Homemade Smoky Barbecue Sauce
Barbecue sauce is built on ketchup, acid (vinegar), sugar (molasses or treacle) and smoke (smoked paprika). It simmers gently for 20 minutes until it thickens enough to coat a spoon, and the balance between sweet and sharp is what makes it.
- Prep
- 5 min
- Cook
- 20 min
- Total
- 25 min
- Calories
- 65
Photo: Southern Foodways Alliance — CC BY 2.0 · Wikimedia Commons
Bottled barbecue sauce is expensive, loaded with sugar and full of preservatives, and making it at home costs far less while letting you set the sweetness and the heat yourself. The one ingredient that genuinely matters is smoked paprika — without it you just have seasoned ketchup.
Method
-
1
Combine
Put everything in a small pan over low heat and stir until the sugar has completely dissolved.
⏱ 3 min -
2
Simmer
Let it bubble very gently for 20 minutes, stirring every five. It will thicken and darken. If it boils hard, lower the heat — sugar catches quickly.
⏱ 20 min -
3
Check the consistency
Dip a spoon: if the sauce coats it and a finger drawn through leaves a clean line, it's ready. Remember it thickens further as it cools.
-
4
Store
Cool completely and transfer to a sterilised glass jar. It keeps a month in the fridge.
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Tips that actually matter
- Smoked paprika is the one ingredient with no substitute. Ordinary paprika won't give the same result.
- Brush it onto chicken or ribs in the last ten minutes of cooking only — any earlier and the sugar burns.
- Want it sweeter? More treacle. Sharper? More cider vinegar, a spoon at a time.
People also ask
Can I make it without treacle?
Yes — swap in honey or date molasses, but treacle is what gives the dark colour and the faint bitterness that define it.
How long does it keep?
A month in a sealed jar in the fridge. The vinegar and sugar act as natural preservatives.
When does it go on the grill?
In the last ten minutes only, in two coats. The sugar caramelises fast and burns under prolonged heat.
Cook mode
Homemade Smoky Barbecue Sauce
-
1
Combine
Put everything in a small pan over low heat and stir until the sugar has completely dissolved.
-
2
Simmer
Let it bubble very gently for 20 minutes, stirring every five. It will thicken and darken. If it boils hard, lower the heat — sugar catches quickly.
-
3
Check the consistency
Dip a spoon: if the sauce coats it and a finger drawn through leaves a clean line, it's ready. Remember it thickens further as it cools.
-
4
Store
Cool completely and transfer to a sterilised glass jar. It keeps a month in the fridge.
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