BBQ sauce, 2 types

The Kitchen Witch has been playing around with BBQ sauces lately. I have my store bough favorites but they all contain high fructose corn syrup (HFCS), which is one of my no-no's ingredients wise. For years I've wanted to make my own sauce - but the only non HFCS ketchup I could find was small bottles of organic, which gets expensive after a while! Imagine my surprise when my Witchy Sissy found me Hunts HFCS FREE KETCHUP! Hooray!! Its in a BIG bottle, too :) Now that I was armed with HFCS Free ketchup BBQ sauce construction could begin. Who knew that making your own BBQ sauce was so simple? Why did I ever buy BBQ sauce before? Best of all you can adjust the sauce to your family's taste preferrances, want it sweeter? Spicier? More tangy? Adjust as you feel fit!

The first one I made was the Carolina style sauce. Its thinner than a regular BBQ sauce due to the high vinegar content. It has got quite a sour tang, from the vinegar and the mustard. It cooked down for about an hour which helped take the raw onion flavor out of it. Honestly, I only liked it on the pulled pork; it was too sour for chicken, in this Witches opinion.

The second sauce, Brown Sugar BBQ, uses basically the same ingredients as the Carolina style sauce but in different proportions. It's heavier on the ketchup and sugar and lighter on the vinegar & mustard. I liked this one a lot more, it was closer to what I envision BBQ sauce tasting like. More KC style than Carolina style.

In all actuality I think both sauces need a bit more work. The Carolina style needs more heat, I think it would play nicely with the vinegar. Maybe Sriracha could help here. The brown sugar one needs more 'sweet' but I didn't want to overload it with brown sugar. I think honey would be a delighful addtition. The Kitchen Witch also wants to incorporate fruit into the BBQ sauce, I love fruit on savory meat items, I think fruits natural sweetness would be great in a sauce. Fruits like maybe mango. Or pineapple. Yum! I can't wait to experiment with more BBQ sauces.

Do any of you make your own sauce? If so please share with me what you do to yours and maybe a link, if you have one! Happy grilling everyone!

Brown Sugar BBQ sauce
makes about 3 c of sauce (1 bottles worth)
2 c ketchup
1/2 c brown sugar
2 T brown mustard
2 T cider vinegar
1 t kosher salt
1 t chili powder
heavy pinch cayenne pepper
1/8 t black pepper


Carolina Style BBQ sauce
Makes about 3 cups (1 bottles worth)
1 c ketchup
1 c cider vinegar
1/2 c brown mustard
1/4 c brown sugar
1 t kosher salt
1/2 onion finely minced (1/2 c total)
1/2 t chili powder
1/8 t cayenne pepper
1/8 t black pepper


Cooking directions for both sauces:
In a heavy bottomed sauce pan heat the ingredients together. Cook over medium low heat for 45 minutes or until sauce has darkened in color and flavors have melded. Stir often, there is a lot of sugar in both of these sauces and you don't want them to scorch!
Nutrition Facts provided by Spark People recipe calcula
Brown sugar BBQ sauce
16 Servings
Amount Per Serving
Calories 68.0
Total Fat 0.0 g
Saturated Fat 0.0 g
Polyunsaturated Fat 0.0 g
Monounsaturated Fat 0.0 g
Cholesterol 0.0 mg
Sodium 485.4 mg
Potassium 25.7 mg
Total Carbohydrate 19.3 g
Dietary Fiber 0.0 g
Sugars 17.3 g
Protein 0.0 g

Carolina Style BBQ sauce
16 Servings
Amount Per Serving
Calories 44.5
Total Fat 0.0 g
Saturated Fat 0.0 g
Polyunsaturated Fat 0.0 g
Monounsaturated Fat 0.0 g
Cholesterol 0.0 mg
Sodium 384.3 mg
Potassium 35.0 mg
Total Carbohydrate 10.9 g
Dietary Fiber 0.1 g
Sugars 9.5 g
Protein 0.1 g