North Carolina Lexington Dip BBQ Sauce Recipe

Add some serious zip to your barbecue with this ketchup and vinegar based Lexington Dip recipe.

Inland from the coast in North and South Carolina, in the west part of the Carolinas, the area called Piedmont or Hill Country or the Foothills, they call BBQ sauce “dip” and they apply it to pork shoulder most of the time. Small amounts of ketchup and sugar are added to the simple vinegary Low Country Mop-Sauce. The result is a Lexington dip that’s still thin and penetrating, never thick like Kansas City Sauce.

The debate over whether ketchup belongs in barbecue sauce has caused many a shouting match and even stirred a raucous debate in the North Carolina legislature. Some recipes omit the sugar, but I think it rounds out the flavor. Using apple juice is also a veer from the standard. I, however, stole the idea from my favorite North Carolina sauce, George’s, made in Nashville, NC. It really adds depth. Since Lexington dip is mostly vinegar, it keeps a long time in the fridge.

Our Lexington Dip BBQ Sauce Recipe

Lexington Dip BBQ Sauce Recipe

4.48 from 309 votes

Rate this Recipe

In Lexington, North Carolina the barbecue sauce recipe is mostly vinegar with just a touch of ketchup and hot pepper. Here's how to make an authentic NC Lexington Dip BBQ sauce and mop baste. Relying heavily on vinegar, apple juice, and red pepper flakes, this tangy sauce penetrates meat deeply to make it flavorful.

Print Recipe Pin Recipe

Prep Time 30 minutes mins

Servings: 2 cups

Course: Sauces and Condiments

Cuisine: American, Southern

Ingredients Method Notes

Ingredients

 

US CustomaryMetric

 

1x2x3x?

• 1 cup distilled vinegar
• ¼ cup ketchup
• ¼ cup apple juice
• 1 teaspoon hot sauce
• 3 tablespoons light brown sugar
• ½ tablespoon Morton Coarse Salt
• 1 teaspoon crushed red pepper
• 1 teaspoon finely ground black pepper

Get Recipe Ingredients

Method

 

Cook ModePrevent your screen from going dark

1. Prep. Whisk together all the ingredients and let them sit for at least three hours in the fridge to allow the flavors to meld. Overnight is better. A week is best.
2. Use. Divide the sauce in two. Use one for basting. The locals mop it on the meat with a basting brush once every hour while cooking. If you do mop, a good silicon brush is best. It holds lots of fluid and is easy to clean. A lot of places still use string mops, but I think these are too hard to clean and potential sources of food poisoning.
3. Take the remaining mop and serve it in a cruet on the side so your guests can drizzle on more if they wish.

Notes

About the vinegar. I’ve seen both distilled and cider vinegar used in NC. I usually prefer cider vinegar in most of my sauce recipes because it has more flavor, but in this recipe I prefer distilled. Try both on meat and see which you prefer. Lemme know.

About the salt. Remember, kosher salt is half the concentration of table salt so if you use table salt, use half as much. Click here to read more about salt and how it works.

Tried this recipe?

Let us know how it was!