Smoky barbecue mayonnaise dip – sumptuous, silky, stunning single step recipe

If you love BBQ Sauce or mayonnaise you will love this homemade Mayocue, and with a single step, it has never been so easy!

Sweet, smoky, warming, barbecue mayonnaise is a dip made of 50% barbecue sauce and 50% mayonnaise. This versatile flavor-packed dip is equally good on burgers, sandwiches, eggs, or as a dip for fries, chips, and meatballs… Ultimately, this sauce is about imparting creaminess and smoky flavor to a dish. A proper smokey BBQ mayo will be tangy, zesty, smokey, warming yet soothing, creamy with a lingering hint of something exotic.

Before we jump into the recipe, why not explore what makes this one of the best dipping sauces out there, to the point where manufacturers have developed a finished product such as mayocue around this concept?

What is mayocue?

Simply put, mayocue is a combination of mayonnaise and barbecue sauce. This ongoing trend by Heinz with their Mayochup (mayonnaise and ketchup) and Mayomust (mayonnaise and mustard) follows a pattern of blending sauces with mayonnaise as found in tried and tested popular recipes, essentially continuing in the tradition of aioli or even the fabled 1,000 island sauce.

While convenient, these sauces can be bland and a true chef will simply start with a great concept and take it further until they end up with the best darn smoky barbecue mayonnaise ever!

How to make BBQ Mayo?

At its simplest, bbq mayo is simply a blend of barbecue sauce and mayonnaise. However, why not play around with the flavors more, amp up the vinegar and underlying barbecue flavors to elevate the sauce and make it sing?

Ingredients:

• Mayonnaise: – I normally opt for a basic, creamy and sweeter mayonnaise which provides the ultimate creaminess to the sauce. Using a tangier mayonnaise is certainly possible, but then reduce the amount of vinegar added
• BBQ Sauce: – opt for a good sauce as this is the main taste of the sauce. I prefer a southern, Louisiana-type bbq sauce but to each their own. Some prefer to use a chipotle-type sauce, also a great variation.
• Apple Cider Vinegar: – adds a depth of flavor and sweetness. White wine vinegar can be too overpowering while spirit vinegar is just too bland. The apple cider flavor echoes the flavor in the barbecue sauce for a great finish.
• Worcestershire Sauce: – this is basically the mainstay of barbecue sauces. A great Worcestershire sauce adds umami, smokiness, and a subtle undertone that wills out any southern barbecue.
• Smoked Paprika: – sweet and smoky. Simple as that paprika is often used for its color, a deep red, which turns to a warm orange when mixed with mayonnaise. Using smoked paprika adds the smoke flavor required for any bbq dish.
• Onion and garlic powder: – garlic is the mainstay of most western dishes these days and the combination of garlic and onion powder adds a lot of sulfur compounds which add just the right hint of “something” to enhance all of the other flavors.
• Cayenne pepper: – I like my bbq sauce to have a little bite to it. Just a hint of cayenne pepper helps to liven up a sauce and add intrigue to the taste buds.

Alternative ingredients

There are so many variations to this BBQ mayo that an entire post could be written up. Suffice it to say that the following shortlist will provide you with endless variations:

• Horseradish: Adding this ingredient makes the sauce into an Alabama BBQ sauce. Adding a few shavings of fresh horseradish alters the profile just enough that the heat level moves to the nose and there is a hint of earthy sourness, along with fresh herbiness. Not enough to pinpoint, but a tantalizing, lingering taste.
• Spicy brown mustard: Adds more color and a base flavor that is hard to establish with just a hint of heat. Perfect to lift burgers to a new level.
• Sweet pickle relish: – adds texture, sweetness, and a pickle sourness that this hard to mimic. Perfect for a BBQ burger.
• Chipotle chiles in adobo sauce: – adds bags of flavor and a Mexican twist to the flavor profile while driving a lingering heat that remains long after the last bite is finished.
• Honey: – Sweetness, stickiness, home comfort. A perfect counter to the vinegar for a smoother finish.
• Fresh garlic: – totally different to garlic powder, much sweeter with a piquancy that teases and a lingering aftertaste with all the comforts of home.
• Lemon juice: – clean acidity for a simpler palate. Use sugar to balance it out.
• Lime zest and juice: – fruity acidity with summer freshness. Perfect for a BBQ chicken dip.
• Ketchup: – yep, the tried and trusted ketchup is hard to ignore. Add a couple of tablespoons to provide a tomato base and use the well-rounded acidity/sweetness to carry the sauce.

Can you mix mayo and bbq?

Mayo and bbq are a marriage made in heaven. Most bbq dishes are quite astringent with a sharp vinegar profile that is hard to tame yet perfect for this combination, where the creamy fattiness of mayonnaise cuts through the sourness of barbecue to provide a perfect counterpoint.

Can you put mayo on a bbq sandwich?

Most bbq sandwiches need a creaminess to help them achieve perfection. Some love to add coleslaw to their sandwich, especially pulled pork sandwiches, others spread a liberal amount of avocado, especially where more Mexican flavors are sought. Mayonnaise is a perfect intermediate solution, with all of the creaminess of coleslaw yet without the crunch while blander than avocado which can often distract from the dish.

How can I use Barbeque Mayo?

This sauce can easily be used as a dip, a sauce, or even a marinade. That is how versatile it is!

• Pour some into a dipping bowl and serve at a cocktail party with some cocktail sausages, mini-spring rolls, meatballs, samosas, or chips. Try it with roasted chicken or crumber chicken strips!
• Use as a spread on burgers, pulled pork sandwiches, gyros, wraps, pitas, or any cold-cut sandwich.
• Drizzle over fries, onion rings, wedges, sweet potato fries, or even over a hot pizza!
• Marinade meat overnight in bbq mayo or drizzle over meatballs just before cooking to impart loads of flavor while adding moisture to the meat.

How to prepare in advance and store smoky bbq mayo?

For the best flavor, prepare this sauce in advance, for up to 24 hours, and store it in the fridge for up to 2 weeks in an airtight container. While the sauce can be prepared and served instantly, leaving it in the fridge for at least 2 hours prior to serving allows the flavors to merge and even out, yielding better results.

Recipes using BBQ sauce

While bbq mayo certainly is a hit in our family, there are just so many alternatives out there to try out. If you love BBQ sauce, why not try out our perinaise or sriracha mayo?

Here is a quick set of ideas on how to use either a spicy mayo, bbq mayo, or just a plain bbq sauce:

• BBQ Meatballs
• BBQ Chicken
• BBQ Chicken Warps
• BBQ Chicken Pizza