Homemade Barbecue Sauce

I grill and barbecue all of the time, but I usually don’t make my own sauce.  It is quite easy to do, but I never seem to use the right ingredients to make it tasty.  I have done it in the past and it really hasn’t turned out that great.  I usually make the sauce too sweet or too tangy.  I was messing around in the kitchen the other day and I finally got the perfect sauce.  It is thick, tangy, sweet and spicy.  I used tomato paste as the base to make the sauce thicker.  It is amazing.

It takes a few ingredients but it is worth it.
It takes a few ingredients but it is worth it.

Homemade Barbecue Sauce

  • 2 – 12oz cans tomato paste
  • 1 can of your favorite beer – (I prefer a dark beer)
  • 2/3 cup light brown sugar
  • 1/2 cup distilled white vinegar
  • 1/4 cup apple cider vinegar
  • 1 medium brown onion – finely diced
  • 4 cloves garlic – finely diced
  • 2 tbs chili powder
  • 2 tbs worcestershire sauce
  • 2 tbs butter
  • 1 tbs black pepper
  • 1 tsp liquid smoke
  • 1 tsp dry mustard
  • 1 tsp cumin
  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • 1/2 tsp cayenne pepper

The first step is to dice the onion and garlic as fine as you can.

Dice very fine
Dice very fine

Then in a heavy duty sauce pan add the butter and let it melt over medium/high heat.  Then add the onions and garlic and saute until soft.

Then add the remaining ingredients.  Bring to a boil and then let simmer for 45 minutes to an hour.

Let the sauce simmer so that the flavor meld.
Let the sauce simmer so that the flavor meld.

The sauce is thick because we used tomato paste instead of tomato sauce.   It is awesome on ribs, pulled pork and chicken.  I know what you are thinking.  Yeah, it really is that easy.

This sauce makes a lot so you can store it in a steralized jar for around 2 weeks in the refrigerator.

Rex

Rex is an avid griller, barbecuer and bacon enthusiast. He is the Pitmaster for the Rex BBQ competition team. Rex was also featured on the TV show American Grilled. If you have any questions or wish to have Rex decode your favorite dish, click on the ASK REX link in the menu above.

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2 thoughts on “Homemade Barbecue Sauce

  1. I found this recipe on your site and tried it over the weekend, it's a tasty little recipe I have to say, I have it with some simple grilled chicken done on the Weber 🙂

    Thanks for the recipe.

    Ben

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