BBQ Sauce Recipe (Simple & Easy!) (2024)

FAQs

What are the basics of barbecue sauce? ›

Combine brown sugar, ketchup, vinegar, water, and Worcestershire sauce in a blender. Season with mustard, paprika, salt, pepper, and hot pepper sauce. Blend until smooth. Enjoy!

Ketchup is the base of the sauce, Worcestershire sauce adds umami, light brown sugar brings sweetness, vinegar brings tang, and two spices, paprika and cayenne pepper, add a smoky flavor and some heat.

The base ingredients of barbecue sauce usually include tomato sauce or ketchup, vinegar, and sweeteners, such as molasses or brown sugar. Other common ingredients include Worcestershire sauce, mustard, garlic, onion powder, and various spices, which can include paprika, cumin, and chili powder.

Stubb's Original BBQ Sauce

You can't go wrong with Stubb's sauces, which are a tangy mix of tomato, vinegar, molasses, and spices.

Sauces intended for grilling should contain less sweeteners (usually brown sugar or molasses) than barbecue sauces. Sugar will burn over the direct heat and leave you with a bitter taste.

A good barbecue sauce starts with tomatoes, sweetener, mustard, and spices. Most homemade barbecue sauces start with ketchup, but I prefer to strip it back further and start with a small can of tomato paste.

Ingredients vary, but most include vinegar or tomato paste (or a combination) as a base, as well as liquid smoke, onion powder, spices such as mustard and black pepper, and sweeteners such as sugar or molasses.

Eastern Carolina-Style Vinegar Sauce

Found in the eastern half of both North and South Carolina, Eastern-style vinegar sauce has the unique honor of being the oldest barbecue sauce in the country. Given its origin in the 13 colonies, it's literally where American barbecue was born, at the hands of enslaved chefs.

What are the three types of BBQ sauce? ›

Generally, barbecue sauces is categorized into four varieties: tomato-based sauces, vinegar-based sauces, mustard-based sauces, and mayonnaise-based sauces. Each category can have a range of BBQ sauce styles, ranging from sweet and tangy to hot and spicy.

Vinegars: These can help balance the sweetness of the standard off-the-shelf sauce.

The problem is that most store-bought barbecue sauces just aren't that stellar. They're off-the-scales sweet, packed with fake "smoke" flavor, or weirdly viscous like butterscotch. If you want to really elevate your barbecue, you're going to have to make your own sauce.

Create depth by adding dark chocolate and coffee to your barbecue sauce. These two, feature a bitter-sweet combo that can truly enhance the blend of spices and flavors present in your bottled barbecue sauce. Enhance your Barbecue Sauce using almost anything, including your favorite beer.

You want to use it just long enough to heat it and bake it onto the meat, allowing it to caramelize, without burning it. Show restraint when it comes to how much sauce you are using. You don't want to overdo it and risk the sauce burning. Usually, no more than two even coats is sufficient.

Generally, barbecue sauces is categorized into four varieties: tomato-based sauces, vinegar-based sauces, mustard-based sauces, and mayonnaise-based sauces. Each category can have a range of BBQ sauce styles, ranging from sweet and tangy to hot and spicy.

The ingredients vary depending on where you are world, but most barbecue sauces include vinegar or tomato paste as a base, liquid smoke flavouring, onion, spices such as mustard and black pepper, and sweeteners such as sugar, honey or molasses.