BBQ Sauce
Variations
364kcal3.3g protein7.9g fat75.3g carbs~$1.17/ serving*Estimates computed from the ingredient list; cost uses average US supermarket prices. Not a substitute for packaging measurements or your receipt.
Contains fish · usually contains gluten · only in an optional ingredient: dairy
Restrictions
ContainsfishIt is in an ingredient you cannot leave out.
Usually containsgluten (worcestershire sauce)The usual version has it. One without it exists — it is the one named here.
Only if you add itdairy (butter)Leave that ingredient out and the dish does not have it.
Diets
PescatarianNo porkNo alcohol
Worked out from the ingredient list. It knows nothing about brands, shared equipment or cross contamination, and it is not a certification — if you have an allergy, you still have to read the label.
Ingredients
Servings:
| 1 tbsp | vegetable oil |
| 1 unit |  onion (finely minced) |
| 2 clove |  garlic (minced) |
| 2 tbsp |  tomato paste |
| 1 tsp |  smoked paprika |
| ½ tsp |  chili powder |
| ½ tsp |  black pepper (ground) |
| 3 tbsp |  cider vinegar |
| 1 cup |  ketchup |
| 3 tbsp |  brown sugar (packed) |
| 2 tbsp |  molasses |
| 1 tbsp |  worcestershire sauce |
| 1 tbsp |  yellow mustard |
| ½ cup | water |
| ½ tsp | salt |
Optional
Not counted above. The dish works without them.
| ¼ tsp |  cayenne pepper |
| 1 unit |  chipotle chili (minced, from adobo) |
| 1 tbsp |  honey |
| 1 tbsp |  butter (cold, to finish) |
| 1 tsp |  hot sauce |
Steps
- Caramelize10 minmedium-low, heavy saucepanvegetable oil + minced onion, stirred often, past translucent and all the way to deep gold — the onion's own sugars browning here is the only savory-sweet depth in the sauce that does not come from a jar, and it cannot be added later
- Saute2 minmedium+ garlic + smoked paprika + chili powder + black pepper, until fragrant; the spices bloom in hot fat rather than water, which is why they go in now and not with the liquids — dumped into a wet pot they stay dusty and raw-tasting
- Caramelize3 minmedium, stirring constantly+ tomato paste, spread thin against the pan until it darkens from bright red to brick and starts to stick — that stuck film is concentrated glutamate, and it is what separates a sauce from seasoned ketchup
- Deglaze1 minmedium-high+ cider vinegar, scraping the pan hard while it hisses; the acid lifts the browned film into the liquid and the sharpest volatile edge of the vinegar boils off in the same breath, leaving the sourness without the fumes
- Mix2 minoff heat+ ketchup + brown sugar + molasses + worcestershire + mustard + water + salt, stirred smooth — the water is not filler, it buys you the twenty-five minutes of reduction during which the flavors actually marry
- Reduce30 minbare simmer, partly covered, lowthe whole pot, stirring down to the bottom every few minutes, until it coats a spoon and a dragged spatula leaves a track that closes slowly. Keep it below a real boil: tomato sauce this thick throws scalding spatters, and dissolved sugar plus molasses will catch and turn acrid on the pan bottom in seconds, which taints the entire batch with no way back
- Season2 minhot, tastingtaste on something bland, not off the spoon alone — reduction has concentrated every axis at once. Flat and cloying wants vinegar, thin and sour wants brown sugar, dull across the board wants salt. Adjust one at a time; this is the whole grading of the dish
- Rest10 minoff heat, coolingcool in the pan — it thickens noticeably as the pectin from the tomato sets, so a sauce that looks correct at a simmer will be sludge cold. Judge the final body at serving temperature, and thin with a spoonful of water if it has gone past