Meanings
- uncountablecookingA condiment found in the cuisine of the Southern United States, typically made with pineapple preserves, apple jelly, horseradish, and mustard.
Tips From Our Test Kitchen: The Jezebel sauce can be made a few days ahead if desired. If pineapple preserves can't be found, use crushed pineapple in very heavy syrup (well-drained).
2006, Mary Carter, Susan Fisher, Candace Floyd, American Profile Hometown Cookbook: A Celebration of America's Table, Thomas Nelson, →ISBN, page 2242 more examples
Makes 4 cups If you are from the South, you may recognize Jezebel sauce as a sweet-hot condiment that is frequently slathered over cream cheese and eaten with Wheats-worth crackers. No one really knows where Jezebel sauce comes [from.]
2009, Elizabeth Karmel, Soaked, Slathered, and Seasoned: A Complete Guide to Flavoring Food for the Grill, John Wiley & Sons, →ISBN, page 164You can find variations of Jezebel sauce in pretty much any Mobile Bay area restaurant. Once you taste this sauce, you will immediately know why it is named after the most notorious working woman in history ... it is plain sinful!
2011, Autumn Beck, Skinny Ninnie's Kitchen, Tate Publishing, →ISBN, page 111
Origin
Unclear, perhaps alluding to the condiment's hot, sweet, saucy character.
Full word history & related roots →Cite this entry
Jezebel sauce. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 5, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Jezebel%20sauce
“Jezebel sauce.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Jezebel%20sauce. Accessed November 5, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “Jezebel sauce,” accessed November 5, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Jezebel%20sauce.
Source: Jezebel sauce on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.