Western Carolina Lexington Sauce - With just a few simple ingredients that almost anyone has laying around, you can make this famous North Carolina barbecue sauce! It literally only takes minutes, and its gluten free and vegan!
We have a lot of condiment recipes, and we love making barbecue sauce in particular. Check out our gourmet version, dried cherry chili Colorado sauce and our Carolina Gold BBQ sauce!
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What You're Going to Need!
As we mentioned earlier, this recipe relies on very humble ingredients. Chances are most of them are already in your pantry, and even if they aren't, nothing here is expensive or fancy.
- Vinegar - Apple cider vinegar is ideal, but white vinegar will also work.
- Brown Sugar - Either light or dark brown sugar, depending on how much molasses flavor you prefer.
- Ketchup - The amount of this ingredient is really what makes this sauce unique.
- Dry Mustard - Not entirely traditional, but we like the zip it provides.
- Onion Powder - Just a touch of this will do, as it has a very concentrated flavor.
- Cayenne Pepper - Not enough for a very spicy sauce, but a little bit of heat is appropriate. You can use red pepper flakes, but this powder won't get stuck in your teeth!
- Hot sauce - We are using Crystal brand, keep in mind that if you use tabasco sauce, you'll want to use a little less, as it is a stronger hot pepper sauce.
- Black Pepper - We always suggest using a grinder, as this spice loses it's potency very quickly.
- Garlic - Either powdered or granulated.
See recipe card for quantities.
Recipe
Western North Carolina Style Vinegar BBQ Sauce Recipe
Equipment
- 1 Measuring cup set cup, and half cup
- 1 Measuring Spoon Set Tablespoon, teaspoon, ½ teaspoon, ¼ teaspoon
- 1 Saucepan 1 quart or larger
- 1 kitchen spoon
Ingredients
- 1 cup apple cider vinegar
- 1 cup ketchup
- ½ cup brown sugar
- 1 Tbsp. dry mustard
- 1 Tbsp. Louisiana hot sauce Crystal, Texas Pete, Louisiana brand
- 1 tsp. onion powder
- ½ tsp. black pepper
- ½ tsp. granulated garlic or powder
- ¼ tsp. cayenne pepper
Instructions
- Combine all ingredients in saucepan.
- Stir with kitchen spoon to combine.
- Bring to a boil over high heat.
- Turn off immediately.
- Cool and store.
Directions
- This recipe really couldn't be any simpler and easier. Just put everything in the pan, give it a stir...
2. Bring it to a boil, turn off the flame, and you're done!
3. Put it on the table so everyone can get some as they like, or,
4. Slather it on your favorite smoked protein as a finishing sauce, like we did here with our baby back ribs!
About Carolina Barbecue Sauces
Pork bbq reigns supreme in the Carolinas. Whether it's made from pork shoulder, or whole hog barbecue, North Carolinians like their pulled pork with a very simple, tangy sauce. Nothing too fancy, just a vinegar-based sauce to elevate that unctuous smoked meat.
There is broad diversity when it comes to Carolina barbecue sauces, and the topic of which type of sauce is best is hotly debated. About the only thing that everyone agrees on is that to get the proper tangy flavor to please Carolina taste buds, it must be homemade BBQ sauce. Commercial grocery store brands just haven't been able to replicate the real thing at all.
The Carolina vinegar barbecue sauce recipe is best exemplified by the eastern North Carolina BBQ sauce. Beginning with a base of vinegar is something that all of the best Carolina style sauce recipes have in common. In this region, this is a true multi-purpose sauce. It acts as the mop sauce to baste the meat as it cooks, as well as served at the table, (to season to taste!), as a finishing sauce. There are no thick ingredients in this recipe, though, so it remains a very thin sauce.
We cannot discuss these regional barbecue sauces without mentioning "Carolina gold". This is the famous South Carolina mustard sauce, made with either yellow mustard, or occasionally with Dijon mustard. As far as I know, this is the only mustard BBQ sauce recipe, and is held in very high esteem, for good reason.
This finally brings us to western Carolina bbq sauce, aka "Lexington style". This lesser known version is different than the others because of a relatively generous touch of tomato, usually in the form of the addition of ketchup, sometimes tomato sauce or tomato paste. Even though all of these recipes contain a good amount of sugar, the tomato in western NC bbq sauce gives it an additional touch of sweetness. It is also quite thick in comparison to it's eastern Carolina vinegar sauce cousin. Having said that, it is still on the thinner side, especially when compared to the store bought bottles.
Chef Tip
I like to remind all of my students about recipes being essentially guidelines. You can improvise quite a bit, as long as you know the basic formula being laid out. If you are cooking this way, it's imperative that you are tasting as you go. Add small amounts, taste, and then add more to adjust. Remember that you can always add more of an ingredient, but you can't take it out!
Variations
If you want to experiment a little, you can easily make your very own Carolina BBQ sauce recipe!
- Spicy - add some additional cayenne, or a hotter pepper sauce.
- Savory Touch - It's common in western Carolina sauce to add a little butter, as well as a dash of Worcestershire sauce.
- Eastern Style - I think that you'll find that cutting back the ketchup to a tablespoon or so, this recipe will result in a fantastic eastern NC barbecue sauce.
Storage & Helpful Hints
Allow the sauce to cool to room temperature, package in an airtight container, and it will keep for about 14 days in the refrigerator. Bringing this Carolina vinegar BBQ sauce to a boil is the best way to fully incorporate all of the ingredients. All that is necessary, though, is to boil it for a few seconds and then cool it down. Letting it continue to cook, even for a minute or two, will cause the flavor to change, muting the vibrant flavors.
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Carolina BBQ sauce always has an apple cider or white vinegar base, sweetened with sugar to balance the acidity.
The eastern style of North Carolina sauce was documented as being made in the early 1800's, making it the oldest barbecue sauce recipe.
Jason Miller says
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