South Carolina's Four Barbecue Sauces (2024)

If your goal in life is to sample every style of barbecue in America, you don't have to travel across the country to do it. Just visit South Carolina, the only state in the nation where you'll find all four of the basic types of barbecue sauce, sometimes on the same menu.

It's the sauce that determines what kind of barbecue you're eating in the Palmetto State. When we say "barbecue" around here, we're always talking about pork. Beef, chicken and other critters can be barbecued, grilled or cooked with or without sauce, but only pork - most often pulled pork cooked in a smoky pit - is barbecue.

South Carolina is home to four barbecue sauces: mustard, vinegar and pepper, light tomato and heavy tomato. The sauces are sometimes mopped on during the cooking process or can be served on the side, a subject of much debate among barbecue pit masters.

South Carolina's Four Barbecue Sauces (1)

Some people think of mustard-style barbecue as South Carolina's unofficial sauce because this is the only place you'll find it. It's most popular in the middle of the state where German families settled in the 1700s. Those German immigrants brought their love of mustard to the region and it soon combined with the love of pork for a lovely, tangy result.

Vinegar and pepper sauce, the most popular style along the coast, is perfect for those who love a bit of heat. The acidity of the vinegar works magic with the pork. It's also the oldest sauce, perhaps the oldest in the nation, and has been traced back hundreds of years.

The light tomato sauce is basically a vinegar and pepper sauce with ketchup added for a little sweetness. It's most popular in the Pee Dee Region (the northeast corner of the state) and in the upper middle part of the state.

A heavy, tomato-based barbecue sauce is found in the western and northwestern corner of South Carolina. It's sweet - sometimes it's called a tomato and sugar sauce. It's the kind you're most likely to find on grocery store shelves and in many parts of the United States.

Most folks have an allegiance to one sauce over the others, but they're all delicious on a mound of succulent pork, especially when prepared by a barbecue master. So try all four before you choose sides. It can be a life-altering bite!

Download the free BBQ Trail Map and find your happy plate at one of the many family-owned barbecue restaurants across the state.

South Carolina's Four Barbecue Sauces (2)

Discover writers share all of the places, activities and adventure that South Carolina has to offer. Read more from some of South Carolina’s locals and discover what’s happening in the Palmetto State.

South Carolina's Four Barbecue Sauces (2024)

FAQs

South Carolina's Four Barbecue Sauces? ›

South Carolina is home to four barbecue sauces: mustard, vinegar and pepper, light tomato and heavy tomato. The sauces are sometimes mopped on during the cooking process or can be served on the side, a subject of much debate among barbecue pit masters.

What are the 4 types of barbecue sauce found in SC? ›

High cites Port Royal, SC as the birthplace of modern barbeque and its four main types of sauces: Vinegar and Pepper, Mustard, Light Tomato, and Heavy Tomato sauce.

What are the four sauces with barbecue? ›

What are the 4 Main Types of BBQ Sauce? Generally, barbecue sauces is categorized into four varieties: tomato-based sauces, vinegar-based sauces, mustard-based sauces, and mayonnaise-based sauces. Each category can have a range of BBQ sauce styles, ranging from sweet and tangy to hot and spicy.

What kind of barbecue is South Carolina known for? ›

Mustard-based barbecue sauce is common in the central part of South Carolina, and is style of barbecue is most strongly associated with South Carolina. It is sometimes called "Carolina Gold". It may have originated in the French and German immigrant community that arrived in South Carolina in the 18th century.

What's the difference between North Carolina and South Carolina BBQ? ›

Carolina BBQ: South vs Eastern North vs Lexington

Nicknamed the "Mustard Belt", South Carolina is famous for its Carolina Gold, a tangy, mustard-based sauce. North Carolina BBQ has two styles. A clear, vinegar-based sauce cuts through the fatty whole hog BBQ of Eastern North Carolina.

What are the 4 types of BBQ? ›

While the wide variety of barbecue styles makes it difficult to break them down into regions, there are four major styles commonly referenced, North Carolina and Memphis, which rely on pork and represent the oldest styles, and Kansas City and Texas, which use beef as well as pork, and represent the later evolution of ...

What are the different types of Carolina barbeque? ›

There are three types of BBQ in the Carolinas – vinegar-based, tomato- (or ketchup-) based, and mustard-based.
  • South Carolina | mustard-based.
  • Eastern N.C. | vinegar-based.
  • Lexington (Piedmont N.C.) | tomato- or ketchup-based.
Feb 28, 2019

What are the 4 main sauces? ›

The five mother sauces are hollandaise, tomato (sauce tomat), bechamel, Espagnole, and veloute. French chef Auguste Escoffier identified the five mother sauces, forever associating them with French cuisine. However, mother sauces are relevant in all modern cooking practices.

What are the 4 original sauces? ›

Famous chef Marie-Antoine Carême codified the four original Mother Sauces in the early 1800s. His recipes for Velouté, Béchamel, Allemande, and Espagnole were vital to every French chef. About 100 years later, chef Auguste Escoffier reclassified Allemande as a “daughter sauce,” or variation, of velouté.

What state has the best barbecue sauce? ›

Kansas City: Known for its rich and flavorful BBQ, Kansas City-style BBQ is one of the most popular and well-known styles. It features a balance of sweet and tangy flavors, with a thick and tomato-based sauce. Kansas City-style BBQ often includes a variety of meats, such as ribs, brisket, and burnt ends.

What is South Carolina's famous food? ›

7 Southern Foods You Must Try
  • Frogmore Stew. Frogmore Stew is a staple dish in the Lowcountry of South Carolina. ...
  • Shrimp and Grits. Shrimp and grits has been a South Carolina specialty for generations. ...
  • Oyster Roasts. Oyster roasts are just one of South Carolina's tasty culinary traditions. ...
  • Barbecue. ...
  • Peaches. ...
  • Boiled Peanuts.

What is the difference between Carolina BBQ and Kansas City BBQ? ›

For example, Kansas City BBQ typically features a sweet tomato-based sauce with a tangy taste. There are many different barbecue styles, but two of the most popular are Kansas City and Carolina. Carolina BBQ typically is spicier and uses vinegar as a base for their sauces.

What BBQ did Anthony Bourdain visit in South Carolina? ›

Scott's Pit Cook BBQ

It's a 90-minute drive from Charleston to Hemingway, but Tony says it's well worth it for their excelent barbeque. During his visit, he tries whole hog barbeque with house sauce, served with cole slaw and white bread.

What state has the best Southern BBQ? ›

Georgia. Georgia can certainly claim that it is one of the best states to experience American barbecue seeing as the restaurant that was named number one in the top 10 list of the best barbecue restaurants in the United States put out by TripAdvisor was from here.

What is a Southern BBQ? ›

Finally, Southern-style BBQ is known for its emphasis on pork. While other meats, such as beef and chicken, are also commonly smoked in the South, pork is king. Whether it's pulled pork, ribs, or pork shoulder, Southern pitmasters know how to make pork shine.

What state is known for pulled pork? ›

There are four main barbecue regions/styles in the U.S. but pulled pork is best known in the Carolinas. The main difference between barbecue dishes from different areas is in the seasonings, sauces, or dressings used. Carolina pulled pork usually has a spicy, vinegar dressing.

What type of BBQ sauce is from North Carolina? ›

What Is North Carolina Barbecue Sauce? The base for North Carolina barbecue sauce is vinegar, peppers, and sometimes tomato (in the form of tomato paste or ketchup). This tangy, spicy sauce enhances the pulled pork or whole hog barbecue that's typical in this part of the country.

What is the difference between Western and Eastern Carolina BBQ sauce? ›

The base of the sauce is both vinegar and ketchup, and it's that flavor that really separates Eastern and Western North Carolina. Western pork is sweeter with a sauce that's redder in color, but the flavor is still tangy due to the vinegar component.

What makes Carolina BBQ sauce unique? ›

Carolina BBQ Sauce

It's a rich, spicy, and tangy sauce made with yellow mustard that gets slathered on pork. North Carolina has a vinegar-based BBQ sauce. It's mostly cider vinegar, salt, and red pepper flakes. The pungent flavor cuts through fatty whole hog BBQ.

What are the 5 main styles regions of BBQ here in the US? ›

Here are the top five styles of regional barbecue in America.
  • Texas. Texas-style BBQ comes in at number one. ...
  • Memphis. If you enjoy strongly spiced barbecue styles, this one is for you. ...
  • Kansas City. ...
  • North Carolina. ...
  • South Carolina.
May 22, 2019

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