Smokey BBQ Sauce Recipe

Years ago, my daughter loved, like all kids, ketchup. Seriously ya’ll. I couldn’t keep it in the house. Then we moved to Texas and apparently, ketchup became an abomination because I haven’t had to buy it in four years. In its place, she now consumes BBQ sauce like she’s never going to have the chance to eat it again which means that I could seriously go broke if I was paying even $1.00 per bottle for it. Honestly, I wouldn’t want to buy it anyhow. In 2015, we stopped buying and started making what we could homemade and this simple homemade bbq sauce recipe is on that list.

This simple homemade bbq sauce recipe is like the title of this post says, incredibly simple. It takes all of about 10 minutes to make, maybe 15 on a bad day, yet it tastes like it simmered for hours. This means two things. One I absolutely love it since I can whip it up so quickly. The second thing is that it makes it incredibly easy to add to your freezer cooking lists to make a big batch of. I have kept it in the fridge for as much as 3 weeks without too much issue and it will keep for 2 months or so once frozen. This simple homemade bbq sauce recipe makes tastes fantastic on the grill but we also absolutely love it when I use it to make my easy pulled pork sandwich recipe. It really just kicks everything up a notch and presents an amazing flavor!

Simple Homemade BBQ Sauce Recipe

This simple homemade bbq sauce recipe can also be canned for long term storage. To can, cook according to the recipe then ladle into pint canning jars. Leave 1-1 1/2″ headspace and wipe the rim of your jars before adding your lids and rings. Process in a waterbath canner for 20 minutes if you’re under 1,000 feet above sea level. 1,001-3,000 feet will process at 25 minutes, 3,001-6,000 processes at 30 min and anything above 6,000 feet above sea level will process at 35 minutes. Let your jars sit in the canner for 5 min then remove. Sit them in a place where they won’t be disturbed for 12-24 hours. After the time has passed, remove the rings, check your seals and move to storage. If you have any jars that didn’t seal, either place in the fridge to use immediately or reprocess with a new lid. If you’re planning on freezing your homemade bbq sauce, let it cool completely then store in quart sized Ziploc bags that are laid flat in the freezer.

You will need: 

• 1 cup ketchup
• 4 tablespoons molasses
• 3 tablespoons packed brown sugar
• 1/2 cup apple cider vinegar
• 2 tablespoons tomato paste
• 1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper (optional)

To make this simple homemade bbq sauce recipe, combine all of the ingredients to a medium saucepan. Add the vinegar last making sure that you watch for splashes. Heat the saucepan over medium heat and stir to combine making sure that the brown sugar is completely dissolved. I find it is much easier to use a whisk on this so that you don’t have any sugar clumps build up on a spoon.

Once the brown sugar is dissolved, continue heating over medium heat until you’ve got a hard simmer. Reduce your heat to low and simmer for 1 minute or until thick. This sauce will burn easily so be sure that you stir or whisk it often to keep that from happening.

See? I told you this was an incredibly simple home bbq sauce recipe! If you want homemade, it doesn’t get much easier than this!