Carolina Mustard Barbecue Sauce gets a keto makeover! This tangy, sweet sauce is easy to make and adds a delicious twist to your grilled favorites. And it’s totally sugar-free.
My classic Easy Sugar Free BBQ Sauce is a fan favorite, but this is another great sauce to add to your summer line up.
Okay, there’s a reason they call this Carolina Gold BBQ Sauce. Because it truly is like liquid gold! It’s tangy, sweet, and a little bit spicy. And at 2 grams of carbs per serving, you can afford to slather it on!
Most of us are much more familiar with tomato based sauces, and I had honestly never even tried Carolina style sauce until I made this sugar-free version. But now I am completely hooked. And I am confident you will be too.
What is Carolina BBQ Sauce?
There are actually a couple of varieties of Carolina style barbecue sauce. They are both quite different from the thicker tomato or ketchup based sauces.
One is heavily vinegar-based and quite thin and watery. It’s very tangy and acidic, and is usually served with pork.
The other is based on yellow mustard with vinegar, honey, brown sugar, and spices. That’s the variety I upon which I based this Keto BBQ sauce. Switching out the brown sugar and honey for keto-friendly sweeteners, of course. It’s tangy and sweet, but also thicker. And oh, so flavorful!
I had a hard time not just spooning it directly into my mouth. Okay, I admit it, I may have taken a few extra licks of the spoon.
What do you serve it with?
Honestly, this sugar-free Carolina BBQ Sauce goes well with all meats. I paired it with some easy grilled chicken this time, but it’s also perfect for:
- Slathered on my fall off the bone keto ribs
- Drizzled over instant pot pulled pork
- Brushed over keto meatloaf
- Used as a sauce on grilled pork tenderloin
- Brushed on any kind of grilled chicken (before grilling and after!)
- Drizzled over your favorite burgers
How to make sugar free Carolina BBQ Sauce
This fabulous mustard bbq sauce is so easy to make, there’s simply no excuse not to. Here are my best tips for getting it right:
- Yellow mustard: This is the base of the sauce, and you want just regular yellow mustard. Skip the Dijon or spicy brown mustard this time as they will change the unique flavor.
- Brown sugar replacement: I like Swerve Brown for this, as it’s the closest in taste and texture to real brown sugar. You can use regular granulated Swerve or any granulated sweetener instead. You can add a teaspoon of molasses to get that brown sugar flavor (it will only add about 5g of carbs to the entire recipe).
- Honey replacement: Replacing the honey is a bit more tricky. I used an allulose-based honey flavored syrup and it worked perfectly. However, I realize that’s not available to everyone. My best suggestion is to use regular allulose or BochaSweet in order to keep the sauce from re-crystallizing as it cools.
- Whisk the ingredients together. Just add in the vinegar, spices, and other ingredients and whisk to combine.
- Bring to a simmer: I consulted quite a few different recipes, some of which were cooked and some of which were not. I found that by simmering it for 5 minutes or so, I got a thicker sauce and the sweeteners dissolved more easily.
- Store in the fridge. This is a great make-ahead recipe. Nothing in it spoils easily so you can make a big batch and store in the fridge for several weeks. Because it’s a bit acidic, I recommend storing it in glass jars.
How simple is that?
More keto grilling favorites
- Grilled Keto Zucchini Boats
- Fajita Stuffed Grilled Flank Steak
- Keto Chicken Yakitori
- Brie and Caramelized Onion Stuffed Burgers
- Spinach and Feta Lamb Sliders
- Shrimp and Sausage Skewers
Sugar Free Carolina BBQ Sauce
Ingredients
- 3/4 cup (186.75 g) yellow mustard
- 1/4 cup (45.5 g) Swerve Brown
- 1/4 cup (84.75 g) allulose honey
- 1/4 cup (59.75 g) apple cider vinegar
- 1 tbsp tomato paste
- 2 tsp Worcestershire sauce, or coconut aminos
- 1 tsp garlic powder
- 1/4 to 1/2 tsp (0.25 tsp) chipotle powder, (or 1 tsp chili powder)
- Salt and pepper to taste
Instructions
- In a medium saucepan over medium low heat, whisk together all of the ingredients except the chipotle powder and the salt and pepper.
- Bring to a simmer and cook 3 to 5 minutes, until thickened. Remove from heat and stir in 1/4 tsp of the chipotle powder. Taste and adjust seasonings as desired.
- Store in a glass jar in the fridge. It will keep for several weeks.
Nutrition
Nutritional Disclaimer
Please note that I am not a medical or nutritional professional. I am simply recounting and sharing my own experiences on this blog. Nothing I express here should be taken as medical advice and you should consult with your doctor before starting any diet or exercise program. I provide nutritional information for my recipes simply as a courtesy to my readers. It is calculated using MacGourmet software and I remove erythritol from the final carb count and net carb count, as it does not affect my own blood glucose levels. I do my best to be as accurate as possible but you should independently calculate nutritional information on your own before relying on them. I expressly disclaim any and all liability of any kind with respect to any act or omission wholly or in part in reliance on anything contained in this website.
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Can’t wait to try this! My favorite mustard base sauce is Johnny Harris. I’ve been dying to find a suitable sugar free replacement, but there’s simply nothing I’ve found already available. Did you know that “Carolina style” BBQ sauces are VERY regional? The vinegar/pepper sauces are most popular in the mid/north eastern piedmont region. And that’s due to the North Carolina influence. Most of eastern NC are very strict vinegar/pepper sauce aficionados. But mustard sauce is also popular in some eastern SC areas, too. It’s very popular in the central state (Columbia) and as you move further west (Aiken) ketchup based sauces are also popular. It’s all good in my book, but really speaks to the history of BBQ (pork) in SC.
Best ever barbecue sauce. Can it be frozen for a later date?
Thank You,
Lynnita
I honestly haven’t tried freezing it but you’re welcome to experiment!
Absolutely delicious! I made both of your bbq sauce recipes today and can’t pick a favorite – they’re both fabulous. Thanks, Carolyn!
Thanks!
I tried one of those chicken shredder devices so popular now and it works as well as everyone says. So with four chicken thighs shredded I knew we wanted a barbecue sauce. I knew immediately that Caroline would have a recipe. Of course, she had one; a Carolina mustard based sauce. Just what we wanted. First time making it and it was quick and easy. And wonderfully delicious. I will keep a jar of this around so I can use it whenever the mood for barbecue strikes. It would also be good on hard boiled eggs as a kind of easy deviled egg dish. I’m already looking forward to another barbecue meal.
Just made this left out the”honey and cut the sweetener in half…. Being from beep South Carolina we don’t like it sweet but the rest is spot on
Made this to top some pork shoulder I made. Delicious! My husband couldn’t agree more as well. Had it with some homemade refrigerator pickles from the garden and cucumber salad as I have a mountain of cucumbers to eat. Another delicious meal provided by your amazing recipes Carolyn! I can’t thank you enough!
There are no words for how much I love this recipe! I tried it on a whim as I didn’t grow up with it and had never heard of it. It’s amazing! I don’t have access to allulose honey so I just use plain allulose, and I like spicy so I up the amount of powdered garlic and chipotle. I made it again for the third time today and I found it’s possible to just mix all the ingredients in a jar and shake. Without the heating it is pretty runny, but I like to use it as a salad dressing for coleslaw and it also ends up thickening up in the fridge by itself. I always double the recipe and it lasts me a couple months.
I am delighted to hear it. I didn’t grow up with this either but I love it.
This recipe is really heavy on the mustard, if that is your preference you may like this but we felt it was way to sharp for our liking
Great recipe. I made this for the first time last week and my family liked it so much that I’m mow making it double sized. Thanks