Tasty Tuesday- Homemade Barbecue Sauce

This week I thought I would change things up a bit and share something other than a meal! For Fathers Day this year Little Man and I made my husband a delicious Barbecue sauce using THIS recipe we found on Pinterest. Let’s just say it was a huge hit because it *maybe* lasted 2 weeks! I wanted to experiment a little bit using the fresh herbs and peppers we have growing in our garden so using her recipe as a starting point, I went from there!

 

Ingredients

For your base:

1 can or 1.5 Cups of Tomato Sauce. (Not pasta sauce just tomatoes in sauce form!)

2.5 Cups of Ketchup (any kind will work!)

3/4 Cup of Brown Sugar

2 tbs Soy Sauce

1 tbs Worcestershire sauce

2 tbs Apple Cider Vinegar

1/4 tsp Salt

1/4 tsp Pepper

Flavouring:

Fresh Herbs: I used parsley, basil, lemon thyme, chives, garlic, oregano and rosemary. I just grabbed some from the garden, no measuring 😉

Fresh Peppers, any kind will do! Mine have a slight kick to them.

2 Cloves of Garlic minced

1.5 tsp of a flavoured Barbecue Rub (completely optional but smells amazing!)

3 drops of Tabasco Sauce for a little kicker!

 

First you want to chop up your peppers and sauté them in some oil to bring out some of that peppery flavour. I also did the seeds as well because I wanted that extra punch of flavour. While those are caramelizing a bit, chop up your herbs!

Add all of your base ingredients to the pot and bring to a boil. Feel free to use any type of Ketchup you would like! Different flavoured Ketchup’s will change the taste of your finished product so experiment away! I stuck with Heinz for both the Ketchup and Tomato sauce!

Once boiling add in your peppers and all your flavouring ingredients. I bought the Pampered Chef rub specifically for adding to dishes/sauces like this but you can add any flavouring you would like! Keep in mind that people like to add strange things like coffee, peanut butter and even fruit to their barbecue sauces so this is your chance to try something new!

Once all the ingredients have come to a boil simmer on low-medium/low for 20+ minutes. The longer you simmer, the more the flavours can marry together. Your sauce will also change from the bright red of the tomato sauce/ketchup to a deeper burgundy because of the brown sugar caramelizing. If you find your sauce is to thin, cook it longer or add very small amounts of cornstarch!

After the simmering you will have a nice thick and tasty sauce but a chunky one! If you don’t mind the chunks, leave as is! I wanted this to be nice and smooth to use on the barbecue so into the blender it went! *Side Note* PLEASE let sauce cool COMPLETELY before putting into your blender! It WILL splash out if its too hot and can crack or even shatter the glass!

Once you’ve got your sauce smooth, it’s time to fill your jars! This recipe gives you 1L of sauce so if you are using Mason Jars you will be able to fill a couple! I used an old Ketchup bottle (cleaned of course!) and a small jar. You can get really creative decorating them if you want to give it as a gift! The little jar is headed to my brother in law tomorrow to see what he thinks!

This recipe makes a delicious all purpose sauce with just a tiny bit of zing to it. If you like spicy sauces, use hot peppers and your favourite hot sauce! Starting with the base and playing with flavouirng additions means you can have many different kinds tucked away in your fridge for different meats and occasions.

Added plus with this recipe? You know what is going into it! Have an allergy? omit what you can’t eat and add what you can. Play around with this recipe and let me know what you make with it in the comments below! I’d love to hear how your Homemade Barbecue Sauce turns out!