Basic Barbecue Sauce

From The Barbeque Bible
Makes 2 1/2 to 3 cups

Time for the summer recipes! This tastes absolutely fantastic on grilled chicken. If you have extra sauce, keep it covered in the fridge for up to 3 weeks.


3 tbls olive oil
1 medium onion, minced
1 clove garlic, minced
1/4 green bell pepper, stemmed seeded and minced
1/2 cup ketchup
1/2 cup tomato sauce
1 cup water
3 tbls cider vinegar
3 tbls Worcestershire sauce
2 tbls fresh lemon juice
1 tsp of your favorite hot sauce or hot red pepper flakes*
1/2 tsp liquid smoke or 2 tbls meat drippings
2 tbls molasses
3 tbls firmly packed brown sugar
2 tbls prepared mustard of choice (I like Grey Poupon)
1 tsp dry mustard
1/2 tsp freshly ground black pepper
salt, to taste

1. Heat oil in a large nonreactive saucepan over medium heat. Add the onion and bell pepper and saute until slightly softened but not brown, about 3 minutes. Add garlic and saute one more minute.
2. Stir in the remaining ingredients and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to low and simmer, uncovered, until thickened, about 15 minutes, stirring often to prevent scorching. If the sauce becomes too thick, add a little water. Remove from the heat and taste for seasoning, adding salt and vinegar, hot sauce, and sugar as necessary; the sauce should be highly seasoned.
3. Transfer to a serving bowl and serve warm or at room temperature. The sauce will keep, tightly covered in the refrigerator, for several weeks.
*This will make a mild to medium spicy sauce.