Eastern NC BBQ Gravy

3.7/5 rating (13 votes)

Category: Side Dishes
Servings: About 3 cups
Carolinacountry.com
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As a little girl, I would often run errands in Smithfield with my grandma. I always looked forward to stopping at the local BBQ hot spots for some dark meat barbecue chicken. One place had a whitish, thick sauce that I’ve replicated below. How to make eastern NC BBQ sauce better? Turn it into gravy…

Ingredients

2 cups apple cider vinegar
½ cup water
8 tablespoons white sugar
2 tablespoons ketchup
1–2 tablespoons hot sauce (We used Texas Pete)
1 teaspoon crushed red pepper
¼ teaspoon cayenne pepper
1 teaspoon ground black pepper
1 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons flour
1 can (12-ounce) evaporated milk

Directions

Combine all ingredients, except flour and milk, in a saucepan. Heat on medium until sugar melts.
In a bowl, whisk flour into milk to make a slurry. Add to vinegar mixture and whisk until thickened into gravy.
Serve over grilled or store-bought rotisserie chicken. Lip smacking good on sliced pork and mashed potatoes, too!

Recipe courtesy of

Wendy Perry, a culinary adventurist and blogger, chats about goodness around NC on her blog at WendysHomeEconomics.com.

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3.7/5 rating (13 votes)

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Comments (4)

Having been born and raised in Eastern NC (Wayne Co.) we were anxious to try the BBQ gravy...Oh my goodness...hard to tell if it might have been good because the taste of vinegar was overwhelming. We love vinegar based BBQ sauce (like Scott's) but the gravy was just too much...we could not eat it and ended up pouring it out. Sorry, but unless something was missing in recipe, I would not try this again.
Barbara Pyatt |
February 19, 2020 |
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This gravy is delicious! I halved it since there are only 2 of us. This is definitely a keeper for pork chops/steaks, chicken and more!!!
Lisa Barrett |
April 25, 2020 |
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I was raised in Wayne county too. I’ve always replicated the bbq gravy by mixing Scott’s and cream of chicken.
Miranda Bennett |
November 21, 2022 |
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- That sounds like a quick and delicious shortcut to us Miranda! Thanks for sharing!
  Carolina Country |
  November 23, 2022 |
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