Awesome Homemade BBQ Sauce

For many years I leaned on store bought BBQ sauces for all my grilling and smoking.  After realizing that most of them are laden with corn syrup and other ingredients that I do not even recognize, I started learning how to make my own.  After years of experimentation, I would not share this recipe if I truly did not think it as an Awesome Homemade BBQ Sauce with a nice sweet heat.   Give this a try and you will have a perfect BBQ sauce for pork, chicken, and beef.  I love it with Ribs, Pulled Pork Sandwiches, and Smoked or Grilled Chicken.   I have had a ton of positive feedback from friends and patrons I have served at several catering gigs.  Give this a shot….. I think you will love it!

When you make the sauce, it will be a little spicy that first day and then mellow out over the first few days.  If you love a spicy sauce, then use

more jalapenos, white pepper, and black pepper when brewing the sauce.  I always taste it after it has simmered with all ingredients and then add more heat if needed.

The sauce comes together in 4 general steps….

1.  Saute veggies and then simmer in Bourbon, to remove excess alcohol
2. Add all dry ingredients and stir into mixture, bringing a great aroma into the kitchen
3. Add all wet ingredients and simmer for 40 min or so
4. Blend together to make a nice smoooooth sauce.  I use a Cuisine Art hand blender that works great for this.

I then bottle it up and store it in the fridge for several months.   Because it has a good amount of vinegar you should be able to keep it for 90 days in the fridge without a problem.   Give this a try and leave me a comment to let me know how you like it.

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Awesome Homemade BBQ Sauce

Easy to make Homemade BBQ Sauce with a nice sweet heat. Give this a shot at home and you will say goodbye to your store bought sauce laden with questionable ingredients.

Course Sauce

Cuisine BBQ

Prep Time 15 minutes

Cook Time 1 hour 15 minutes

Total Time 1 hour 30 minutes

Servings 4 bottles

Author Keegan

Ingredients

Veggie Saute

• 1/4 Stick of Butter
• 2 Tablespoons Olive Oil
• 1 Medium Onion
• 1/2 Green Bell Pepper
• 1/2 Red Bell Pepper
• 2 Jalapenos seeded if you like less heat
• 2 teaspoons Celery Salt
• 4 Cloves Garlic
• 1 Cup Bourbon

Dry Ingredients

• 4 Tablespoons Ancho Chile Powder
• 1 Tablespoon Ground Black Pepper
• 1.5 teaspoons White Pepper
• 1 teaspoons Ground Turmeric
• 1/2 teaspoons Ground Chinese Five Spice
• 2 teaspoons Mustard Powder

Wet Ingredients

• 1 Tablespoon Worcheshire Sauce
• 2 Cups Water
• 1 15 oz can Tomato Sauce
• 1 12 oz jar Cherry preserves
• 1 Cup Honey
• 6 oz Molasses
• 1 Cup Apple Cider Vinegar

Instructions

1. Melt butter with olive oil in a large sauce pan.
2. Chop up the veggies and add to the pan
3. Add the celery salt and saute for 10 min
4. Add the bourbon and simmer for 10-15 min until liquid has reduced
5. Add the dry ingredient list and stir into mixture
6. Add the water and other wet ingredients and stir together.
7. Bring to a simmer over medium heat. Reduce to a lower temperature to simmer and stir every 5-10 minutes.
8. Simmer for a total of 45 minutes. Blend the sauce mixture with a hand blender and then simmer more if needed to thicken. Keep in mind it will thicken up as it cools off.
9. Bottle or can and enjoy for several months stored in the fridge

Recipe Notes

Add more or less Jalapeno, Black Pepper, and White pepper, depending on how spicy you like your sauces.
The sauce will mellow out over time, getting less spicy over the first few days of storage.