Bourbon Barbecue Sauce

Here is the recipe for Jack’s amazing Bourbon Barbecue Sauce, used in our Pulled Pork  and Bourbon Spice Barbecue Chicken Wings recipes.  What we particularly like about this sauce is that it’s more zesty than sweet, and compliments the spices in the pulled pork  and the chicken wings without overpowering the flavor of the meats. (But – if you prefer a sweeter sauce, then just add some brown sugar to the recipe to your liking.)

This sauce is a terrific blend of flavors from the bourbon, ketchup, tomato paste, balsamic vinegar, molasses, Worcestershire sauce and a small amount of liquid smoke.  If you’ve never cooked with liquid smoke, it’s a concentrated seasoning used to give meat a smoky or woody flavor, and it can be found in most grocery store condiment or spice aisles.  Just be sure to use a small amount as the flavoring is very intense – but it’s perfect for this barbecue sauce.

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Bourbon Barbecue Sauce

• Prep Time: 10 mins
• Cook Time: 20 mins
• Total Time: 30 minutes
• Yield: 2 cups

Ingredients

• 1 cup bourbon whiskey
• 1 cup finely chopped onion
• 1/2 cup water
• 1/4 cup brown sugar
• 1 ½ cups ketchup
• 2 tablespoons tomato paste
• 2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
• 4 tablespoons molasses
• 1/8 cup Worcestershire sauce
• ½ teaspoon liquid smoke
• Dash hot sauce

Instructions

1. In a 4-quart sauce pan, bring the bourbon to a boil with the minced onions and simmer for five to ten minutes. Most of the bourbon will have evaporated at this point, leaving about two tablespoons of liquid and the onions.
2. Add the water and all of the other ingredients into the pan with the onions, heat and simmer for 10-15 minutes until you reach a thick and smooth consistency.
3. Using an immersion blender, puree until onions have dissolved, or you can just leave them as-is in the sauce.

Bourbon Spice Barbecue Chicken Wings

Pulled Pork