This Carolina Gold BBQ Sauce has the perfect tangy, sweet, and smoky flavor. Think honey mustard with a bit of smoke and spice - and a whole lotta tang. Y'all are gonna love this popular South Carolina barbecue sauce on any meat, poultry, and fish! Ready to try it? 🙂
You'll ❤️ this Mustard BBQ Sauce
"You will love this golden bbq sauce recipe - the taste is amazing! Carolina gold barbecue sauce has always been one of my favorite sauces because of the tanginess of the mustard. You'll love the blend of mustard with the sweetness of the honey and brown sugar with the spices and vinegar."
If you're a barbecue sauce fan - be sure to try my Blueberry BBQ Sauce and Peach BBQ Sauce, and this strawberry version - they are unique and tasty as well as fruity and tangy with mild spice. My go-to all-purpose BBQ sauce is this Homemade Sweet BBQ Sauce - it's the perfect balance of sweetness and tang!
Balanced Flavor. This is loaded with umami flavor! When something has an umami flavor, it means that it is a balance of all types of taste. This golden barbecue sauce is tangy, spicy, sweet, salty, and a bit sour from the mustard; a perfect balance!
It's Easy. Measure and throw all your ingredients into a saucepan and simmer for about 15 minutes to blend the flavors. FYI that if you're in a hurry, you can simply simmer until the brown sugar is dissolved, then serve it. (I do it all the time!) 🙂
Make it Healthy. This mustard BBQ sauce is low carb, dairy-free, and can be made keto and by using brown sugar alternative and omitting the honey.
What is Carolina Gold Sauce?
Carolina gold sauce is a mustard based barbecue sauce very popular in South Carolina. It is a unique and tasty blend of sweetness from brown sugar and honey, tangy (from the mustard and vinegar), and spicy from the cayenne pepper or hot sauce.
Ingredients Needed For Carolina Gold Sauce
Here are the ingredients you will need to make this Carolina Gold BBQ Sauce recipe:
- Yellow Mustard - yellow is the traditional mustard to use in this sauce, but you could certainly try dijon or even brown grainy mustard.
- Brown Sugar
- Honey - honey adds a lovely sweetness to this sauce, but if you are looking to lower your sugar content or are following keto, you can omit it entirely.
- Apple Cider Vinegar - ACV has a very unique flavor of its own, so I highly recommend using it. In a pinch, you could substitute traditional white vinegar.
- Worcestershire Sauce
- Kosher Salt
- Smoked Paprika - this is a must. It adds the most amazing smoky flavor. Once you try smoked paprika, I guarantee you will use it a lot. I replace it with regular paprika in many dishes.
- Garlic Powder
- Onion Powder
- Cayenne Pepper - feel free to adjust the amount of cayenne used.
For exact ingredient quantities, please see the recipe card below!
Be sure to save this pin to Pinterest for later! 😉
How To Make This Carolina BBQ Sauce Recipe
Here are the step-by-step instructions for making Carolina Gold Sauce:
Add Ingredients
Add all your measured ingredients to a small saucepan.
Heat over medium heat until it starts to simmer.
Simmer
Reduce heat to low, cover, and simmer for 15 minutes.
Cool
After simmering, remove the saucepan from the heat and allow the sauce to cool.
Please see FAQ section for storing and freezing any leftovers.
What To Serve Carolina Gold BBQ Sauce With
Here are a few ways to serve this Carolina Mustard BBQ Sauce:
- Carolina gold sauce is commonly served with pork, but it goes really well with just about any favorite grilled meat, poultry, or fish.
- You can also use it as a marinade or dipping sauce - like chicken tenders. Slather it on chicken wings. Add it to pulled pork.
- Meal idea! Serve this sauce over Grilled Pork Steaks with a side of Herb Marinated BBQ Vegetables - cook everything on the grill, and forget the hassle of washing those big pans after dinner! I absolutely love it on brats and burgers too!
- This sauce would pair well with these Best Baby Back Ribs on the Grill or these Grilled Boneless Chicken Thighs.
- Use this sauce in my Slow Cooker Pulled Pork recipe, then grab a favorite bun and top with some Dill Pickle Slaw!
Variations
Here are a few ways you can vary or make substitutions to this recipe:
- Increase the spicy heat in this BBQ sauce by adding spices such as red pepper flakes and extra cayenne pepper, or add your favorite hot sauce to the saucepan when simmering.
- Substitute yellow mustard with a different one! You could use dijon or brown mustard for some extra tang and spice!
- Make it lower in sugar by using
Top Tips
- If you're in a hurry, simply heat the sauce until the brown sugar is dissolved, and you can use it immediately. The flavors won't be as blended as if it were simmered - but it's still dang good!
- Easily double or triple this recipe if needed. You can freeze it too! Store in the fridge for about a week or 3 months in the freezer.
- If you are unsure about the spiciness, start with less spice, then add more to taste.
- Adjust any other seasoning to your liking.
- Don't forget the lid when simmering. This sauce is already thick so it does not need to reduced.
FAQs
Carolina gold bbq sauce is a mustard BBQ sauce that consists of apple cider vinegar, yellow mustard, brown sugar or honey for sweetness, and a blend of black pepper, cayenne pepper, and garlic powder to give it a kick and round out the sweet and sour flavors.
Carolina Gold flavor stands alone as a mustard-based bbq sauce that brings a lot of tang, but has a very nice balance when mixed with brown sugar or honey and a little tomato paste. The natural sweetness of honey in this bbq sauce makes Carolina Gold bbq sauce one of a kind and one of the best!
Store your leftover BBQ sauce in an air-tight container in the fridge for up to 7 days after preparing.
This sauce can be frozen! Transfer any cooled leftover sauce to a freezer-safe container and freeze up to 3 months.
Can I ask you a favor?
If you tried this recipe, let me know! I'd love for you to come back and give the recipe a 5 star rating and leave a review in the comments! 🙂 Let's stay connected, so please follow me on Instagram, Facebook, and Pinterest! Subscribe to my newsletter to get healthy fresh recipe ideas every week!
📖 The recipe.
Carolina Gold Sauce Recipe
Ingredients
- ¾ cup prepared yellow mustard
- ½ cup brown sugar (A brown sugar substitute may be used such as brown/gold allulose.)
- ⅓ cup honey
- ¼ cup apple cider vinegar
- 2 teaspoons worcestershire sauce
- 2 teaspoons kosher salt
- 2 teaspoons smoked paprika
- 2 teaspoons garlic powder
- 1 teaspoon onion powder
- ¼ teaspoon cayenne pepper (add more to taste)
Instructions
- Add all ingredients to a saucepan and heat over medium heat until brown sugar is dissolved, about 5 minutes.
- Removed from heat and let cool.
- Store in an air-tight container for up to 7 days.
Nutrition
© 2025 Seeking Good Eats™
Dena
amazingly delish!
seekinggoodeats
Awwww! Thank you, I'm super happy you loved this BBQ sauce recipe! 🙂