South Carolina Mustard Sauce

South Carolina Mustard Sauce 

My husband doesn’t really care for the typical sweet tomato barbecue sauce. Most of the time, he’ll pass when we eat ribs, pulled pork, etc. A few years ago we catered our anniversary party from a local barbecue restaurant. They assured me that none of their ribs were brined and agreed to put all the sauces on the side. For a change of pace, I asked for some mustard sauce in addition to the red stuff. I’d never had mustard BBQ sauce, and, I was pleasantly surprised. I really liked it, and so did my husband. That experience sent me on a search for a mustard-based sauce I could adapt to low sodium cooking.

Happily, I came across a recipe at Serious Eats that fits the bill. It’s super easy to make, is very flavorful, and is easily adapted to low sodium. But, like so many things loso, you’ve got to have the right ingredients. Since it calls for quite a bit of mustard, I use Westbrae NSA Stoneground Mustard. It’s great stuff. Absolutely no sodium but with plenty of mustard flavor. It’s stoneground, so It’s not exactly like neon-yellow ballpark mustard. But it’s very tasty and perfect for those times when you need more than just a smear of mustard on a sandwich.

Low Sodium Ingredients

I used to be able to get Westbrae NSA Stoneground Mustard at my local grocery store, but as often happens when dealing with loso products, the store no longer carries it. No worries, though. I can order it from Amazon (which I just did a few days ago) or from Healthy Heart Market. It’s one of those products that I’m willing to spend more on just to make sure I have it on hand.

Another “salty” ingredient is Worcestershire Sauce. Luckily, you normally don’t use a lot of Worcestershire sauce in most recipes, rarely more than 1-2 teaspoons. I’m fortunate that a couple of local grocery stores carry French’s Reduced Sodium version (45 mg sodium/tsp). There’s also a Lea & Perrins reduced sodium product available (same sodium content as French’s). And Healthy Heart Market carries Robbie’s brand which is only 20 mg sodium/tsp.

Finally, the recipe calls for a bit of ketchup. Fortunately, for all of us, most grocery stores now carry either Heinz or Hunt’s NSA ketchup. So it’s easy to find a low sodium substitute.

Pulled Pork with SC Mustard Sauce

The sauce is a great dipping sauce for typical barbecue fare – pulled pork, ribs, chicken, etc. And it’s also good with oven roasted or pan fried chicken or pork chops. It’s nice drizzled over roasted vegetables, especially potatoes. The Serious Eats recipe makes a lot. Even though we truly enjoy the sauce and it keeps well in the fridge, we simply can’t get through that large portion quickly enough. So I’ve cut the recipe in half.

Grilled Chicken with SC Mustard Sauce

South Carolina Mustard Sauce

Adapted from Serious Eats

(Printable Page)

Half Recipe:

¼ C + 2 T low sodium mustard (I use Westbrae NSA Stoneground Mustard)

¼ C honey

2 T apple cider vinegar

1 T low sodium ketchup

1½ tsp brown sugar (use less to cut sweetness)

1 tsp low sodium Worcestershire sauce

½ tsp hot sauce (I use Original Red Tabasco but Healthy Heart Market offers several NSA hot sauces)

Combine ingredients and chill overnight before use. (If you can’t chill overnight, at least chill for an hour or two before use.)