Sweet & Smokey BBQ Sauce

I bought Mike Sr a meat smoker for Christmas. We finally got around to using it around June of this year, and it has been super fun and yummy around here. We have tried a number of bbq sauce recipes from scratch, but this one is our VERY favorite... We just love it! It is sweet, but smokey, and I will take this over any other sauce we have ever bought or made. It works fabulously on ribs, (just slather on a couple of hours before they are done), but we keep it in the refrigerator to dip anything in! Here is how he makes it:

Ingredients:

¼ cup canola oil

¾ cup finely diced sweet or yellow onion (we pulsed ours through the ninja chopper so it was just about smooth)

2 Tbsp finely minced garlic

1 ½ cups ketchup

½ cup honey

1 Tbsp tomato paste concentrate (in the tube)

¼ cup apple cider vinegar

¼ cup plus 2 Tbsp packed brown sugar

¼ cup Worcestershire sauce

1 Tbsp prepared Dijon mustard OR 2 tsp ground mustard (the ground mustard just gives it a little bit more of a kick... we have made it both ways because we didn't have ground mustard the first time and they were both delicious)

1 tsp cayenne

1 tsp freshly ground black pepper

1 tsp liquid smoke

Your favorite BBQ rub (we used Weber Applewood Rub)

In medium saucepan, heat the oil over medium heat. Add the onion and sauté until translucent,( about 3 mins if you blended it like we did). Turn the heat to low if the onion is cooking to fast… you don’t want it caramelized or browned. As the onion is getting close, add the garlic and cook until lightly golden, about 2 mins longer. Add the ketchup, honey, tomato paste, vinegar, brown sugar, worcestershire, mustard, cayenne, black pepper and liquid smoke and stir well. Add between 1-2 Tbsp of your favorite BBQ rub, (Choose the amount by taste… We used about 2 Tbsp of the Weber Applewood rub.). Stir well and simmer for a few minutes. If the sauce is not the consistency you like, you can slowly add up to ½ cup water until the sauce reaches the consistency you like. (A slightly thick consistency is best), but we didn't have to add any. Cool and store in an airtight container in the refrigerator.

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