This white BBQ sauce recipe for chicken is inspired by the original one created at Big Bob Gibson Bar-B-Q, a famous BBQ restaurant located in Decatur, Alabama since 1925. It’s sometimes called Alabama white sauce.
This white BBQ sauce recipe is not what everyone thinks of when they think of barbecue sauce. It is white, first of all. And it is not sweet. Not everyone likes it, and it doesn’t work well on pork or beef. But white BBQ sauce, a.k.a. Alabama white sauce, is very nice on chicken, an American classic, and worth a try if you love barbecue. If you don’t like it on chicken, it’s just fine on coleslaw. Where the more traditional sauces are tomato or ketchup based, white BBQ sauce is made with a base of mayo and vinegar.
Recipe Overview: White BBQ Sauce Success Formula
- Whisk: together all the sauce ingredients in a large bowl and refrigerate for at least two hours.
- Quarter: a chicken and sprinkle it with salt and pepper.
- Fire up: Crank up the smoker or prepare the grill with 2-zone cooking, setting it to 325°F (162.8°C) in the indirect side. Add some wood chips.
- Cook: the chicken on the indirect side until all parts hit about 155°F (68.3°C). Then flip the bird and put the skin face down on the hot side. When all parts reach 165°F (73.9°C), paint them generously on all sides with the sauce.
- Plate: the chicken and serve with more white BBQ sauce.
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Who invented Alabama white BBQ sauce?
You can thank Big Bob Gibson, the originator of this sauce. In the past decade, Big Bob Gibson Bar-B-Q has achieved national fame on the coattails of the acclaim slathered on Chef Chris Lilly and his Big Bob Gibson Bar-B-Q competition team.
That’s Chris, above, in the red shirt, with his father-in-law, Don McLemore, owner of Big Bob Gibson’s and the son-in-law of Big Bob himself. The photo below of the man in the green shirt dipping butterflied chicken into the Alabama white sauce is Ken Hess, a former team member and pitmaster at Big Bob Gibson’s.
Their BBQ team has won practically every major competition on the circuit. Lilly can be seen doing TV commercials for Kingsford charcoal and has been on the Today Show and featured in national media such as USA Today, Martha Stewart Living and Wall Street Journal. You can even sit at the foot of the master and learn how to make championship barbecue by watching his DVD series.
Although Big Bob Gibson’s red sauce has been named “Best on the Planet” at the American Royal World Series of Barbecue in Kansas City, their Alabama white BBQ sauce for chicken is their signature and most famous sauce, because it is unique . . . although it now has several imitators.
The science behind our white BBQ sauce recipe
A few years after I wrote this white BBQ sauce recipe, Lilly published a damn fine cookbook, and there is a white sauce recipe in it. But he is coy. He says, “There is now a large number of ‘authentic’ versions of Big Bob’s original secret recipe and cooking method —all different from one another. This is one of my favorites.”
You can bet I immediately made the recipe in his book. Then I cut a chicken in half. Half got my white BBQ sauce recipe, half got his book’s recipe, and damned if his wasn’t better. So I went back to the drawing board and blended the two together. I did another tasting, and damned if the new version wasn’t better than both the parents. So I revised my white BBQ recipe one last time and it’s creamy, tangy, and peppery.
Ingredients and substitutions for white BBQ sauce
- Mayonnaise provides the rich and creamy base for white BBQ sauce. You can’t make it without it. But some of our Pitmaster club members have made it with a combo of plain Greek yogurt and sour cream.
- Apple cider vinegar is a bit sweeter than distilled vinegar, and both are pretty common ingredients in BBQ sauce. If you substitute one for the other, just know that vinegars are different and it might be a little sharper in taste.
- Lemon juice brings some acidity and some brightness to the sauce.
- Apple juice adds an element of sweetness and sugar without making it overly sweet. It works well with the apple cider vinegar.
- Powdered garlic brings some earthiness and pungency to the sauce. It’s more concentrated than granulated garlic. If you substitute powdered for grandulated, use twice as much granulated garlic.
- Prepared horseradish is a made with horseradish (a white root) along with vinegar. It is responsible for that sinus-clearing effects in many prepared sauces, including my horseradish cream sauce.
- Black pepper is the world’s most traded spice, beloved in cuisines from Asia to America and Europe to Russia, and so named for its ability to perk up almost anything it touches. You can use white pepper here if you would rather the pepper disappear into the sauce and not leave behind flecks, just know that it will be a bit milder in taste.
- Mustard powder is pungent and sharp, and doesn’t contain the vinegar and other spices of prepared mustard. You’ll have better control over how the sauce tastes.
- Morton coarse kosher salt is my go-to salt choice. If you want to substitute table salt, tread carefully, as it’s twice as salty as coarse salt. So if you use table salt, use half as much as what the recipe calls for here. Take a look at my science of salt article.
- Cayenne pepper is added in a small amount in comparison to black pepper. It’s just bringing some warmth and a more subtle layer of heat.
- Whole chickens—you’ll need two of ’em, weighing about 4 pounds apiece. There’s enough sauce here for that.
White BBQ sauce recipe, step by step
- Whisk together all the sauce ingredients in a large bow. Refrigerate in a jar for at least two hours so flavors can meld.
- Cut the chicken into quarters: two drumstick and thigh combos, and two breasts. Remove the wings from the breasts. Generously salt and pepper both sides of all pieces.
- Crank up the smoker or prepare the grill for 2-zone indirect cooking. Aim for 325°F (162.8°C) in the indirect side.
- Add a handful of wood chips, chunks, or pellets on the heat source. (Use a foil packet with wood on a gas grill). Cook the chicken skin-side up on the indirect side of the grill.
- Check the temp of each piece of chicken; they cook at different rates. Place the probe in the thickest part of each piece but don’t touch the bones. When all parts hit about 155°F (68.3°C), flip the bird and put the skin face down on the hot side.
- When all parts reach 165°F (73.9°C), paint them generously on all sides with the sauce.
- Plate the chicken and serve immediately with additional white BBQ sauce.
White BBQ sauce FAQs
This isn’t a BBQ sauce you cook with. It goes on, as it does in my recipe, after the chicken is cooked. It also works well as a quick drizzle or a finishing dip.
If kept in an airtight container in the refrigerator, this sauce will stay fresh from 1 to 2 weeks.
You can add other ingredients such as a pinch of nutmeg, which brings a bit of warmth to the sauce. Peppercorns vary in their flavor a bit but white pepper is also sometimes a nice alternative to black pepper. It’s not as complex as black pepper, but it also doesn’t leave dark specks in the sauce, if that’s important to you.
If you like this white BBQ sauce recipe, you’ll love . . .
- Tennessee Hollerin’ Whiskey BBQ Sauce Recipe
- North Carolina Lexington Dip
- The Perfect Texas BBQ Sauce for Beef Barbecue
- Chocolate Chile BBQ Sauce Recipe
- Asian Style BBQ Sauce Recipe
Alabama white BBQ sauce recipe and video
Watch the video and you’ll see how to make smoked chicken with Alabama white sauce, step by step at home. Want a printed recipe? Click the “Print Recipe” button in the recipe card.
Alabama White BBQ Sauce With Chicken Recipe
Ingredients
Method
- Prep. Whisk together all the sauce ingredients in a large bowl and refrigerate in a jar for at least 2 hours, if possible, to allow the flavors to meld.
- At Big Bob Gibson's, Chris Lilly butterflies his chickens, which makes sense in a high production environment, but I prefer to quarter them so I can make sure no part is overcooked since breasts and thighs cook at a different rate. I recommend you cut the bird into quarters: Two drumstick and thigh combos, two breasts, and remove the wings from the breasts. Sprinkle liberally with salt and pepper on both sides
- Fire up. Crank up your smoker or prepare the grill for 2-zone indirect cooking. Shoot for 325°F (162.8°C) in the indirect side.
- Cook. Place the chicken skin side up on the indirect side of the grill. Put a handful of wood chips, chunks, or pellets on the heat source. Use a foil packet with wood on a gas grill and on a charcoal grill put the wood right on the coals (no need to soak the wood). Just a handful of wood. Don't overdo it. Nothing will ruin chicken faster than too much smoke.
- Check the temp of each piece independently because they will cook at different rates. Place your probe in the thickest part of each chunk but don't touch the bones. The wings will finish much faster than the other parts so put them on late and be prepared to remove them early. When all parts hit about 155°F (68.3°C), flip the bird and put the skin face down on the hot side. When they reach 165°F (73.9°C), paint them generously on all sides with the sauce (at Big Bob's they dunk the birds in a vat of sauce).
- Serve. Plate the chicken and serve immediately with additional white BBQ sauce.
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