Honey BBQ Sauce

This honey BBQ Sauce is incredibly easy. You can either quick can it or water bath can it for longer storage.

It has a similar taste to Sweet Baby Ray’s Honey BBQ sauce. Sweet with just enough tang from the vinegar.

What you need

• large canned tomato sauce – about 28 oz. / 800 gr. use homemade tomato sauce or a good quality store bought brand.
• olive oil
• onion – dice very small
• garlic – mince fine
• honey – use local honey if you can find it
• brown sugar – I like dark brown sugar to give the sauce a darker color but light brown sugar works too.
• molasses – dark black strap
• red wine vinegar – apple cider will work but the red wine has a better flavor.
• pineapple juice.
• Worcestershire sauce

How to make it

1. Add oil to large pot. Using medium heat, sauté until soft.
2. Add garlic and sauté until fragrant.
3. Place the remaining ingredients in with the onion and garlic. Bring to simmer.
4. Simmer for at least 2-3 hours, stirring occasionally until thick like the consistency of BBQ sauce.

You can place the BBQ sauce in sterile jars and refrigerate for a couple months. For longer storage, you can water bath can this sauce.

How to water bath can

1. Wash jars and lids. Heat jars and lids. (you can heat them in the canning pot.)
2. Using a canning funnel, fill hot jars with hot honey bbq sauce, leaving 1/2″ / 1.3 cm.
3. Remove any air bubbles with plastic or wooden chop stick.
4. Wipe rims with damp paper towel.
5. Top jar with warm lid.
6. Tighten band fingertip tight.
7. Place jars in canning pot. Bring to low boil. Once boiling, process for 15 minutes. Remove pot from the heat. Remove lid. Allow jars to stay in hot water at least 5 minutes.

After 5 minutes, remove the jars from the water on to a kitchen towel on the counter. Allow to sit for 12-24 hours. Test lids for seal. (if lid flexes after cooling jar has not sealed. You can either reprocess that jar, with a new lid or store it in the refrigerator and use it first.

Pro tips to ensure your success

• Use a good quality canned tomato sauce that has a consistent texture.
• You can simmer this sauce for as long as you like to get the texture you want.
• If you can’t finish it in one day, refrigerate overnight and then reheat the next day with lid on, until it is simmers. Then remove lid and continue cooking it down.
• If you don’t want to process the sauce, do a small batch that you can use up in a few months.
• If you would like to process the sauce, you can double or even quadruple this recipe with no problem.
• Dice onions very fine. Mince the garlic fine too.
• You can use another vinegar but the red wine vinegar gives the BBQ sauce the best flavor, I have found.

What to use this honey BBQ sauce on

Use it on pork, chicken, beef, fish or anything else you enjoy BBQ sauce on. Even burgers and fries are great with this sauce instead of plain old ketchup. BBQed meatballs are super tasty. Make a BBQed pizza. There are so many uses for this versatile sauce.

Other BBQ sauce recipes

• Cherry BBQ sauce
• Blueberry BBQ sauce
• Peach bourbon BBQ sauce

Tools I Use

• Water bath canning pot
• Canning tool set
• Jelly jars
• Cherry pitter