A little bit spicy, a little bit smoky, there’s all of that going on with this barbecue sauce. But it’s the sweet and sour play of apple cider vinegar and lemon juice with brown sugar and molasses that makes this the perfect sauce to wake up everything from ribs to chicken to kielbasa to beans.
Sweet and Tangy Homemade Barbecue Sauce is slightly chunky, thick but pourable with the texture of a true sauce, not a smooth, pasty condiment like some bottled sauces. It’s the ideal consistency for mopping onto meats for the grill or stirring into bean pots and casseroles. This isn’t a sauce to dribble on – it’s for slathering – so the recipe makes a generous four cups. Whatever you don’t use the first day will keep for weeks in the fridge.
Sweet and Tangy Homemade Barbecue Sauce
August 7, 2020
: Makes 4 cups
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons neutral oil (such as expeller-pressed canola oil)
- 1 large onion, finely chopped (about 2½ cups)
- Kosher salt
- 5 garlic cloves, minced
- 2 cups ketchup
- ½ cup molasses
- ½ cup brown sugar
- 1/3 cup apple cider vinegar
- ¼ cup lemon juice
- ¼ cup bourbon, or other whisky (optional)
- 3 tablespoons dry mustard
- 2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
- 1¼ teaspoons ground black pepper
- ½ teaspoon liquid smoke, or to taste
Directions
- Step 1 Heat the vegetable oil in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Add the onion and season with kosher salt. Saute the onion until soft, about 8 minutes. Add the garlic and cook 2 minutes more.
- Step 2 Add the ketchup, molasses, brown sugar, vinegar, lemon juice, bourbon (if using it), mustard, Worcestershire and black pepper. Bring the mixture to a simmer, reduce the heat to medium low, and simmer 30 minutes, stirring occasionally.
- Step 3 Remove the sauce from the heat and stir in the liquid smoke.
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