Skip to main content

Mama’s Barbecue Sauce

There has seldom been a time in my life when a mason jar of this sauce wasn’t in a corner of my mother or grandmother’s refrigerator. The truth of the matter is, once you have had homemade you will go off the store-bought kind for good.

Recipe information

  • Yield

    makes about 6 1/2 cups

Ingredients

1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter
1 onion, preferably Vidalia, very finely chopped
2 1/2 cups ketchup
2 cups apple cider or distilled white vinegar
1/2 cup Worcestershire sauce
1/4 cup Dijon mustard
2 tablespoons firmly packed brown sugar
Juice of 2 lemons
2 tablespoons freshly ground black pepper
Coarse salt

Preparation

  1. Step 1

    In a saucepan, melt the butter over medium heat; add the onions and simmer until soft and melted, 5 to 7 minutes. Add the ketchup, vinegar, Worcestershire sauce, mustard, brown sugar, lemon juice, and pepper.

    Step 2

    Bring to a boil, decrease the heat to low, and simmer until the flavors have smoothed and mellowed, at least 10 and up to 30 minutes. Taste and adjust for seasoning with salt and pepper. Store in an airtight container in the refrigerator. It will last for months.

Cover of Bon Appetit, Yall by Virginia Willis featuring a serving of corn souffle.
From Bon Appétit, Y’all: Recipes and Stories From Three Generations of Southern Cooking, © 2008 by Virginia Willis. Reprinted by permission of Ten Speed Press. Buy the full book from Amazon or Abe Books.
Read More
We’ve got baked cheddar and leek pasta, maple-mustard sheet-pan salmon, and a strawberry shortcake roll.
The golden, crunchy corners are worth fighting over.
Keep this easy frittata recipe on hand for quick breakfasts, impressive brunches, and fridge clean-out meals.
Turn humble onions into this thrifty yet luxe pasta dinner.
Like spicy carrot rigatoni and weeknight-fancy ravioli with peas.
A veg-forward main or gets-along-with-everyone side.
Thinly sliced and cooked hot and fast, pork tenderloin is the juicy, cook-quicking weeknight champion of this vegetable-heavy stir-fry.
Like potato pea chowder and green goddess grain bowls.