This super easy 5-minute barbecue sauce has plenty of flavor. Just throw everything together in a saucepan and simmer for a few minutes. It’s tomato and molasses based sauce with flavor and tanginess from vinegar and cayenne pepper. Add liquid smoke to the sauce if you’d like smoky flavor.
Ways To Use Barbecue Sauce
- Slather barbecue sauce on grilled ribs, chicken, chops, or beef.
- Add it to cooked shredded pork to make pulled pork, or serve it on the side.
- Spread it on burgers.
- Use it as a meatloaf topping.
- Add it to canned baked beans to make bbq baked beans.
- Make pulled pork or chicken sliders with pulled pork or shredded chicken, bbq sauce, and slaw.
- Make a pizza with barbecue sauce instead of the typical red sauce.
- Toss crispy chicken wings with bbq sauce.
- Use it as a dip for chicken nuggets, fritters, or fries.
Basic Barbecue Sauce With Molasses
This barbecue sauce is quick and easy to make. It’s a basic barbecue sauce flavored with molasses, brown sugar, vinegar, and a touch of cayenne. Add liquid smoke for smoky flavor.
- Prep Time: 2 minutes
- Cook Time: 3 minutes
- Total Time: 5 minutes
- Yield: 16 servings 1x
- Category: Barbecue Sauce, Grilling, Barbecue
Ingredients
Scale
- 1 cup ketchup
- 4 tablespoons molasses
- 3 tablespoons packed brown sugar
- 1/2 cup cider vinegar
- 2 tablespoons tomato paste
- Dash ground cayenne, or to taste
- Kosher salt and ground black pepper
- 1/2 teaspoon liquid smoke, or to taste, optional
Instructions
- Combine the ketchup, molasses, brown sugar, vinegar, tomato paste, and cayenne pepper in a saucepan. Place the pan over medium heat and bring to a simmer.
- Simmer the sauce for about 5 minutes; add salt and pepper, to taste.
- If desired, add 1/2 teaspoon or more of liquid smoke, to taste.
- Use on ribs, chops, chicken, or burgers, or serve it as a dip.
- The recipe makes about 2 cups of barbecue sauce.
