy and/or use leftover barbecue meat. Just understand that there will be subtle flavor differences if you go with the smoker or barbecue route.
Whatever route you choose, it will be fine.
Putting it All Together
With the cooked pork ready, you’ll begin by sautéing onions and potatoes in a pot for about five minutes or so until the onions are tender.
In the meantime, if you haven’t already, pull the pork, cleaning it of any unwanted part.
Once the onions are translucent, you can add in the black pepper and pulled pork, covering them all with water. Bring to a boil and then simmer.
When the potatoes are done, simply blend (or grind if you prefer).
An immersion blender works well if you have one, but you can process in batches in a standard blender. However, most hash in South Carolina barbecue restaurants is actually ground in a meat grinder during this step. Here is a good, inexpensive, at-home meat grinder.
Or you could go the old-fashioned route and cook it down over hardwood coals in a cast-iron kettle! (While our BBQ Wood Selector, doesn’t match woods to hash, maybe it should!)
Avoid blending too smoothly, but if you do, it will still taste fine. I speak from experience on that one.
Add everything, including remaining ingredients, back to the pot and simmer until it’s the right consistency.
What is the right consistency?
Good question. You want a thick stew, something that can and will burn on the bottom of the pot if you’re not stirring regularly. And something that will sit on top of rice, not drain through.
The example below from Big Boy’s Original Smokehouse is yet another look at a true South Carolina barbecue hash. See there is nothing seeping through the rice.
While something different altogether, a hot dog chili is of a comparable consistency. Or maybe a beef stew thickened with corn starch. (No…don’t use cornstarch in your hash. No one in SC does, I promise.)
Anyway, you get the idea.
Finish with a bit of butter and serve over rice.
Aah…that’s a classic take on South Carolina barbecue hash. (And if you’re not going to eat it all right away, South Carolina BBQ hash will keep in the freezer for up to a year.)
Dukes BBQ Style Hash
An authentic SC BBQ hash recipe at its best, Dukes Barbecue style. Potatoes, onions, and pork are about all you need!
Ingredients
- 5 lbs Boston butt, roasted or cooked in a crockpot until tender and falling off the bone
- 2 lbs potatoes, chopped
- 2 lbs onions, chopped
- 1 pint mustard-based BBQ sauce
- 1 cup ketchup
- 1/2 cup apple cider vinegar
- 2 tablespoons black pepper, ground
- 1 tsp hot sauce, Texas Pete or to taste
- 8 tbsp butter, (one stick)
Instructions
- Sauté onions with potatoes in a little oil until onions are tender.
- Stir in black pepper.
- Pull pork and add to potatoes and onions.
- Fill with water until covered.
- Cook until potatoes are done.
- Blend mixture slightly in a blender and return to pot.
- Add BBQ sauce, ketchup, hot sauce to taste and vinegar.
- Simmer until it's the consistency of thick soup.
- Turn off heat and add butter.
- Serve over white rice.
Notes
For a different yet still authentic SC-style hash, substitute half the pork with a beef roast. That version of this South Carolina BBQ hash recipe will have more in common with the hash you find in the Midlands of SC.
Refrigerate leftovers promptly in shallow containers and use within 3–4 days. Freeze portions for longer storage; for the best quality, use within 2–3 months.
This home-style Dukes-inspired hash recipe was shared by Michael Ott. It is not the Dukes restaurants’ proprietary recipe.
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Nutrition Information:
Yield:
20Serving Size:
1 cup hash (without rice)Amount Per Serving: Calories: 330Total Fat: 18gSaturated Fat: 8gTrans Fat: 0gCholesterol: 80mgSodium: 480mgCarbohydrates: 24gFiber: 3gSugar: 12gProtein: 20g
Nutrition is estimated per 1 cup of hash, without rice, based on a five-quart batch (20 servings), a five-pound raw Boston butt yielding about three pounds of cooked pulled pork, two pounds each of potatoes and onions, one pint of mustard-based BBQ sauce, and the remaining listed ingredients. Estimate allows for about one tablespoon of oil used to sauté the vegetables. Actual results, especially fat, sodium, and calories, vary with the pork's cooked yield and fat, BBQ sauce brand, oil used, and how much water is cooked off.
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I’m about to make this recipe this weekend. What kind of potatoes and what kind of onions do you use?
@Aaron, apologies. Heather and I were out in Austin visiting our daughter and I wasn’t tuned into the website while we were away. To answer your question, we just use russets or Yukon gold potatoes and standard yellow onions, but I don’t think it would make much difference in the end which you go with. Hope you went ahead and made it. Let us know how it turned out for you and which you used if you made it.
@James Roller, I did end up making it today and I used russets and yellow onions. It turned out pretty good, but this is my first time making it so I think there’s some room for improvement. I live in south dakota so finding a good mustard based bbq sauce was tricky. Thanks for the recipe. I will be making again!
@Aaron, good to hear things turned out okay. I think Cattleman’s makes a decent mustard sauce that might be available in stores but you can simply make your own. It’s very easy and there are a few recipes on the site. I’d suggest Maurice’s copycat mustard sauce recipe or the SCs best mustard sauce if you like a bit more heat.
I made this and it was fantastic! We had some left over smoked BBQ butt from the big green egg and I followed your recipe to a Tee. We live in Kansas City bc my husband’s job and I have been missing my South Carolina bbq. This taste very similar to Dukes bbq in Aiken SC. Thanks for sharing your recipe, it makes me feel closer to home w all this KC bbq.
@Amanda M, glad it turned out so well for you! Thanks for sharing your experience.
Good Georgia hash has beef, pork & chicken.
@Rudy, thanks for sharing!
@Rudy, that’s not hash , that’s Brunswick Stew .
@Rudy,
This is South Carolina hash Rudy
I put beef, pork, and chicken in my SC hash. Best hash in SC!
Sounds great! When is dinner?
Born and raised in Sumter. We had several Bar B Q Huts owned by the same person. We got our Bar B Q and Hash at least once a week. Have not lived in Sumter since 1982. Now living in Ohio, and sure miss the hash and rice.
@Ray White, that’s a long time to go without some hash and rice. Hope you get back home from time to time. If not, give this recipe a go and let me know what you think. It’s not BBQ Hut style, but it’s still a taste of home.
@Ray White, I was stationed at Shaw AFB in 1982 and my favorite bbq place was called Ward’s. I loved their Rice snd hash as well as their corn fritters. I wish I could find the recipes for both.
@Ray White,
I’m from Sumter too! You must be talking about Ward’s BBQ!
Should this be 2 onions? Made it today using this recipe and not only was it not close to dukes it just wasn’t good.
@Si, Sorry it didn’t turn out well for you. This is the recipe as provided by Michael Ott whose extended family owns and operates the Dukes on Chestnut St. in Orangeburg. It is not their recipe, but his take on it, as explained above. I have made it myself and quite enjoyed it, but I respect that yours didn’t turn out as well. Apologies for that.
Just to follow up on the 2 onions or 2 lbs of onions question, the original recipe as provided to me calls for 2 pounds of onions. Here it is copied from the original source:
One 5lb Boston butt smoked, roasted or cooked in a crock pot until tender and falling off the bone
2lbs chopped potatoes
2lbs chopped onions
1 pt mustard based BBQ sauce
1 cup ketchup
1/2 cup cider vinegar
2 tablespoons black pepper
Hot sauce (Texas Pete) to taste
1 stick butter
Sauté onions with potatoes in a little oil until onions are tender. Stir in black pepper. Pull pork and add to potatoes and onions. Fill with water until covered. Cook until potatoes are done. Blend mixture slightly in blender and return to pot. Add BBQ sauce, ketchup, hot sauce to taste and vinegar. Simmer until it’s the consistency of thick soup. Turn off heat and add butter. Serve over white rice.
@Si,
It clearly says 2 lbs. in the recipe.
This is not the original Dukes recipe, created by my great Grandaddy Willie Baltzegar, and served in my Grandaddy Dukes and his brother’s restaurants. But, that’s a good thing since it’s not supposed to be shared.
@Michelle Dukes Chase, thanks for writing. You’re right; it’s not, which is, of course, why it says “Dukes BBQ Style” in the title. This one came from Michael Ott. I’m sure the surname is familiar to you, as that family owns the Dukes on Chestnut in Orangeburg. But even Michael doesn’t claim this is a Dukes recipe. “’It’s good, but not a match for Dukes,’ he said humbly.” Now, if you’d like to share just between us all, we can keep it a secret! 😉
Born and raised in SC. Several years ago I moved to Georgia. I started craving and looking for hash, never knowing it was special to SC until now.
Fortunately I take regular trips home. I see a hash visit soon!
@Susan, come on home! We’ll leave the light on for ya.
I too, am a native of South Carolina, born in Bamberg but lived all over the state. Daddy was a preacher, so we moved alot. We usually had hash the fall and winter. A friend always bought a gallon to the house when someone passed away. We were greedy with it. Anyway this is the second time I have made it. I freeze what we don’t eat so we can have it later. My daughter, that now lives in Maryland said she was dreaming about and got mad when she woke up and didn’t have any. She’s coming home ( transplanted in Ky) and she is going to have all hash she can eat. Thanks for sharing your recipe.
@Sheila Pierce, I was just in Bamberg yesterday on a day long photo safari updating restaurant exteriors for the site. I stopped at the Dukes and took a few photos around late dusk. Thanks for the great story and kind words. Credit for the recipe belongs to Michael Ott who shared it with us years ago. Glad you enjoyed. We freeze leftovers, too. Hope your daughter enjoys as well!
@Sheila Pierce,I live in Lexington KY. Was raised in Summerville SC. Love my Dukes hash. Yes nobody’s here in KY has heard of hash lol. Cool to hear similar experience
Hash quality has sunk in my area, growing up near the original Earl Dukes in Cameron. I think the younger generation is cutting corners in the recipes.
So found this and decided to give it a try!! Very happy with outcome! ! I did blend a bit to much, but taste is fine. Can’t wait to eat it for our 2022 New Years meal! !!
@Kerry Powlas, Glad you enjoyed. Funny, I blended it too much the first time myself! Just a heads up that hash is often ground and not blended, so if you blend the texture is bound to be different, but the taste is still there.
No talk of Bessingers or Maurices??? Y’all are missing out!
@Jay, they both make an excellent hash, but unfortunately neither of them are sharing their recipe with me! Interestingly enough, David Bessinger, owner of Melvin’s, gave me his full restaurant recipe for Melvin’s hash. I will publish it in the next edition of our cookbook. Stay tuned. Hope to have it ready this fall.
I love Hash like you find at Dukes BBQ. I am originally from Bamberg, SC. Other hash just does not measure up in my opinion. I really appreciate this recipe. Would love to see bbq sauce they have on their buffets. Thank you for sharing the hash recipe.
“B”
thanks for the kind words. Ask and you shall receive: Dukes Style BBQ Sauce Recipe
I’m originally from O’burg county and share a last name with the Dukes family, but only related through marriage somewhere around my great-grandfathers generation. I used to hit the original Earl Dukes BBQ place at least twice a month with my granddad when I was a kid. Now living in KS I always beg any family members traveling my way to get a gallon of hash and pack it in dry ice for the drive out here. I’ve been missing it and will be trying this recipe very soon.
@Kevin Dukes, great story! I look forward to hearing how the recipe measures up. Enjoy!
The rice is different in bbq restaurants. It’s thicker. Is it instant?
@Kathy, it is what I often refer to “institutional rice.” It is a sad, sad shadow of it’s real self, but there are lots of reasons to use it in that setting. As we’ve all experienced, rice can be a very fickle dish to cook. The rice they use is a variety of parboiled rice, I believe. Like all pre-cooked rice, it is hard to screw up, but it is also generally bland or even tasteless. If I owned a restaurant, I’d probably do the same thing, but I’d never cook it at home.
Have family living in Cope SC. (Proctor’s). Grew up eating Dukes BBQ.We knew Danny Duke quite well. Think he started with 2 places , Cope and Branchville. He would serve one night in Cope and the next in Branchville. Friday then Saturday..We would travel 40 miles (from Williston) to eat there and visit with him..When he saw me walk in (as a kid) he would always laugh and say “Well i’m going to loose money tonight) !! LOL He was “The Best” !!!!
Haha…great story. Thanks for sharing!
James,
Married a South Carolinian who turned me onto this over 40 years ago…
Made this tonight for dinner… too good for a side dish… it was the main course.
I’ve had bbq pork hash at Piggie Park and plenty of other places in South Carolina … I love it and one time I tried to make it myself with a few notes and my imagination…lt came out kinda ok…. but this time I used this recipe and WOW what a difference. Now I read a few other recipes and I know for a fact that Piggies uses a bell pepper…. so I added one red and one green bell pepper and also a scoop of brown sugar…. and only 3 1/2pounds of pork. Gotta say, best thing I ever ate, better than any I had in any restaurant … and being out in California… It’s impossible to get.
Bruce, thanks for sharing. You’re right, hash has simply not spilled out of our borders. It is hard enough to find in GA or NC, much less in CA. I am pleased you enjoyed the recipe and modified it to make your own. Hash deserves to be considered a main dish. Enjoy!
I am making this today! My family was from Ridgeville, so their hash is basically a food group to me. I can’t tell you how excited I am to have a bit of home cooking in my house!
Love it…let us know how it turned out.
I grew up in Beaufort SC and used to eat Dukes BBQ all the time. I made this the other day and it is just like I remembered! Thanks for sharing.
Thanks for sharing, Kirk! Glad to hear it brought back some good memories. Michael Ott, as you probably read, shared that one with us along with a couple of others. He has a close connection to the Dukes BBQ legacy, but his recipes are his own. In the cookbook, we published Ott’s version and the “actual” Dukes BBQ sauce recipe given to us by a Friend of a former employee. Ott’s version is also published on the website. Thanks again for sharing.
Delicious! My husband misses Carolina BBQ hash from our days living in nearby Aiken, SC. This will do nicely until we get back there for a visit.
Enjoy!
I just tried this recipe and it is a winner. I am using for a friend’s anniversary party. I wonder if you could tell me how many quarts of hash i would need to feed 100 people.
Thanks, Terry. Great question. I would think a serving is about a half cup, wouldn’t you? So…maybe 50+ cups, which is about 12 quarts, if I’m doing my math right.
Thanks so much James i had the party a week ago and made 20 quarts of hash just to be make sure since the party was at dinner time and OMG they devoured it. I had about 2 quarts left over. This was the easiest and most delish recipe for hash ever. People raves about it so i shared your recipe with everyone. Thanks so much for sharing.
Great to hear and I’d like to be sure to give the credit to Michael Ott who shared the recipe with us and allowed us to publish it.
Terry, I just updated the recipe. Now it will automatically adjust the quantities of the ingredients needed based on the number of servings you wish to make. Hope that helps!
Carolina BBQ in New Ellenton, SC has the best hash in this state without a doubt. I’ve eaten hash and rice all over this state and no one does it better than these guys. Make the trip and find out for yourself. Buy some to-go and put it in the freezer. You’ll be glad you did.
Carolina BBQ sits among the most revered of SCBBQ joints and among those at the top of my bucket list to visit.
I grew up there as well. I am going to try this recipe. I live in TN and it’s hard to get back out there to bring some home. I have been racking my brain trying to figure out which of two recipes comes close. This one or the Red hash version that has lots of other bbq sauces in it.
Brian, I am working on an updated and revised version of the cookbook, and I have accumulated a lot of hash recipes. If this doesn’t hit the mark, let me know, and I’ll be happy to send one of the others.
I made it this weekend. It is perfect from what I remember at Carolina BBQ in New Ellington. I did add some salt which the recipe didn’t have. This is about the only website that has any information on hash. There is one video I saw out there from a guy in Florence. He did a “Red Hash” which I am tempted to try.
Brian, I am pleased that it hit the spot. I think I have seen the same video. There are two that come to mind, one from Big Red’s and another, newer one from someone like Pif. Both are good videos.
Thanks for sharing the hash recipe! I’m a S.C. native, but now a 9+ year Texas transplant, and I’ve really missed S.C. hash. The recipe is perfect and we can now have hash again, even in Texas!
Texas is not a bad place to be if you had to leave SCBBQ behind….Enjoy!
Love it. Anyone know how much this recipe makes?
John, sorry for the late response. If I recall correctly, we had about 2 gallon freezer bags leftover after we made this recipe, having eaten some, of course. I would guess 2-3 gallons.
The best I have had is Dukes in Blackville, SC. Try it. live in Orangeburg, Dukes in Orangeburg does come close.
Cynthia, we do not, however, Maurice’s does: https://www.piggiepark.com/product/carolina-hash/
So you ship hash?
Thanks, Frank! Glad you are able to enjoy a bit of Dukes at home. (Guess I’ll quit complaining about early April highs in the upper 60’s as being too cold.) I have been shocked to find that this recipe page is the single most visited page on our site almost every day since I posted it.
We can’t get to South Carolina very often, and we really miss Duke’s in Ridgeland. Having recipes like this BBQ hash lets us bring a the spirit of Dukes here to Fridley, Minnesota. Thanks for posting !!!