Forty years, two people

It started on a stove in north St. Louis

Freddie L. James Jr. made the first batch at home in 1986. He and Deborah have made every batch since. The same recipe is now produced in their own plant on Carr Street.

1,200+ Stores in the chains that carry it

Deborah James and Freddie L. James Jr., owners and operators
Deborah James and Freddie L. James Jr., owners and operators

How it got its name

Deborah heard the name in it right away: Ghetto Sauce. Freddie's first reaction was that he couldn't do that. Her answer was to put his own name on it: Freddie Lee's Ghetto Sauce. They prayed about it, laughed about it, and the name stayed.

The Jameses have always been direct about what the name means. They have answered the question in the same words on their own About page for more than a decade: “We don't mean to be racist, negative, or degrading to anyone's race or nationality. We love all GOD's people, and we love to enjoy family, food, and good times in that order.”

As they put it, the name is not a criticism of anyone. It reflects where they came from and the people who still live there.

Two labels, one recipe

Freddie Lee's American Gourmet Sauce arrived in 2011 after Schnucks expressed interest in carrying the sauce. The chain asked for a different name because of concerns about customer reactions to the word Ghetto. Freddie and Deborah kept the original Ghetto Sauce name and added a second label, American Gourmet Sauce.

Both labels contain the same sauce, made from the same recipe in the same St. Louis kitchen. Large grocery chains tend to carry American Gourmet Sauce, while independent butchers and markets often carry Ghetto Sauce.

Mild and spicy

Mild has a hint of heat behind its sweet, tangy, smoky flavor. Spicy adds more heat without overpowering the food.

Both varieties are all-purpose sauces made for meats, seafood, vegetables, side dishes, sandwiches, pizza, pasta, and snacks. Every jar is gluten free, vegan friendly, and made without high-fructose corn syrup.

Where it is today

The sauce began on a stove in a north St. Louis home. In 2010, Freddie and Deborah rented commercial kitchen space at the BEGIN New Venture Center, St. Patrick Center's small-business incubator downtown, and turned their family recipe into a business.

In 2022, they bought their own building on Carr Street with support from the St. Louis Development Corporation, the STL Partnership, and St. Louis Community Credit Union. The move gave them 6,400 square feet of production space, up from the 2,700 square feet they had been leasing. They celebrated the grand opening the following year. What began with sample tastings at wine and cheese shops and farmers markets is now carried by chains with more than 1,200 stores nationwide. The company is still owned and operated by the couple who started it.

Honey, one day GOD is going to bless us to get out of the Ghetto.
On the front porch, north St. LouisAnd that is how the sauce got its name
In the news

What people have written about us

The Post-Dispatch has followed the sauce since 2015. Nine PBS, FOX 2, St. Louis Public Radio and Missouri Life have all been by the kitchen.

From the people who know it

A sauce people remember

Customer stories from sample tables, family cookouts, and meals shared across the country.
I was in Dierbergs (Lemay Plaza) when I passed a gentleman handing out samples of his sauce. Best sauce I have ever eaten. I bought it. He was such a nice gentleman, and I will purchase again and again.
Jennie Souhrada
Bought some Ghetto Sauce from you in Augusta during Masters week. Used it on ribs last weekend and they were unbelievable. Love your sauce, Freddie Lee. I will be ordering more.
John W. Sands
I told him his sauce is my go-to sauce for pork steaks and he replied, ‘well that makes us family.’
Bastard_of_BastogneWebster Groves · r/StLouis Read the discussion
It’s hard to find a company you can trust. Freddie Lee’s was recommended to me by a friend, and now I know why: the quality of service I received was outstanding.
Vienna P. Brown
Went with some Freddie Lee's Ghetto Sauce. Little heat to it.
Home cookSmoking Meat Forums View the dish
Forty years

From a stove to a plant on Carr Street

The same two people have made this sauce since the first batch. Here is how it got from their kitchen to chains with more than 1,200 stores.
  1. 1986

    The first batch

    Freddie L. James Jr. first made the sauce at home, on a stove in a north St. Louis kitchen. The year is still printed on every jar. For years, Freddie shared it with family, friends, and co-workers, who kept asking the same question: what is this called? For a long time, it did not have a name.

  2. 2010

    It becomes a business

    Ready to turn a hobby into a company, Freddie and Deborah rented commercial kitchen space at the BEGIN New Venture Center, St. Patrick Center's small-business incubator downtown. They introduced the sauce through sample tastings at wine and cheese shops and farmers markets.

  3. 2011

    Two labels, one recipe

    Schnucks was the first large chain to express interest in carrying the sauce. The retailer asked for a different name because of concerns about customer reactions to the word Ghetto. Freddie and Deborah kept the original Ghetto Sauce name and added a second label, American Gourmet Sauce.

    Both labels contain the same sauce, made from the same recipe in the same St. Louis kitchen. Large grocery chains tend to carry American Gourmet Sauce, while independent butchers and markets often carry Ghetto Sauce.

  4. 2022

    A building of their own

    They bought a building on Carr Street, backed by two loans totaling $650,000 arranged through the St. Louis Development Corporation, the STL Partnership and St. Louis Community Credit Union. It gave them 6,400 square feet of production space, up from the 2,700 they had been leasing. They celebrated the grand opening the following year.

    6,400 sq ftTheir own plant, up from 2,700 leased

  5. Today

    On shelves nationwide

    What began with sample tastings at farmers markets is now carried by chains with more than 1,200 stores nationwide. The company is still owned and operated by the two people who started it.

    1,200+Stores in the chains that carry it

    Deborah and Freddie with the cooking kettles in their Carr Street plant
    In their own plant on Carr Street