White Barbecue Sauce Chicken
This White Barbecue Sauce Chicken is tasty and unique, and it’s a low-carb version of Alabama Chicken cooked on the grill! And if you’ve never heard of this flavorful and interesting White BBQ Sauce, it’s actually quite famous!
PIN White Barbecue Sauce Chicken to try it later!
For today’s Friday Favorites pick, I’m reminding you of this unusual White Barbecue Sauce Chicken that features juicy grilled chicken breasts cooked with a very unique sauce. I love to cook chicken breasts on the grill, but I’m not such a fan of grilling chicken with the skin on.
So when I saw a recipe for Grilled Chicken with Big Bob Gibson’s White Barbecue Sauce, I immediately thought about how to change it up to use boneless, skinless chicken breasts. For my first attempt I marinated the chicken breasts in half of the mayo-based white barbecue sauce, and although that wasn’t bad, I thought it could be improved.
The second time I mixed up seasoning ingredients for the famous Alabama White BBQ Sauce; then I divided the mixture and mixed half with olive oil to turn it into a marinade for the chicken and mixed the other half with mayo to make the barbecue sauce.
If you’re not sure about the idea of a mayo-based barbecue sauce, be open minded because this chicken with white barbecue sauce is so delicious, and it’s definitely something I’ll be making again.
What is White BBQ Sauce?
(This is only a list of ingredients; please scroll down for complete printable recipe. Or if you use the JUMP TO RECIPE link at the top of the page, it will take you directly to the complete recipe.)
White Barbecue Sauce is a tangy mayo-based sauce that was invented in Alabama by a restaurant owner named Bob Gibson in 1925. Now you can buy the sauce, and there are recipes for it all over the web.
What ingredients do you need for this recipe?
- boneless, skinless chicken breasts
- white balsamic vinegar (affiliate link)
- apple juice without added sugar
- ground horseradish (affiliate link)
- fresh-squeezed lemon juice, I used my fresh-frozen lemon juice
- cayenne pepper (affiliate link) (more or less to taste)
- Monkfruit Sweetener (affiliate link) or sweetener of your choice
- cup olive oil
- mayo
What makes the White BBQ Sauce sweet?
This recipe uses a very small amount of unsweetened apple juice in the sauce. Half that goes into the marinade, which is mostly discarded; you’re only eating the small amount that clings to the chicken. Since you aren’t eating huge amounts of the sauce, the recipe is quite low in carbs, but feel free to use a bit less apple juice and more Monkfruit Sweetener or other sweetener if you prefer.
Can you make White BBQ Sauce Chicken without an outdoor grill?
If you don’t have an outdoor grill (or it’s not grilling weather), this chicken can be cooked on a stove-top grill pan with ridges (affiliate link) or a George Foreman Grill (affiliate link) with good results. Remember that the George Foreman Grill cooks both sides at once so grilling time will be a lot shorter!
How to make the grilled chicken with White BBQ Sauce:
(This is only a summary of the steps for the recipe; please scroll down for complete printable recipe. Or if you use the JUMP TO RECIPE link at the top of the page, it will take you directly to the complete recipe.)
- Like all my grilled chicken recipes, I start with trimming the chicken well and then cutting small slits that go crosswise down each chicken breast. (This helps the chicken cook more evenly and lets the marinade cover more surface area.)
- Mix vinegar, apple juice, horseradish, lemon juice, and cayenne pepper to make the seasoning for the marinade and sauce. Taste to see if you want to add sweetener. Then divide that seasoning mixture in half.
- Mix 1/3 cup olive oil into one half of the seasoning mixture to make the marinade.
- Put the chicken into a Ziploc bag, pour in the marinade, and let it marinate 6-8 hours in the refrigerator.
- Mix 3/4 cup mayo into the rest of the seasoning mixture to make the white barbecue sauce. Put that in the fridge until you’re ready to serve the chicken.
- When it’s time to eat, spray grill with non-stick spray or brush with oil and preheat grill to high while you let chicken come to room temperature.
- Then lay chicken on the pre-heated grill, at an angle to the grill grates if you’re going for those criss-cross grill marks. Turn grill down to medium high.
- After 3-4 minutes, rotate chicken pieces so they’re at an angle going the other way.
- After 6-8 minutes on the first side, turn chicken and cook an additional 2-4 minutes on the second side (depending on how thick the chicken breasts are.)
- Serve hot, with white barbecue sauce on the side to dip bites of chicken in.
Make it a Low-Carb Meal:
This tasty chicken with white barbecue sauce would be delicious served with Spicy Grilled Eggplant, Grilled Zucchini Greek Salad, Easy Grilled Vegetables, Grilled Zucchini Caprese Salad, or simple Grilled Zucchini for a tasty low-carb meal.
More Dinners with Grilled Chicken:
- Grilled Chicken with Lemon and Capers
- Very Greek Grilled Chicken
- Grilled Chicken Thighs with Lemon and Za’atar
White Barbecue Sauce Chicken
This grilled chicken with the famous Alabama White BBQ Sauce is tasty and unique, and this is a grilling recipe everyone will love.
Ingredients
- 4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
- 1/2 cup white vinegar
- 1/4 cup apple juice (see notes)
- 2 teaspoons ground horseradish (more or less to taste)
- 1 tsp. fresh-squeezed lemon juice
- 1/4 tsp. cayenne pepper (more or less to taste)
- 1 tsp. Monkfruit Sweetener (optional; taste to see if you want the mixture a little sweeter)
- 1/3 cup olive oil
- 3/4 cup mayo
Instructions
- Trim chicken breasts well, removing all visible fat and membranes and trimming chicken so it’s close to an even thickness.
- Cut small slits going crosswise down each chicken breast.
- Mix together white vinegar, apple juice, horseradish, lemon juice, and cayenne pepper to make the seasoning for the marinade and white barbecue sauce.
- Taste to see if you want more sweetness and add Monkfruit Sweetener or other sweetener of your choice if desired.
- Divide the mixture in two.
- Mix the olive oil into half of the seasoning mixture to make the marinade.
- Put the chicken in a large Ziploc bag and pour in the marinade.
- Let chicken marinate in the fridge for about 8 hours.
- Mix the mayo into the other half of the seasoning mixture and put into a plastic storage container and refrigerate until you’re ready to serve it.
- When you’re ready to cook the chicken, spray grill with non-stick grilling spray or brush with oil.
- Preheat grill to high; then immediately turn to medium-high when you put the chicken on the grill.
- Lay chicken breasts at an angle to grill grates and cook about 4 minutes. (Lift up the edge of one piece of chicken to see if you have nice grill marks before you rotate it.)
- When the grill marks look good, rotate the chicken pieces so they’re going at an angle the other direction and cook about 4 minutes more.
- After about 8 minutes (or when the grill marks look good) turn chicken to the second side and cook 2-4 minutes longer.
- Total cooking time will depend on the thickness of the chicken and how hot your grill gets, but chicken should feel firm, but not hard, to the touch when it’s done.
- Serve chicken hot, with white barbecue sauce on the side to dip bites of chicken into.
Notes
Be sure to choose apple juice without added sugar.
Recipe adapted from Grilled Chicken with Big Bob Gibson’s White Barbecue Sauce from Food and Wine.
Nutrition Information:
Yield:
4Serving Size:
1Amount Per Serving: Calories: 651Total Fat: 53gSaturated Fat: 9gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 43gCholesterol: 119mgSodium: 363mgCarbohydrates: 3gFiber: 0gSugar: 2gProtein: 38g
Nutrition information is automatically calculated by the Recipe Plug-In I am using. I am not a nutritionist and cannot guarantee 100% accuracy, since many variables affect those calculations.
Low-Carb Diet / Low-Glycemic Diet / South Beach Diet Suggestions:
I would eat this White BBQ Sauce Chicken for any low-carb diet; check the nutritional information to see what you think. (Even though there’s a small amount of apple juice, it’s less than one tablespoon per serving and you’re only eating the amount of marinade that sticks to the chicken and small amounts of the sauce.) This would technically be phase two or three for the original South Beach Diet, but as I said, there’s not much apple juice in a serving.
Find More Recipes Like This One:
Use Grilling Recipes to find more recipes like this one. Use the Diet Type Index to find more recipes suitable for a specific eating plan. You might also like to follow Kalyn’s Kitchen on Pinterest, on Facebook, on Instagram, on TikTok, or on YouTube to see all the good recipes I’m sharing there.
Historical Notes for this Recipe:
This recipe was first posted in 2013. It was last updated with more information in 2023.
18 Comments on “White Barbecue Sauce Chicken”
If you cook the chicken with the skins on, they are juicier. Just remove the skin once it is cooked and serve the sauce on the side.
I don’t prefer that method because I am using a marinade to keep the chicken moist, but feel free to adapt any way you prefer.
What a GREAT chicken recipe, & quite different than the usual chicken w/BBQ Sauce. My mouth is watering, & I can’t wait to make it. I’m impressed that this recipe doesn’t contain a lot of sodium, which we try to avoid in lrg. amounts, in order to stay healthy. Thanks Kalyn 💐
So glad you like it! This sauce and marinade is so flavorful it doesn’t really need salt. Hope you like it!
Sounds delicious! I've never seen a mayo sauce like this so am looking forward to trying it.
Susan it is unique! Hope you enjoy.
I don't like horseradish. Is there anything you could substitute?
Anything spicy that won't change the color of the sauce too much will probably work but I am drawing a blank.
I don't care for horseradish either, but to tell you the truth, I couldn't get enough of this BBQ sauce when we lived in AL, and I didn't know it was in there until I read this recipe!!
Lori I agree there is not a strong horseradish taste to this, especially if you use the smaller amount of horseradish.
Nichole, that sounds good!
Big Bob Gibson's BBQ is in Decatur, AL, close to my husband's hometown. I had never heard of "white sauce" growing up in GA, but it is a staple in his family. Often, we'll have it with a grilled "beer can chicken". Delicious!
Val, if you like mayo you'll like it. This is definitely not for mayo-haters though!
I haven't heard of a white BBQ sauce before Kalyn, but am definitely intrigued.
Jamie, hope you like it. The sauce is quite famous in Kansas City, but I've never seen it anywhere else.
Hmm mayo as a barbecue sauce is interesting. This one I am going to have to try just because I am so curious.
Lydia, I did really like the chicken dipped in the spicy sauce. Of course I'm kind of a freak for mayo, but I liked this much better than red barbecue sauce on chicken.
White barbecue sauce — the idea is completely new to me, but because you've promised it's good, I will keep an open mind and try it. Love the idea of using the basic seasonings in the marinade as well as the sauce.