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This easy Guinness Barbecue Sauce will add a fantastic kick of flavor to any grilled meat!
The spare refrigerator in our basement has become a gathering place for a rather eclectic collection of beer. It never fails – we host a party or a family dinner, and at the end of the night, there is always one or two bottles of beer leftover from a six-pack that one of our guests brought to the party.
For months now, we’ve been staring at a couple of bottles of Guinness in that refrigerator. While Jack and I love to cook with (and even bake with!) Guinness, it’s not our first choice for drinking. So – in the interest of using up those leftover bottles – we made this wonderful Guinness Barbecue Sauce.
All of the credit for this easy, zesty Guinness Barbecue Sauce belongs to Epicurious.com where we found the recipe. The flavors are wonderfully complex – but it’s made with ingredients you might already have on hand in your kitchen: Guinness, ketchup, brown sugar, whole grain Dijon mustard, honey, hot sauce, salt and pepper – plus star anise is optional. (We did add the star anise to our sauce – it adds a unique spicy note to the sauce!)
This Guinness Barbecue Sauce is fantastic on any grilled meat – especially these amazing Guinness Barbecue Pork Tips!
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Guinness Barbecue Sauce
Recipe adapted from Epicurious.com.
Ingredients
2 cups Guinness ale
1 cup ketchup
¼ cup whole grain Dijon mustard (we used Maille)
1/3 cup honey
2 tablespoons hot sauce (we used Cholula)
2 teaspoons kosher salt
2 teaspoons freshly ground black pepper
Instructions
In a medium saucepan, boil the Guinness and star anise over high heat until reduced by half.
Add the remaining ingredients and simmer for 5-10 minutes, or until the sauce has thickened. (In our experience making this recipe, this sauce never got to a super thick consistency.)
Remove saucepan from heat and cool. Remove star anise from the sauce and discard.
Use this Guinness Barbecue Sauce in our recipe for Guinness Barbecued Pork Tips.
Pour extra sauce into a lidded jar or other container with a tight cover. Store refrigerated for up to one week.
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Hey I was just wondering if this sauce is safe for canning?
Hi Sarah – We aren’t experts in canning but know enough about it that, to be safe, you’ll need to understand the acidity and PH levels of the foods you are trying to preserve. (Here’s a great article: https://foodinjars.com/blog/canning-101-acid-and-ph-in-boiling-water-bath-canning/)
We’ve never tested this recipe to know if it’s safe or not. Sorry I can’t be more help!
I was trying to find the Guinness ale and star anise where do I find this at? Could you provide pictures please?
Hi Kylee – I don’t have a way of attaching photos here. Guinness Ale is a type of beer so you should be able to find it in the beer aisle if your supermarket sells it, or at a liquor store. Star Anise is a spice – so in the spice aisle or on Amazon: https://amzn.to/3bYRTiy – hope that helps!
I totally agree MARTHA, there’s way too much sugar in store bought BBQ sauce. I love this recipe and can’t wait to try it. Thanks!
★★★★★
Hope you enjoy the sauce!