This is a great tasting, versatile homemade BBQ sauce that is so easy to make yourself. Its got a nicely balanced flavour between sweet, sour, salty and fruity.
Coming from the south, I’ve sampled a variety of great sauces. In North Carolina they prefer a vinegary thin sauce, while in South Carolina it sometimes has a yellow mustard base. Texans swear by their rich, smoky sauce and in Kansas City the sauce comes sweet and hot. One I haven’t tried yet though is the white sauce from Alabama.
People have devoted their lives to getting their BBQ technique just right, whether its the use of a dry rub or ‘mopping’ the meat. Through trial and error, and driven by the desire to cook great BBQ myself, I’ve been working on simplifying this for the average person, i.e. those of us who don’t have smokers, or massive BBQ pits in their back yards. Check out this post I wrote, 4 Quick Rules of Making BBQ Style Meats at Home.
I like balance in life. So I’ve taken that stance with my homemade BBQ sauce as well. Mine does have a slight Asian flare, as I’ve used soy sauce and rice vinegar.
Fresh, sweet and tangy
A couple of ideas I’ve taken from Jaime Oliver’s recipe. Like him or loathe him, he does some great recipes. From Jaime’s I’ve included the addition of the zest and juice of a fresh orange, which really makes this BBQ sauce sing. Also fennel seed, which combined with pork is one of my all time favourite combinations. So glazing this onto pork ribs or pulled pork, or even pork burgers would be a dream!
The other thing I like about it is that its made with maple syrup, which gives an additional layer of flavour but also is not refined sugar. But not that BBQ is supposed to be healthy. Its not an every day kind of meal. See my post on 4 Rules of Making Great BBQ Style Meats at Home.
Here is your BBQ sauce recipe:
Becky Gilhespie | EAT what we EAT
Yields 1.5 cups
A fresh and tangy BBQ sauce with a good balance of sweet, sour, fruity and salty flavour. There are no complicated ingredients so this is so easy to create at home. Maple syrup is the sweetener, which works perfectly to create a rich glaze. Other ingredients such as rice vinegar and soy sauce give an Asian flare. Jamie Oliver's touch is the juice and zest of a fresh orange and fennel seed, which make this sauce fresh and vibrant.
5 minPrep Time
10 minCook Time
15 minTotal Time
Save RecipeIngredients
- 1/3 cup ketchup
- 1/2 cup maple syrup
- 1/4 cup soy sauce
- 1/4 cup rice vinegar
- 2 cloves garlic
- zest and juice of one orange
- 1 tablespoon fennel seed
Instructions
- Add all the ingredients to a pot and heat over medium heat until boiling. Turn down the heat to a low boil and let thicken and reduce by 1/3 for 10 -15 minutes.
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