North Carolina Style Barbecue Mop and Sauce – Great with Grilled Chicken
Jul 01, 2015, Updated Jul 02, 2025
An amazing Smoked Vinegar Mop and Sauce with Onion and Garlic.
Baste this vinegar-based Mop on chicken as you grill… adds flavor and moisture. A wonderful layer of lingering smoky pungency.
Basting Mop Sauces are NOT Sweet
They are slathered over meat, usually a slow-cooking process where a sweet, thick barbecue sauce would burn.
You might have read in many BBQ recipes “baste with sauce only at the end of cooking”. NOT with a Mop – baste often – this adds flavor and moisture!
In North Carolina mops are favored – with just enough vinegar “sauce” to wake up your tastebuds and nothing else. Traditionally basted on pork over low heat for up to 18 hours – it’s “real BBQ”, then the meat is pulled, and routinely loaded onto a bun and served with coleslaw.
Mops are Tangy… and infused with flavors
Typical Barbecue Sauces are thick and sticky, laden with brown sugar and molasses. Commercial varieties are just too sweet for my tastebuds… and most contain high fructose corn syrup, unnatural smoke flavor (believe me, it’s not “natural”), caramel color and preservatives… a processed mess!
I do make my own – yet I am embracing mops, which are tangy, yet full of flavor.
Easy Method:
- I like to “smoke” Onions and Garlic for a nice flavor (see directions)
- Chop them, add seasonings and cook
- Add Apple cider Vinegar, reduce slightly
- Purée sauce – ready to use!
Notes for success:
This recipe takes only minutes after the onion and garlic is smoked.
All ingredients are whisked together in a pot, then blended for the right consistency. Will last a few weeks refrigerated.
I have tested the Mop with a whole spatchcocked chicken (laying flat) and boneless chicken breasts.
If you are cooking on a gas grill, not charcoal or wood, this sauce will infuse a smokey flavor without the hassle. The whole chicken developed a crispy skin, with a tender flesh and the vinegar based sauce was a great compliment.
The chicken breasts turned out juicy too, you may marinate them in the mop, then baste as you cook. I love to slice up the meat and add to main-course summer salads.
Smoked Vinegar Mop and Sauce with Onion and Garlic – Great with Grilled Chicken
Ingredients
Smoked Vinegar Mop and Sauce:
- 1/2 large large onion, 1/2″ slices, skin on
- 4 very large fresh garlic cloves, cut almost in half, skin on
- 1 teaspoon extra virgin olive oil
- 1/2 teaspoon fresh cracked black pepper
- 1/4 teaspoon marash pepper, or your favorite ground chili peppers
- 3/4 teaspoon salt
- 1 tablespoon ketchup, organic (no high fructose corn syrup!)
- 14 teaspoon chipotle in adobo, or more for spicier
- 2 tablespoons pure maple syrup
- 1 1/2 cups apple cider vinegar, organic
Instructions
- Place 1 1/2 T. of your desired smoking chips on the bottom of a Camerons Stove Top Smoker* In ten minutes, it will be smoking and ready. Smoke the onion and garlic on the rack for 10 – 15 minutes until softened and a nice golden color. Cool. Remove peels, coarsely chop.
- In a 2 quart non-reactive pan, add the oil, the chopped onion and garlic. Sauté over low heat for a minute then add the seasonings: Pepper, marash pepper, salt, ketchup, chipotle and maple syrup. Cook for 1 minute to blend the flavors.
- Add the vinegar, bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to a simmer, and cook uncovered to reduce slightly by a fourth, about 10 minutes. Cool slightly and puree in a blender – leave a little chunky with some texture – just 10 seconds. Place in a clean glass container and refrigerate. Will last a few weeks.
How to use the Mop:
- This mop can be used to marinate, but always used to brush on top as chicken cooks. A mop, unlike bbq sauces is used to basted food often.
- Serve some Smoked Vinegar Mop on the side for dipping.
- * I highly recommend this smoker. Alternatively, sauté onion and garlic in the first step until slightly caramelized, add a pinch of smoked paprika for some smoky flavor.
Notes
For a spatchcocked (flattened) chicken with the mop as it cooks. Use as a side sauce as well. I cook skin side down until lightly charred, over high heat, then turn grill down to low and cook slowly until done – basting with the Mop. Internal temperature to 160 degrees (meat thermometer.) For chicken breasts – marinate in the Mop for up to 6 hours. Oil your grill, and cook until strong grill marks appear on the first side, turn over with tongs – turn heat down to low. Cook on the second side about 10 minutes, depending on the size, until just cooked inside – basting with the mop! Slice the chicken and top with some fresh chopped thyme, and sliced garlic chives, if available. Serve some Smoked Vinegar Mop on the side for dipping. * I highly recommend Camerons Stove Top Smoker to infuse flavor. Alternatively, sauté onion and garlic in the first step until slightly caramelized, add a pinch of smoked paprika for some smoky flavor.
This recipe may not be reproduced without the consent of its author, Karen Sheer.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
1 Comment
CARLYN
Edit Love the mop sauce. Just learned on TV that North Carolina Bab B Q ssauces are vinegar based. I have to avoid too much sugar in my diet for health reasons, so I welcome a recipe like this; one that keeps me away from the processed sauces in the supermarket. Great job.
