Video:5 Quick Homemade BBQ Sauces

Transcript:5 Quick Homemade BBQ Sauces

Hi, I'm Jen D'Amore for About.com, and today I'm going to show you how to make 5 quick barbecue sauces all using the same simple base. 

Ingredients for the Barbecue Sauce Base

For the base you'll need:

• 2T olive oil
• 1 small onion
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• white wine vinegar
• molasses
• 1 cup of ketchup
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 t dry mustard, chili powder, black pepper

How to Make the Barbecue Sauce Base

First, lets heat up some olive oil in a saucepan over medium heat, then saute the onion until it's transparent, then and the garlic. Make sure the garlic doesn't get too dark. As soon as it starts to brown add the white wine vinegar and molasses and stir until it all mixes together.  

Then, you can remove it from the heat and add the ketchup, and spices. This is the basic sauce and can serve as your base to change to your liking. 

Barbecue Sauce Variations

For a sweeter sauce, add 1/4 cup of brown sugar to the base.  If it's too sweet, add a little more vinegar. 

You could also make a honey barbecue sauce by adding honey to the base, to your taste.  

For a spicy hot sauce, add cayenne pepper or tabasco to the base.

Fresh herbs are also a great addition, including sage, rosemary, or thyme.  You can even add a splash of lemon juice.

If you want to give your sauce a smokier flavor, you can always add a couple of drops of liquid smoke, but use it sparingly.

To make a mustard BBQ sauce, replace the tomato ketchup with 1 cup of prepared yellow mustard, 1/2 cup of vinegar, and let that cook together.

There are plenty of combinations to choose from when making barbecue sauce.  Just consider if you like it spicy, sweet, or smokey and choose your favorite ingredient to enhance the mix.

Thanks for watching. To learn more visit us on the web at About.com.