Homemade BBQ Sauce

I decided to try making homemade bbq sauce for the first time last week.  It is so hard to find organic bbq sauces at a regular grocery store and the conventional ones are full of crap ingredients like high fructose corn syrup, artificial colorings, and gmo's.  

I do want to preface this post by saying these are ketchup based bbq sauces.  Yes....I know ketchup is technically not a "real food"...it's a condiment.  Condiments are the one area where I have yet to make my own (except for salsa, and now bbq sauce).  For now I am happy to buy organic and call it a day.  At some point I will probably attempt to make my own mayo, but as far as mustard and ketchup...I doubt it.  I do plan on fiddling with these recipes at some point using fresh, local tomatoes when they come back into season.  I would also like to add that yes, these recipes do contain sugar.  Please make sure you use 100% pure cane sugar (or you run the risk of your sauce containing gmo's).  I think honey or maple syrup would work wonderfully in these recipes.  Next time I plan on trying local, raw honey.

And now...back to the regular scheduled programming.

I made two different kinds of sauces.  The first one is a spicy sauce that my son found a bit too spicy for his taste.  I love it though!  The second one I made specifically for my son, which is a sweet & smoky sauce.  It was perfect for him.  I found these sauces to taste much better than store-bought versions.  Below are the recipes.  Don't be intimidated by the lengthy ingredient lists...the recipes come together very quickly and are super easy to make.

SPICY BBQ SAUCE

2 C. organic ketchup

½ C. + 2 T. brown sugar (use pure cane sugar)

1 ½ t. organic yellow mustard

1 T. organic raw cider vinegar

3 T. molasses

1 ½ t. organic worcestershire sauce

1 t. kosher salt

½ t. black pepper

2 t. paprika

2 t. onion powder

¾ t. garlic powder

½ t. cayenne pepper

¼ t. crushed red pepper

¼ t. ground cumin

¼ t. ground ginger

Combine all ingredients in a saucepan.  Bring to a boil over med/high heat, then reduce to low, cover, and cook for 30 minutes, stirring occasionally. Use immediately or store in refrigerator.

SWEET & SMOKY BBQ SAUCE

2 C. organic ketchup

½ C. + 2 T. brown sugar (use pure cane sugar)

1 ½ t. organic yellow mustard

1 t. organic raw cider vinegar

5 T. molasses

1 t. kosher salt

½ t. black pepper

1 t. paprika

2 t. onion powder

½ t. garlic powder

1 ½ t. ground cumin

¼ t. ground ginger

Combine all ingredients in a saucepan.  Bring to a boil over med/high heat, then reduce to low, cover and cook for 30 minutes, stirring occasionally. Use immediately or store in refrigerator.