Recipe: BBQ Sauce

This BBQ sauce was originally made for chicken, but trust me, it will go really well with any meat you can imagine. It’s a sweeter BBQ sauce, the type you would find in Carolina or in the Mid-West of the US. It’s extremely easy to make your own sauce so give it a try!

Prep
2 minutes
Cook
5 minutes
Serves
A lot
  • 1 Cup Ketchup
  • 1/2 Cup Brown Sugar
  • 1/4 Cup White Vinegar
  • 1/2 Cup Apple Cider Vinegar
  • 1 Tbsp White Sugar
  • 1 1/2 Tbsp Lemon Juice
  • 1/4 tsp Salt
  • 1/2 tsp Chili Powder
  • 1/4 tsp Garlic Powder
  • 1/4 tsp Onion Powder
  • 1/2 tsp Black Pepper
  • Squirt of Honey
  • Splash of Worcestershire

BBQ Sauce Ingredients

This recipe is extremely easy – all you have to do is combine all the ingredients in a pot and then heat over low heat until everything has dissolved into one sauce. You want the brown sugar to dissolve and all the flavors to marry. To ensure it doesn’t burn on the bottom keep stirring it with a whisk while it’s on the stove.

BBQ Sauce Cooking

Once the sauce is done cooking I like to transfer it into a squirt bottle for easy use later. You can use this sauce by brushing it on something (like a chicken) while you cook it, or simply squirt the sauce on something that’s already done cooking like brisket or ribs.

BBQ Sauce Squirt Bottle

Before I let you go on I’ll give you a few alternatives and tips regarding this sauce. The first thing I want to note is that the 1 Tbsp White Sugar and 1 1/2 Tbsp Lemon Juice are actually a substitute for Tamarind Concentrate. If you can get your hands on Tamarind Concentrate then use that instead.

The other thing worth noting is that this sauce can always use some extra smoked flavor, so if you want it a little smokey-er then add a tsp of liquid smoke, or replace the regular 1/4 tsp Salt with 1/4 tsp Smoked Salt.

Finally I wanted to note that you can use any blend of Chili Powder you like in this recipe and you can create quite a difference in flavor by changing those up. Ancho Chili Powder will give the sauce a bit more of a kick, where something like Chipotle Chili Powder will give the blend a bit more smoke.

In the end it’s your sauce, so I really encourage your to experiment and find the perfect blend for yourself and those close to you. For the love of everything tasty, don’t serve this to someone you don’t like – they really don’t deserve it (unless you’re looking to get a raise or something).

As always thank you for reading and if you try out this recipe let me know how it goes in the comments below. Please also let me know any recipes, cuisines or techniques you want to know more about and I’ll try my best to either share something I’ve already done or find something new.