Name: Red BBQ Sauce from the Epic Vegan cookbook by Dustin Harder
Prep time: 10 min
Cook time: 30 min
Total time: 40 min
Ingredients: 2 tablespoons olive oil (30 ml); 1 onion (chopped); 3 cloves garlic (chopped); ½ cup bourbon (120 ml ); 1 cup ketchup (240 g ); 2/3 cup water (160 ml, divided); ¼ cup dark brown sugar (60 g, organic ); 2 tablespoons chili powder (16 g ); 1 tablespoon smoked paprika (7 g ); 1 tablespoon Dijon mustard (15 g ); 1 tablespoon red wine vinegar (15 ml ); 1 tablespoon molasses (15 ml )

The 4th of 6 recipes culminating in one epic 7th recipe for the Bacon Mac & Cheese BBQ Blue Burger, from Dustin Harder's cookbook, Epic Vegan: Wild and Over the Top Plant-based Recipes. This recipe is easy, vegan, gluten-free, and wonderful anytime.

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A ramekin filled with bbq sauce surrounded by plates of lettuce and burgers.

The fourth recipe in our Epic Vegan series is a summery treat that doesn’t take much effort to make: Red BBQ Sauce. So delicious slathered onto anything grilled, it’s a great all-around BBQ sauce. And once you discover how easy it is to make BBQ sauce at home, you may find yourself experimenting to create your own brand.

A burger with mac & cheese and bbq sauce in it.

More recipes in the series

A ramekin of homemade red bbq sauce on a worn wood table.

Red BBQ Sauce from the Epic Vegan cookbook by Dustin Harder

Yield: 1¼ cups (440 g)

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Course: Sauce

Cuisine: American, vegan

Keyword: barbecue, bbq, sauce, vegan

Prep Time: 10 minutes

Cook Time: 30 minutes

Total Time: 40 minutes

Servings: 8

Fiber: 1.43g

Ingredients

2 tablespoons olive oil 30 ml
1 onion chopped
3 cloves garlic chopped
½ cup bourbon 120 ml
1 cup ketchup 240 g
⅔ cup water 160 ml, divided
¼ cup dark brown sugar 60 g, organic
2 tablespoons chili powder 16 g
1 tablespoon smoked paprika 7 g
1 tablespoon Dijon mustard 15 g
1 tablespoon red wine vinegar 15 ml
1 tablespoon molasses 15 ml

Instructions

Heat the olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Sauté the onion for 3 to 5 minutes, or until softened.
Add the garlic and sauté 1 additional minute, until fragrant.
Slowly add the bourbon and cook for 4 to 6 minutes, or until the bourbon has completely cooked off.
Add the ketchup, 1⁄3 cup (80 ml) of the water, brown sugar, chili powder, smoked paprika, mustard, vinegar, and molasses. Stir well. Bring to a simmer and cook for 20 minutes, stirring occasionally.
Transfer to a high-speed blender (see Tip), add the remaining 1⁄3 cup (80 ml) water, and blend until smooth.

Notes

Author’s note: One summer I designed a menu with a friend of mine at her restaurant, Urban Vegan Kitchen in NYC, for a pop-up dinner with a BBQ theme. We wanted to include as many styles of BBQ sauce as we could on the menu. I’m delighted to offer a couple of the variations to you, as these BBQ sauces came about from nights of testing them over and over, making the smallest adjustments with my dear friend Pamela Elizabeth. Both are super tasty, but the white BBQ sauce won over the crowd at the dinner; hopefully it does the same for your hungry family and friends.

Tip: Blenders and heat don’t mix! Either let the mixture cool completely before transferring to the blender, or remove the plug from the top of the blender and cover with a towel. Start blending on low and increase the speed until the mixture is smooth and creamy.

Nutrition

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