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Kansas City BBQ Sauce

North American · 35 min · Easy · 12 portions

Kansas City BBQ Sauce

Thick, dark and sweet, with molasses behind it and enough vinegar to keep it from cloying. The kind that goes on in the last five minutes so it does not burn.

~60 cal per serving — Calories are approximate, per serving — a guide only.

gluten-freenut-freeoil-free
Plan it:

Method

  1. 1

    Soften the onion and garlic

    ⏱ 5 min

    Cook the grated onion and garlic in a splash of water in a small saucepan until soft and translucent, about five minutes. Raw onion in a finished sauce tastes sharp and never settles down.

  2. 2

    Bloom the spices

    ⏱ 30 sec

    Add the smoked paprika and cayenne and stir for thirty seconds, until they smell toasted. This is the difference between deep and dusty.

  3. 3

    Build the sauce

    Add the ketchup, molasses, vinegar, sugar and mustard and stir until smooth.

  4. 4

    Simmer

    ⏱ 20 min

    Simmer very gently for twenty minutes, stirring often. It will spit, so use a lid held ajar. It should darken and thicken enough to coat a spoon.

  5. 5

    Finish

    Off the heat, stir in the liquid smoke and season. Adding the smoke at the end keeps it from cooking away to nothing.

Notes

Keeps three weeks in the fridge. Brush it on in the last five minutes of grilling or roasting, never at the start, or the sugar burns black.

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