Buffalo, New York meets North Carolina with this recipe for Carolina Red Wing Sauce. This recipe is a combination of classic wing sauce flavors with a tangy North Carolina vinegar-based barbecue twist!
Traditional hot wings are fried and then tossed in a mixture of hot sauce and butter. It was like a lightbulb going off when I realized I could use vinegar-based North Carolina Red barbecue sauce instead of traditional hot sauce in this recipe.
The addition of unsalted butter and a touch more cayenne pepper created the perfect spicy, sweet, tangy, and balanced hot wing sauce I was looking for. My wife is not a wing person, but this recipe successfully converted her! I hope you love this recipe as much as I do.
Carolina Red Wing Sauce Ingredients
As mentioned above, this sauce recipe was inspired by vinegar-based North Carolina Barbecue sauces. This sauce is slightly spicy and tangy, yet a hint of sweetness from ketchup and sugar provides balance.
- Apple Cider Vinegar
- Unsalted Butter
- Ketchup
- Granulated Garlic
- Tabasco (or other hot sauce to your liking - Tabasco adds an extra vinegar-y punch that I recommend!)
- Granulated Sugar
- Cayenne
- Kosher Salt
- Fresh Cracked Black Pepper
This is definitely not your typical wing sauce; however, it still has everything you could want! The fun part about this is that you can customize your spice level by adding more cayenne or hot sauce to your taste! Any way that you make it, it will be sure to have you coming back for more.
Serving Suggestions
Obviously, the best use for this recipe is for hot wings! Check out my recipe for Carolina Red Sauce Hot Wings, You can, however, use this in place of any hot sauce!
Did you make this recipe for Carolina Red Wing Sauce?
Let me know in the comments below how yours turned out, and don't forget to leave a rating!
Recipe
Carolina Red Wing Sauce
Equipment
- Medium Sauce Pan
Ingredients
- ¾ Cup Cider Vinegar
- 4 Tablespoons Unsalted Butter
- ½ Cup Ketchup
- 2 Teaspoon Tabasco
- 2 Teaspoons Granulated Sugar
- ½ Teaspoon Granulated Garlic
- ⅛ Teaspoon Cayenne
- 1 Teaspoon Kosher Salt
Instructions
- Add all of the ingredients to a medium saucepan over medium high heat stirring frequently until boiling.
- Reduce heat to medium low and simmer for 2 to 3 minutes. Remove from heat and allow to cool for several minutes.
- Use this to toss toss chicken wings, top a fired chicken sandwich, or as a dipping sauce!
Jake says
This sauce is the perfect balance of sweet and tangy. Took my wings to the next level!