This homemade BBQ sauce should be made a least one day before you use it. I usually prepare it 3-4 days before. It is a delicious combination of sweet and spicy and is perfect on chicken, beef and pork. I leave out the Cayenne pepper because the ancho chile is enough spice for me. What is an ancho chile? It is basically a dried version of a ripe poblano pepper.
This BBQ sauce requires a few steps and makes a fairly decent amount. However, it is well worth the time to make this!The directions for the sauce are below but I added a few pictures so you could understand how to prepare it.
Flavored Vinegar: boil both vinegars and spices in a small saucepan. Reduce the mixture by half. Pour the vinegar through a cheese cloth line mesh strainer and discard the spices and solids.
After you boil the vinegars and spices, discard the spices in a cheesecloth lined fine mesh strainer.These are pictures of the ancho chile puree. The full directions are below.
Fry the dry chiles in oil until they are a little black
Remove stems and seeds after they are cooked and softened in water.
Add the water and cooked chiles to a food processor or blender and blend until smooth.
Ancho Chile and Sundried BBQ Sauce
Equipment
- Food Processor or Blender
Ingredients
Roasted Garlic
- 10 cloves garlic
- 1 tbsp olive oil
Ancho Chile Puree
- 4.5 oz dried red ancho chiles
- 1 cup water
Flavored Vinegar
- 1 1/2 cup rice vinegar
- 1 1/2 cup cider vinegar
- 1 Tablespoon ground cloves
- 1 Tablespoon Cayenne pepper **optional, I leave this out as the chiles give it enough spice for me**
BBQ Sauce
- 1 medium white onion, fine diced
- Roasted Garlic
- 1 cup brown sugar
- Flavored Vinegar
- Ancho chile puree
- 4 Tablespoon Molasses
- 1 cup dried cherries
- 40 oz ketchup
- 1 Tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
- 1/2 cup water optional. If the consistency is fine, do not add
Instructions
Roasted Garlic
- Drizzle olive oil all over the garlic cloves.
- Roast garlic in the oven for 1 hour at 325. If you do not have a garlic roaster, wrap the cloves in aluminum foil and place on a cookie sheet to bake.
Flavored vinegar
- Combine the 2 vinegars and ground spices into a small saucepan and bring to a boil.
- Reduce the heat to medium and reduce the mixture by half. Pour the mixture through a fine strainer lined with a cheesecloth to capture the spices.
Ancho Chile Puree
- Heat the oil in a medium pan and 'fry" them until the become just a little black. Watch this carefully as they will turn black very quickly.
- Put blackened chiles in a bowl and cover them with the water. Leave them for 20-30 minutes.
- Take out softened chiles and remove the stems and discard the seeds. Add the water and the chiles in a food processor or a blender until there is a fine puree. If needed add more water but it should be thick.
BBQ Sauce
- Heat oil in a large saucepan or stock pot and saute the onion,. Add the roasted garlic and saute until it is lightly colored.
- Add the flavored vinegar, ancho chile puree and brown sugar. Cook until the sugar is dissolved.
- Add all of the rest of the ingredients and cook on low heat for an hour.
- Strain BBQ sauce through a strainer with small holes. To help pass the bbq sauce through the holes, use a wooden spoon and stir the sauce so it keeps moving through the holes.
- Discard all the solids in the strainer (onion, garlic and dried cherries). Refrigerate until ready to use.
- If the BBQ sauce is too spicy you can correct this with fresh squeezed lime juice which will help correct it.