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Home » Recipes » Sides » Chunky Barbecue Sauce

Chunky Barbecue Sauce

Published: Feb 24, 2022 · Modified: Feb 24, 2022

woman holding pork rib

Chunky Barbecue Sauce is the sauce I have served with every barbecue meal at my table. Reliably you can always find a container of it in my refrigerator!

Fresh flavor never comes from a sauce bottle

What I love about this sauce is the garden-fresh flavor of the sautéed vegetables. In fact, the celery and onions give the sauce a bit of a crunch. Combined with the salty bacon crispness of Oven Roasted Pork Ribs, this may become one of your favorite recipes too!

One of the tricks I have learned over the years is that Chunky Barbecue Sauce is much better when it is made a day in advance. You may prefer to simmer your sauce for 3-4 minutes but I always seem to get busy with other details of preparing a barbecue and forget my sauce until I smell it burning! Having the sauce made a day ahead of time not only ensures that you have enough time to pay attention to the sauce, but also gives the sauce some time to mellow and ripen in flavor.

Make your own version

You can add your own signature details to this sauce if you like. Try adding more chiles or even some Tabasco sauce for a spicier mix. Or you can reduce the sodium with low-sodium ketchup.

The hubs love Chunky Barbecue Sauce on roasted chicken. Also this sauce is great on pulled pork sandwiches or roasted brisket.

Chunky Barbecue Sauce is very thick, so I don’t recommend brushing it onto your roasted meats until the meats are taken off the fire or away from the heat. Thick sweetened sauces like barbecue sauce can burn quickly or form a thick, rubbery crust on meats while they grill. Plus, you never know if people want more sauce on their ribs or less. Serving your barbecue sauce on the side is always a good call!

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Chunky Barbecue Sauce

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  • Author: Melissa Guerra
  • Prep Time: 10 minutes
  • Cook Time: 5 minutes
  • Total Time: 15 minutes
  • Yield: 12 servings 1x

Ingredients

Scale

2 tbsp. olive oil (30ml)

1 onion, chopped

1 rib celery with leaves, chopped

½ red bell pepper, seeded and chopped

2–3 long red chiles

2 cloves garlic

¼ cup apple cider vinegar (60ml)

1 cup ketchup (240ml)

2 tbsp. Worcestershire sauce (30ml)

1 tbsp. dry prepared mustard

¼ cup brown sugar (50g)

Instructions

Heat the olive oil in a 2 qt. (2lt) saucepan. Sauté the onion, celery and bell pepper until tender, about 2-3 minutes. Add the dried chiles and garlic, and sauté for another minute. Stir in the remaining ingredients and remove from the heat.

Add all of the ingredients to the bowl of a food processor and puree. Sauce will be chunky. Make at least 1 day in advance.

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Filed Under: Recipes, Salsas, Sides Tagged With: barbecue, bbq, pork, ribs, salsa, sauce

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Melissa Guerra is an 8th generation Texan, born and raised on a working cattle ranch in South Texas. She is a self taught culinary expert and food historian, specializing in the food ways of the American continent, especially Texas regional, Mexican, and Latin American cuisine. Read More…

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