Mayonnaise-Based BBQ Sauce
South Carolina — arguably the birthplace of barbecue — is home to four native barbecue sauces: a heavy tomato, a light tomato, a vinegar-pepper, and a mustard-based sauce.
Recently, however, an interloper has crossed the border, and we find ourselves with a fifth sauce: the Alabama White Sauce.
The Alabama white sauce got it’s start in 1925 in Decatur, AL, when Big Bob Gibson was the first to whip up a batch. His great-granddaughter’s husband, Chris Lilly, now runs the place and spoke about the origins with AL.com.
Or is it Vinegar-Based
Interestingly enough, he may have actually thought of it as a vinegar-based barbecue sauce.
“He definitely had an affinity for vinegar based sauces,” Lilly says. “His pork sauce is what I’d describe as sort of an Eastern-style North Carolina barbecue sauce.
“It’s what you call a ‘sop mop,’ where he basted shoulders during the latter part of the cooking process. And I think that carried over for his chicken when he developed that sauce.”
“His chickens sometimes stayed on his pit for three hours. When you’re pulling a pit of chickens you’ve got to have some way to keep those chickens moist. Keep them from drying out.
“And I think that’s where the mayonnaise came from. The fat in the mayonnaise basically used as a buffer against the chicken drying out once it came off the pit.
“People describe it as a mayonnaise sauce, but I would describe it as a vinegar sauce with mayonnaise in it, more than anything,” Lilly says, who’s been with Big Bob Gibson Bar-B-Q since 1991.
Alabama white sauce is — to most people — a mayonnaise-based sauce that’s reminiscent of a simple coleslaw dressing; however, there is no question that Home Team’s Alabama White is popular on things other than cabbage, especially with their brined and Smoked Chicken Wings.
(Brining yours? Check our brining calculator or learn the brining math.)
Home Team chef and co-founder Aaron Siegel, who we featured in this interview, originally provided his recipe for his Smoked Chicken Wings and Alabama White BBQ Sauce to starchefs.com.
The combination of those wings and that sauce are hard to beat.
Making these wings for a crowd? Use our Chicken Wing Calculator to dial in how many to cook, then follow our wing holding plan so they stay hot and the skin stays crisp. Toss smaller batches in warmed Alabama white sauce right before serving.
In fact, Charleston’s news station WCSC featured Home Team in their “Lowcountry Weekend” segment and had the following to say about the wings and Alabama white sauce.
“One of the most popular dishes at Home Team is Fiery Ron’s Smoked Chicken Wings with Alabama White Sauce. The wings are smoked and then quickly flash-fried to give them a crispy, caramelized coating.
Get HTBBQ Smoked Wings Recipe
“They’re then paired with Home Team’s delicious and creamy Alabama White Sauce.
“You can even get a little saucier if you know how to ask. If you want to kick things up a notch, you can ask for a side of Death Relish, a spicy pepper relish that really lives up to its name.
“The two sauces are a perfect balance for each other and take your wing-eating experience to a whole new level.”
If you’re making Home Team BBQ’s wings or your own, you have to make the sauce, and it won’t take long.
Home Team BBQ currently has three locations in Charleston — Sullivan’s Island, Downtown, and West Ashley — with other locations opening in Greenville and Columbia. There is also a Home Team in Aspen, CO.
Here is the recipe for Home Team BBQ’s Alabama White BBQ Sauce:
Home Team BBQ’s Alabama White Sauce Recipe
White barbecue sauce is new to South Carolina, not having the historic precedence of vinegar, tomato, or our very own mustard-based sauces. Chef Aaron Siegel's recipe is the perfect companion to his smoked chicken wings and it is easy to make at home.
Ingredients
- 2 cups Duke's mayonnaise
- 2/3 cup apple cider vinegar
- 3 tablespoons sugar
- 1 tablespoon Kosher salt
- 1 teaspoon black pepper, coarsely ground
- 1 teaspoon cayenne pepper
Instructions
- In a large bowl, whisk together mayonnaise, vinegar, sugar, salt, pepper, and cayenne.
- Chill until ready to use.
Notes
Serving wings for a party: See how to cook wings for a crowd to plan your batches and timing. Then learn how to keep wings hot and crispy for 30 to 180 minutes before serving.
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Nutrition Information:
Yield: 48 Serving Size: 1.5 TablespoonsAmount Per Serving: Calories: 66Total Fat: 7gSaturated Fat: 1gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 6gCholesterol: 4mgSodium: 191mgCarbohydrates: 1gFiber: 0gSugar: 1gProtein: 0g
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Check out some of these other authentic SCBBQ sauce recipes we’ve published on destination-bbq:
Swig & Swine Mustard Sauce recipe
Moe’s Original Alabama White Sauce recipe
South Carolina’s Best Mustard-Based BBQ Sauce Recipe
And we’ve published the following sauce recipes in the SCBBQ Recipes: Going Whole Hog cookbook (read more about that here):
Sauces and Rubs:
Vinegar-Pepper Sauces
- Jay Phillips’ Whole Hog Sauce Recipe
- Dad’s Mop Sauce Recipe
- Eastern SC Vinegar-Pepper Sauce Recipe
- Moore Family’s Little Fisher Hog Sauce Recipe
- Lowcountry Vinegar Sauce Recipe
Mustard Sauces
- Swig & Swine’s Mustard BBQ Sauce Recipe
- Dukes BBQ-Style Sauce Recipe
- Dukes BBQ Sauce – “Actual Recipe”
- Simple South Carolina Mustard Sauce Recipe
- Bessinger’s-Style Gold Sauce Recipe
Tomato-Based Sauces
- John Padgett’s Kansas City BBQ Sauce Recipe
- Honey-Hickory Barbecue Sauce Recipe
- Bullies BBQs Thin Basting Sauce Recipe
- Cherrywood Signature BBQ Sauce Recipe
- “Carolina Red” Light Tomato Barbecue Sauce Recipe
- Basic Tomato Barbecue Sauce Recipe
Other Sauces
- Home Team BBQ Alabama White Sauce Recipe
- Moe’s Original BBQ’s Alabama White Sauce Recipe
- Brisket Mojo Sauce Recipe
- Roller Family Hot Sauce Recipe
- Salsa Verde with Avocado for Pulled Pork Recipe
Kenneth
Thursday 1st of January 2026
Great flavor! But I’d like it thicker. Any idea how to do that?
James Roller
Thursday 1st of January 2026
I mentioned on your Facebook post that I’d try adding a bit more mayo to the mix and that refrigerating might also help to thicken the sauce. It is a higher ratio of mayo/vinegar than the Moes white sauce recipe which is 2 cups mayo to ½ cup vinegar.
Kelsey
Saturday 23rd of November 2019
Long story short, I didn't find this recipe until 10 minutes before my smoked wings were done! I only had Hellman's olive oil mayonnaise. I ended up adding another 3 tbsp of sugar and 1 tsp poppy seeds to the recipe!
This is the closest recipe I have tried to hometeam bbq! We travel to Sullivan's island every summer and we have to have wings and Alabama white sauce from home team!
James Roller
Monday 2nd of December 2019
Thanks for letting us know. Interesting. I would think the olive oil would throw off the taste and I like the poppy seed addition. Will have to try that myself. Thanks again!