For The Best Homemade BBQ Pizza, Rethink Your Sauce

Homemade pizza is one of the most customizable foods that you can make, which is exactly why so many people love it. From the crust to the toppings, you can select each element according to your taste buds. While you could always make a traditional 19th-century pie covered in tomato sauce, why not step outside of the norm with a 20th-century alternative like BBQ sauce?

BBQ sauce first appeared on pizza at Coletta's Italian Restaurant during the mid-1900s. It became a top seller and one of the company's signature products, featuring pork BBQ and mozzarella. Also part of BBQ pizza history, California Pizza Kitchen was the first to offer a BBQ chicken pizza pie in 1985. Since then, many pizza companies have added pies made with BBQ sauce to their menus — Domino's has a Memphis BBQ Chicken Pizza, Papa John's makes a BBQ Chicken Bacon pie, and BJ's offers a Barbecue Chicken Pizza.

You can be adventurous by making your own version at home, but not all BBQ condiments taste the same, so which one should you choose? Alabama white sauce and Carolina gold sauce are two of the best options that will make your BBQ pizza taste unique.

A rich and creamy BBQ sauce, Alabama white sauce is a mayonnaise-based condiment made with salt, pepper, apple cider vinegar, and other ingredients like horseradish, cayenne pepper (for a little kick), and brown sugar. While it can be cooked on (or simply served alongside) smoked meats, lots of people use Alabama white sauce in coleslaw, too. Its sweet and tangy notes make it extremely versatile, enhancing the smoked and grilled flavors with which it's paired. That's exactly why it's such a unique and delicious alternative to traditional tomato sauce on your homemade pizza.

After you make the crust for a BBQ chicken pizza, simply replace the BBQ sauce that your recipe calls for with the same amount of Alabama white sauce. (You might find that a blend of cheddar, mozzarella, and jack cheeses will best complement the sauce's flavor profile.) Then, follow the rest of your recipe for sautéing or grilling the chicken, adding the other toppings, and baking the pie. For a richer, smokier BBQ flavor, consider replacing the chicken with smoked turkey or rib meat. You can drizzle additional white sauce on top of the pizza after baking, as well.

BBQ in North Carolina and South Carolina differ quite a bit, but it's the Southern concoction of Carolina gold sauce that truly makes a distinct pizza pie. The unusual ingredient that makes it stand out is creamy mustard, which is accompanied by apple cider vinegar, salt, a sweetener (sugar or molasses), and a variety of spices, such as cayenne pepper, hickory smoke, onion, and garlic powder.

By itself, Carolina gold BBQ sauce is the most aggressive of its regional counterparts, but the tangy, zingy flavor can be a complementary ingredient on an easy BBQ chicken pizza. Just substitute the sweet BBQ sauce for Carolina gold, adjusting the amount to your preference, and use cheddar cheese instead of mozzarella to coordinate better with the sauce's acidic punch.

Also, consider swapping out the chicken for pulled pork, which is the meat of choice to pair with this condiment at cookouts. You could even roast the meat in the sauce before adding it to your pizza so that you get more of a smoky flavor. For the full Carolina gold effect, though, make a coleslaw with the sauce, and then use that as a garnish with pickles.