Kenny Tutt

The homemade sauces that will transform your barbecue

  • From Spectator Life
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Sauces are the unsung hero of any barbecue for me. We tend to focus on the big hitting items like the burgers, sausages, and steaks – and don’t get me wrong, these are an extremely important part of the barbecue experience – but what really brings a barbecue to the next level is what goes with it.

The beauty of sauces is that they can be prepared in advance. With so much to think about during the preparation, anything that can be made ahead of time for a barbecue is a winner in my eyes. The key to impressing your guests is choosing sauces that are going to complement what you’re cooking. If you’re having fish, for example, you need a sauce that is light and citrusy – or something with Asian flavours. If you’re going big on meat, you want a sauce that’s sticky and sweet.

It’s easier than you think to make the sauces you need from scratch. You can achieve some pretty intense and delicious flavours with just a few ingredients – many of which are store cupboard essentials. Here are a few go-to recipes that I always rely on when it comes to making my own sauces for barbecues:

The BBQ Sauce (full recipe below)

This is a simple concoction and a little bit of a cheat’s recipe. All you need is Ketchup, water, apple cider vinegar, brown sugar, a good squeeze of lemon juice, Worcestershire sauce, onion powder, mustard powder, and ground white pepper. Chuck it all into a pan over a medium heat and reduce until it thickens – around an hour. For anyone who loves a hack – like me – I encourage you to check out Liquid Hickory Smoke Flavour. It’s a little bottle of smoky deliciousness (you can buy it anywhere online), and just 1 tablespoon will give your sauce an intense smoky flavour.

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