I can’t take credit for this luscious barbecue sauce. The original recipe is at Mel’s Kitchen Cafe. I was looking for a new recipe that was liquidy, not chunky, and I was happy to find this one. I used it in my recipe for Father’s Day Ribs Fit for a King. I’ve used it several times before and after Father’s Day, and just love it. It’s a good all purpose sauce for ribs, chicken, pork chops, brisket, sausage, pulled pork – whatever grilling mood you’re in.
Prior to finding this recipe, I made Tyler Florence’s Ultimate Barbecue Chicken sauce. It was delicious, but I grew tired of little chunks of stuff falling off the meat into the grill. And I like my BBQ sauce hot and sweet, made with sugar and molasses. I tweaked the original just a bit by substituting jalapeno jelly for some of the brown sugar. Richard was happy the recipe also includes liquid smoke, which is one of his favorite sauce ingredients.
The recipe makes quite a bit, like 1 1/2 quarts, but I would encourage you to make the whole recipe, and keep the rest in the fridge or in pint jars in the freezer for future use. You know the “make-once-use-often” philosophy. it doesn’t take long to make, either.
Happy Grilling!
- 2 cups ketchup
- 2 cups tomato sauce
- ¾ cups brown sugar
- ¾ cups jalapeno jelly
- 1¼ cups red wine or cider vinegar
- ½ cup molasses
- 2 Tablespoons butter
- 4 teaspoons hickory flavored liquid smoke
- ½ teaspoon onion powder
- ½ teaspoon garlic powder
- ¼ teaspoon chili powder
- 1 teaspoon paprika
- ½ teaspoon celery seed
- ¼ teaspoon ground cinnamon
- ½ teaspoon cayenne pepper
- 1 teaspoon dry mustard
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon ground black pepper
- Over medium heat in a large saucepan, mix together all the wet ingredients and add the seasonings. Bring to a boil, reduce the heat to low, and simmer for at least 20 minutes. Stir occasionally to make sure nothing sticks and burns on the bottom of the saucepan.
- The sauce will thicken as it cooks and cools. Brush onto meats the last ten minutes of grilling or for any other recipe where barbecue sauce is used.
