Have you ever dreamed wonderful dreams of making your own BBQ sauce?
Yes you say???
Well then, you’re not only pretty much a recipe geek like me, but you are in luck!!
I made this for the first time the other night and it came out A-mazing…
If I do say so myself….
It was super easy, I had all of the ingredients, and, I ended up making it in the crock pot!!!!
Could life get any better???
Well, I could think of a few things that would be pretty sweet, but homemade BBQ sauce made my day…my week in fact!
Go get your cowboy boots on, and if you don’t have any (generally not the common attire in Orange County), slippers or flip flops will do, and prepare yourself because you will be salivating before this creation is complete.
** Note, this recipe does not call for bananas; I am just a bonehead and forgot to take them out of the way when setting up the shot. And yes, I do buy the most green bananas on Earth; what can I say, the hubs likes under ripe bananas and I like to make the hubs happy….it’s the little things
Ingredients
1 cup Ketchup
1/2 cup Apple Cider Vinegar (this is the tangy part; like less tang? Use less Vinegar)
3 Tbsp Dark Brown Sugar (I used light brown cause that’s what I had)
1 Tbsp Yellow Mustard
2 Tbsp Tomato Paste (not shown cause it was kinda an afterthought)
1/2 tsp Black Pepper
1/4 tsp Red Pepper Flakes
1 tsp Salt
1 Tbsp Maple Syrup
1/4 tsp Garlic Powder (another afterthought)
1/4 tsp Chile Powder (and yet another afterthought)
** I doubled the recipe so the pictures may not reflect the accurate measurements**
Actual recipe yields about 1 cup of sauce
Directions
In either a medium saucepan or crock pot, pour Ketchup… If you have not gotten a rubber spatula by now we need to have a talk!
Add the Apple Cider Vinegar
and the brown sugar
Note to self…we are in need of a serious manicure…what the heck happened!
Add the mustard…
and the tomato paste….
and the maple syrup….
and all of your spices…
Now stir and stir and then leave it for a bit. We want all of those wonderful flavors to mix together. Let it sit over low heat, stirring occasionaly for about 30-45 minutes to let it reduce.
When you feel like you have had enough stirring and reducing and paying attention to something on the stove, take it off, let it cool, then transfer it to an airtight container in the fridge.
or…
If you want to use it now and have opted for the crock pot and need some ideas on what to do with this amazing stuff…
Here you go (again, I am here to take the wonder out of your kitchen adventures):
Throw in some meatballs (that’s what I did, Meatball Recipe Here), sausage, rotisserie chicken or pulled pork (eat it alone or make sandwiches)
Make a meatloaf and slather it on the top prior to baking
BBQ burgers and chicken are always wonderful
Add some onions and peppers and put it on top of anything and you will think you have died and gone to heaven!
I hope you enjoy making and eating this goodness as much as I did!!!
One Mad Housewife 