Homemade BBQ Sauce

I don’t know why it took me so long to just make my own Homemade BBQ Sauce instead of buying bottles that taste like ketchup with molasses. You simmer it low for 2 1/2 hours and it turns into this thick, dark thing that actually tastes like something.

Why You’ll Love This Recipe

• It’s cheaper than buying the good stuff at the store
• The sauce gets darker and smokier the longer it sits on the stove, which is kind of cool to watch
• You can actually pronounce every ingredient
• No high fructose corn syrup or whatever else they put in those squeeze bottles
• Stirring every 15 to 20 minutes gives you something to do but doesn’t chain you to the kitchen
• The texture ends up syrupy and thick, not watery like some barbecue sauce recipe versions I’ve tried

The Story Behind This Recipe

I got tired of spending $7 on a jar of sauce that I’d use twice and throw away. Last Tuesday after work I had time and I figured I’d see what happens if I just let everything simmer for a while instead of rushing it. Turns out the long cook time is what makes it actually taste like BBQ sauce and not just sweet tomato goop.

I noticed around the 90-minute mark that the sauce stops smelling sweet and starts smelling smoky even though there’s no smoke involved. The color shifts from red to this deep brown and that’s when you know it’s working.

What You Need

You’re starting with an enameled pot or Dutch oven because that’s what won’t scorch on you during the long simmer. Regular pots can give you hot spots and you’ll end up with burnt bits at the bottom which ruins the whole thing.

The ingredients go straight into the pot together which feels weird at first but trust it. You need tomato paste or sauce as your base, something acidic like vinegar or lemon juice, sweetness from brown sugar or molasses, and spices like garlic powder, onion powder, maybe some chili powder or paprika. I used what I had which was apple cider vinegar and it worked fine.

The liquid smoke is optional but if you skip it the sauce tastes more like ketchup and less like BBQ sauce. Just a little bit though, like a teaspoon or two, because that stuff is strong and you can’t un-add it.

Salt goes in at the beginning which I thought would make it too salty after reducing but it doesn’t. The flavors concentrate together so it stays balanced. Some Worcestershire sauce adds that savory thing you can’t quite name but you’d miss it if it wasn’t there.

How to Make Homemade BBQ Sauce

Put everything in your pot at once. Don’t bother mixing it first, just dump it all in and set it over low heat.

Bring it up to a gentle simmer which takes maybe 10 minutes depending on your stove. You’re looking for a few bubbles breaking the surface here and there, not a rolling boil. If it’s boiling you turned the heat too high and you need to back it off immediately or it’ll reduce too fast and get weird.

Once it’s simmering, set a timer for 2 1/2 hours and walk away. Come back every 15 to 20 minutes to stir it, scraping the bottom and sides so nothing sticks. I just leave a wooden spoon on the counter next to the stove so I remember.

Around the 90-minute point you’ll notice the color starting to shift from bright red to darker brown. The smell changes too, less sweet and more complex. That’s when I stopped worrying it wasn’t working.

Keep stirring every 15 to 20 minutes. It’s kind of meditative honestly, just standing there for 30 seconds stirring while the sauce bubbles. The texture goes from thin and watery to thick enough that your spoon leaves a trail that doesn’t immediately fill back in.

By the time you hit 2 1/2 hours the sauce should be syrupy and dark, almost the color of chocolate. If you drag your spoon across the bottom you should see the pot for a second before the sauce slowly slides back. That’s the consistency you want for homemade sauce.

Take it off the heat and let it cool for a few minutes before you do anything with it. It’ll thicken more as it cools which I didn’t expect the first time.

What I Did Wrong the First Time

I thought stirring every 20 minutes meant I could stretch it to 25 or 30 if I was doing something else. I came back at one point to a burnt smell and the bottom had this dark crust that I had to scrape off and the whole batch tasted bitter after that.

Now I set an actual timer on my phone because otherwise I lose track. 20 minutes goes faster than you think when you’re folding laundry or answering emails and suddenly it’s been 40 minutes and you’re scraping up burnt sugar.

Homemade BBQ Sauce

By Emma

Prep:

15 min

Cook:

150 min

Total:

165 min

Servings:

10 servings

Ingredients

• All ingredients placed in an enameled pot or Dutch oven

Method

1. 1 Set your pot over low heat and bring the mixture up to a gentle simmer. You want just a few bubbles breaking the surface, not a boil.
2. 2 Keep the sauce at a low simmer for 2 1/2 hours, stirring every 15 to 20 minutes to keep it from sticking or burning. As it cooks, the sauce will darken noticeably and thicken, turning syrupy. The smell deepens too, smoky and rich.
3. 3 When the sauce has reduced to a thick consistency and a deep, rich color, remove it from the heat. Serve immediately or store for later use.

Nutritional information

Calories

55

Protein

0.5g

Carbs

15g

Fat

0.2g

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Tips for the Best Homemade BBQ Sauce

The sauce looks thin at the one-hour mark and you’ll think it’s not going to thicken. It will. Don’t turn up the heat to speed things up because you’ll just end up with a burnt mess and the flavor won’t develop right.

If you see the bubbles getting bigger or more aggressive you’ve got the heat too high. Lower it immediately, even if it means the bubbles almost disappear for a bit. You can always nudge it back up but you can’t undo a scorched pot.

I keep a damp dish towel next to the stove to wipe the spoon between stirs. Otherwise the dried sauce on the handle gets sticky and annoying and you end up with crusty bits falling back into the pot which is gross.

The sauce is ready when you can draw a line through it on the spoon and it stays separated for 2 or 3 seconds before running back together. That’s the texture that’ll stick to ribs or chicken instead of sliding off.

Don’t taste it straight from the pot while it’s still simmering hot. The heat masks the actual flavor balance and you’ll think it needs more of something when it doesn’t.

Serving Ideas

I pour it over pulled pork that’s been sitting in the slow cooker all day. The sauce soaks into the meat and it’s better than anything I’ve gotten from a restaurant.

It works as a dipping sauce for chicken nuggets or fries if you’ve got kids who won’t eat anything adventurous. My nephew who hates everything ate this with his chicken strips last weekend.

Brush it on grilled chicken thighs in the last 5 minutes of cooking so it gets sticky and caramelized but doesn’t burn. Earlier than that and the sugar scorches before the meat’s done.

Variations

You can swap the apple cider vinegar for white vinegar if that’s what you have but it’ll taste sharper and less rounded. I tried it once when I ran out and it was fine but not as good.

Adding a tablespoon of instant coffee grounds sounds weird but it deepens the color and adds this earthy bitter note that balances the sweet. I do this maybe half the time depending on my mood.

Throwing in a diced chipotle pepper in adobo at the start makes it spicy and smoky in a different way than liquid smoke does. You’ll need to blend it smooth at the end though unless you like chunks.

Skip the brown sugar and use honey instead for something that tastes lighter and less molasses-heavy. The texture stays the same but the flavor leans more toward tangy than dark and rich.

FAQ

Can I use tomato sauce instead of tomato paste? Yeah but you’ll need to simmer it longer, maybe 3 hours instead of 2 1/2, because there’s more water to cook off. The flavor ends up basically the same once it reduces down enough.

How do I know if my simmer is too high? If the bubbles are constant and covering more than a quarter of the surface you’re boiling it not simmering it. You should see one or two bubbles pop up every few seconds, not a steady stream of them.

Can I double this recipe? You can but use a wider pot so the sauce has more surface area to reduce from. If you just pile it all into the same size pot it’ll take way longer than 2 1/2 hours to thicken up right.

What if my BBQ sauce is too thin after 2 1/2 hours? Keep simmering it and check every 15 minutes until it thickens. Sometimes the heat’s too low or you added more liquid than the recipe called for and it just needs more time.

What if it’s too thick? Stir in water a tablespoon at a time while it’s still warm. It’ll loosen up but you can’t add too much at once or you’ll overshoot and make it watery.

How long does homemade sauce last in the fridge? I’ve kept it for 3 weeks in a jar with a tight lid and it was fine. The vinegar and salt act as preservatives so it doesn’t go bad as fast as you’d think.

Can I freeze barbecue sauce recipe batches? Yeah it freezes fine for up to 3 months. I pour it into a freezer bag, flatten it out so it thaws faster and then just defrost it in the fridge overnight when I need it.

Do I have to use liquid smoke? No but without it the sauce tastes more like spiced ketchup than actual barbecue sauce. If you hate liquid smoke try adding a tiny bit of smoked paprika instead but it’s not quite the same.

Can I make this in a slow cooker? I haven’t tried it but I don’t think it’d work because you need the liquid to evaporate and slow cookers trap all the moisture in. You’d end up with thin sauce even after hours.

Why did my sauce taste bitter? You probably let the bottom scorch at some point. Once that burnt flavor gets in there it spreads through the whole batch and there’s no saving it, you just have to start over.

Can I use regular pots instead of enameled or Dutch oven? You can but watch it closer because thin pots have hot spots that’ll burn the sauce faster. I ruined a batch in a cheap pot before I switched to my Dutch oven.

What if I don’t have Worcestershire sauce? It won’t have that savory depth but it’ll still be a decent barbecue sauce. You could try a splash of soy sauce instead but it changes the flavor to something a little less traditional.

How do I fix sauce that’s too sweet? Add more vinegar a teaspoon at a time and let it simmer for another 10 minutes to blend in. The acid cuts through the sugar and it’s easier to add more than to try to balance it with salt.

Can I add fresh garlic and onion instead of powder? You can but mince them really fine and add them at the start so they have time to cook down. I tried it once with chunks and they never softened enough and it was annoying to eat around them.

Does it thicken more as it cools? Yeah it does, which surprised me the first time. It’ll go from pourable to spreadable as it sits on the counter so don’t panic if it seems a little thin when you first take it off the stove.

Why does the color change so much during cooking? The sugars caramelize and the tomato paste darkens as the water cooks out. That’s actually what you want to see happening because it means the flavors are concentrating the right way.

Can I add hot sauce to make it spicy? Sure but add it in the last 30 minutes so it doesn’t cook out completely. I use it sometimes when I want heat but the smokiness is still the main flavor I’m going for.

What’s the best way to store it? Glass jars with tight lids work better than plastic because the sauce doesn’t stain them and they seal better. I wash out old pasta sauce jars and use those.