Are you ready for an easy BBQ rib sauce recipe that offers a touch of sweetness as well as a bit of favorable heat? If so then get your ribs ready, grill them up with the Easy BBQ Recipe for Ribs, and get ready to slather them with this tasty sauce!
BBQ Rib Sauce Recipe Basics
Before we get started I need to point out that this recipe is for a sauce used at the time you remove the ribs from the grill or slightly before. It’s also used when serving your ribs or even for dunking pieces of chicken into! This is not a sauce used for grilling or smoking something for a long time.
Here’s why. This sauce is considered a finished, serving, or dipping sauce because of the amount of sugar it has in the recipe. If you baste your ribs with a sauce that’s loaded with sugar and somehow burn them – even slightly – the sugars will burn and cause a bitter taste. These types of sauces are often thick, think of the consistency you would find in a store-bought sauce.
Sauces for grilling and basting are most often referred to as “mop sauces” and are used to add moisture and flavor to meats being cooked using a “low and slow” method. This type of sauce is not as thick and can be as thin as water and is often made using vinegar and spices or even beer and spices!
But we are talking about a BBQ rib sauce recipe that is thick and packed with flavor! Check out this recipe inspired by recipes from my Texas Hometown Cookbook and Great American Grilling cookbook.
Ultimate Sweet and Tangy BBQ Rib Sauce Recipe
Ultimate Sweet and Tangy BBQ Rib Sauce Recipe
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons butter
- 1 medium onion chopped fine 1/3 cup red bell pepper, chopped fine
- 1 garlic clove minced
- 3 teaspoons chili powder
- 1 teaspoon cayenne pepper
- 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
- 1 cup ketchup
- 1/2 cup water
- 1/3 cup molasses
- 2 tablespoons cider vinegar
- 1 1/2 tablespoons steak sauce
- 1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
- Splash of hot sauce
Instructions
- Saute the onion, bell pepper, and garlic in the butter. Combine with remaining ingredients in a saucepan and simmer on low for about 30 minutes.
- Once your sauce is ready simply brush some onto your fully cooked ribs before removing them from the grill. You can use the remainder as a drizzle or dipping sauce for you and your guests. If you want to thicken, then simmer longer, add water to thin.
Nutrition
Editors note: If you need a smoker or gill, check out the complete line of smokers on Amazon. This is an affiliate link, so any purchases you make after clicking on it will help to support BBQandCastIron.com. This recipe sauce is perfect with our BBQ Recipe for Ribs, also from Kent Whitaker.
Author Bio: Kent Whitaker, also known as “The Deck Chef,” is an award-winning culinary writer and cookbook author. He’s also penned Young Reader, NASCAR, and History titles. The former winner of the Emeril Live Food Network Barbecue Contest also covers football, motorsports, and bass fishing. Kent currently lives in East Tennessee with his wife, son, and a couple of dogs that love when he fires up the smoker or grill. You can reach out to Kent at www.thedeckchef.com, Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter.