Tangy Carolina BBQ Sauce Recipe | Buns In My Oven (2024)

This North Carolina BBQ Sauce recipe is tangy and full of flavor! We love slathering it on pulled pork or grilled chicken. This vinegar based BBQ sauce is the perfect mixture of sweet and tangy.

Tangy Carolina BBQ Sauce Recipe | Buns In My Oven (1)

People. I have a problem.

I want to dip all the things in all the things.

By which I mean, I want to dip every single food in every single type of condiment available.

If I make our oven fried chicken tenders, I must also have country gravy, ranch dressing, honey mustard, barbecue sauce, and our copycat Chick-Fil-A sauce.

If I eat french fries, I want a plate with little squirts of ketchup, dollops of mayo, blobs of spicy mustard, cheese sauce, and a good amount of fry sauce.

I have condiment commitment issues, you guys. I should probably go to therapy for this.

Anyway, barbecue sauce is a condiment which means that I love it and .

So, I made up a batch of my favorite Carolina barbecue sauce recipe this week and thought I’d share the recipe.

I snagged it off the back of a bag of Lay’s barbecue chips a long time ago (embarrassing? maybe. also true.), doctored it up a bit, and it’s been a favorite ever since! I love the tangy flavor from all of the vinegar!

This vinegar based bbq sauce is absolute perfection, my friends.

Tangy Carolina BBQ Sauce Recipe | Buns In My Oven (2)

Table of Contents

What is Carolina Style BBQ Sauce:

Carolina BBQ sauce is a vinegar based BBQ sauce that often contains no tomato products at all. It’s a very thin sauce.

Our version of Carolina BBQ sauce contains both apple cider vinegar and ketchup, making for a sauce that’s thicker than just a straight vinegar based sauce. The tanginess of the vinegar shines through nicely and is paired perfeclty with the sweetness of the ketchup and brown sugar. We think this is the best of both worlds – thinner and tangier than something like our Bourbon BBQ sauce or Sweet Baby Ray’s, but still with a bit of body that will cling nicely to your pulled pork or grilled chicken.

Ingredient Notes:

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Wet Ingredients: This easy vinegar based BBQ sauce recipe starts with a mix of ingredients you probably already have at home. The wet ingredients include apple cider vinegar, ketchup, yellow mustard, and Worcestershire sauce.

Dry Ingredients: Along with the tangy flavor from the vinegar every good BBQ sauce recipe needs a little bit of sweet and a little bit of heat! That’ll come from brown sugar and chili powder. Some onion and garlic powder along with salt will also help balance out the flavors in this tangy North Carolina BBQ sauce recipe!

What Readers are Saying!

“We smoke our own meats and this sauce is amazing! Exactly what I’ve been looking for! Followed the recipe and I couldn’t be happier with it. Thank you!” – April

How to Make Carolina Barbecue Sauce:

Tangy Carolina BBQ Sauce Recipe | Buns In My Oven (4)

Combine: This is one of those really simple one pot recipes where you can just dump everything in and go. Add all the wet ingredients to a medium saucepan with the dry ingredients and whisk it all together over low heat until it begins to form into the tangy BBQ sauce.

Boil: Bring the sauce to a boil, being careful to stir often so that the bottom doesn’t burn.

Thicken (Or Don’t): We like to let our sauce boil and reduce down by about a third. This makes for a thicker sauce with a bit more body. You can boil it for as long as you like – the longer you boil it, the thicker it will be. The less you boil it, the thinner it will be!

Store: When the sauce is ready you’ll need something to store it in. I recommend mason jars! Let it cool for about 20 minutes before transferring to the jars or another airtight container.

I wouldn’t recommend using this sauce right away though. It’ll thicken up a bit and take on even more flavor if you let it set it in the refrigerator first for at least a couple of hours or even a day or two!

Tangy Carolina BBQ Sauce Recipe | Buns In My Oven (5)

Serving Suggestions:

Pretzel Crusted ChickenThe perfect dip for this juicy, crunchy chicken is our barbecue sauce!

Air Fryer Boneless Pork Chops Just 10 minutes in the air fryer. Baste these with our tangy barbecue sauce or serve on the side.

Pulled Pork Sandwiches We drizzle these with sauce and top them with dill pickle slaw. A must!

BBQ Chicken Burgers Dry burgers? No, sir. We add BBQ sauce and cracker crumbs to the mix and they turn out fab.

Tangy Carolina BBQ Sauce Recipe | Buns In My Oven (6)

FAQs:

What type of vinegar should I use?

We prefer apple cider vinegar in this Carolina BBQ sauce.

How to store BBQ sauce?

This tangy Carolina BBQ sauce is best stored in a mason jar in the refrigerator. It won’t last as long as the bottled stuff from the store but it will last for a couple of weeks in the fridge. It can also be frozen in a freezer safe container for up to 3 months. We do not have experience canning this sauce.

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Recipe

Tangy Carolina Barbecue Sauce

This North Carolina BBQ Sauce recipe is tangy and full of flavor! We love slathering it on pulled pork or grilled chicken. You won’t be able to get enough of this barbecue sauce recipe.

4.11 from 292 votes

Print Pin Save

Prep2 minutes minutes

Cook3 minutes minutes

Total5 minutes minutes

Serves 16 servings

Ingredients

  • 1 cup apple cider vinegar
  • 1 cup ketchup
  • 1/2 cup brown sugar
  • 1/3 cup yellow mustard
  • 1 tablespoons onion powder
  • 1 teaspoon garlic powder
  • 1/4 teaspoon chili powder
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt
  • Dash of Worcestershire sauce

Instructions

  • Dump everything into a medium saucepan set to low heat. Whisk together to combine. Increase heat to high and bring to a boil.

  • Boil, stirring often, for 5 minutes or until the sauce has reduced to your liking, keeping in mind sauce will thicken slightly as it cools.

  • Remove from the heat and store in a one pint mason jar in the fridge for up to 2 weeks.

Nutrition Information:

Calories: 51kcal (3%)| Carbohydrates: 11g (4%)| Sodium: 234mg (10%)| Potassium: 81mg (2%)| Sugar: 10g (11%)| Vitamin A: 90IU (2%)| Vitamin C: 0.8mg (1%)| Calcium: 14mg (1%)| Iron: 0.2mg (1%)

Author: Karly Campbell

Course:Condiment

Cuisine:American

Keyword:grilling recipes, summer recipes, weeknight dinner recipes

Did You Make This?Tag Us On Instagram

This recipe was originally published in May of 2013. It was updated with new photos in October 2023.

Tangy Carolina BBQ Sauce Recipe | Buns In My Oven (9)
Tangy Carolina BBQ Sauce Recipe | Buns In My Oven (10)
Tangy Carolina BBQ Sauce Recipe | Buns In My Oven (2024)

FAQs

How do you get barbecue sauce to stick to chicken in the oven? ›

Roast the chicken for 10 minutes, then brush with more sauce. Return the chicken to the oven and roast for 10 minutes more. Brush the chicken all over again with the sauce. Roast for an additional 10 minutes until burnished and sticky.

Do you put BBQ sauce on before or after oven? ›

Barbecue sauce typically contains sugar that will brown faster than the meat. This can make it difficult to tell when the chicken is done. To ensure you don't pull the chicken off too soon, add the BBQ sauce when you're nearly done cooking the meat.

How do you thicken BBQ sauce in the oven? ›

Using Flour or Cornstarch

Set the temperature to a low setting. Mix water with flour or cornstarch in a separate bowl. You can use either flour or cornstarch to thicken BBQ sauce. Just mix together 2 tbsp (16 g) of flour and ¼ cup (62.5 mL) of water, or combine 1 tbsp (9 g) of cornstarch with 1 tbsp (15 mL) of water.

How do you do the BBQ effect in the oven? ›

Using a grill pan in the oven

Using a cast-iron grill pan (as opposed to your oven's normal grill pan) can help emulate the outdoor BBQ or 'grilling' experience inside the oven. These pans can withstand high temperatures and feature raised ridges to impart signature grill marks on your food.

Should I put barbecue sauce on chicken before baking? ›

A lot of people wonder if you put BBQ sauce on chicken before or after baking and we firmly believe that the correct answer is that you do BOTH!

Can barbecue sauce go in the oven? ›

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C). Whisk together the barbecue sauce, soy sauce, red wine, maple syrup, chili powder, dry mustard powder, garlic powder, onion powder, and cumin in a bowl until thoroughly combined. Place the chicken breasts into a 9x13-inch baking dish, and pour the sauce over the chicken.

When should I put barbecue sauce on ribs in the oven? ›

Bake for a couple of hours, then slather with our BBQ sauce mixture. Use a brush or spoon to spread it evenly over the tops. Broil (or grill) for an additional 2-5 minutes to get crispy, charred edges.

How to caramelize barbecue sauce in the oven without? ›

To achieve the perfect texture and avoid burning your sauce, brush it on and then flip the meat during the last 10 minutes of cooking. Remember, if you add the sauce too late, it may not thicken and caramelize properly, so aim to stay within that 10-minute sweet spot.

What is tangy BBQ sauce made of? ›

Ingredients: High Fructose Corn Syrup, Water, Tomato Paste, Red Wine Vinegar, Distilled Vinegar, Salt, Contains 2% Or Less: Modified Food Starch, Spices, Soy Sauce (water, Soybeans, Wheat, Salt), Soybean Oil, Dextrose, Xanthan Gum, Natural Smoke Flavor, Garlic Powder, Cellulose Gum, Chili Peppers, Caramel Color, Sodium ...

What to add to my barbecue sauce to make it better? ›

Citrus works well in barbecue sauce; orange is common, but apple and pineapple are also popular. Make sure to also add either some hot or sweet flavor to it or else you'll end up with a gross mess. Possiblities include hot sauce, honey, ginger, brown sugar, sriracha, etc.

What can I add to barbecue sauce to make it taste better? ›

Adding garlic or onion powder are standard flavors for barbecue, but get a little creative and try out different chile powders, peppers, cumin, or dried herbs to add body to the sauce.

How to thicken Carolina barbecue sauce? ›

Add a slurry – Mix one tablespoon of cornstarch with 1 tablespoon of water and add it to the sauce. Make sure you whisk the cornstarch mixture into the sauce and allow the barbeque sauce to cook over a rapid simmer until the sauce has thickened.

How do professional chefs thicken sauce? ›

Wheat flour is used extensively in professional kitchens as a thickening agent. Although it can be combined with water to create a whitewash, it is more commonly mixed with fat, which surrounds the starch granules and prevents clumping when added to hot liquids.

What temperature do you thicken sauce? ›

Turn the heat to medium-high and stir the ingredients. As the sauce heats, it will begin to boil. Notice the sauce is thickening as it heats. As the bubbles become larger in the pot, watch the sauce closely.

How do you get barbecue sauce to stay on chicken? ›

Whether you're working with breasts, thighs, drumsticks, or wings, pat the meat dry. This is especially important for skin-on chicken or marinated pieces, as this can help sauce to stay put. Applying a rub can also be useful, much like working with a thicker sauce.

How do you get sauce to stick to raw chicken? ›

Slow down your sauce with fat

Not only is butter a fat (a long, tangly molecule), it's a fat that's solid at room temperature. As the chicken and sauce cool, the sauce will slow even more, clinging to the chicken and coating its skin.

How do you make BBQ sauce stick? ›

The best method for getting BBQ sauce to stick on meats. Is to apply the sauce after the meat has been mostly cooked. This ensures the surface is going to be done releasing moisture and has enough texture for the sauceto hold onto. Add the BBQ sauce before the last 10 – 20 minutes of cooking.

How do you get sauce to stick to wings in the oven? ›

To get buffalo sauce to stick to wings, it's essential to toss the wings in the sauce immediately after they come out of the fryer or oven while they are still hot. The heat helps the sauce adhere to the wings, creating a flavorful and evenly coated exterior.

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