Bourbon–Brown Sugar Barbecue Sauce

Across America, you’ll find various schools of barbecue, with each region extolling the virtues of its own style, complete with a signature barbecue sauce. Though this fan-favorite bourbon barbecue sauce bears most resemblance to Kansas City barbecue sauce (a sweet, thick version comprised of ketchup, molasses, and liquid smoke), it satisfies all camps. It’s the all-purpose barbecue sauce we slather on ribs, pulled pork, chicken, and even grilled vegetables. Once you see how easy it is to make (and how much better it is than the store-bought stuff), you’ll never buy a bottle of barbecue sauce again.

The best homemade barbecue sauce strikes a balance of sweet, tangy, salty, and savory. This tomatoey sauce gets a boost of sweetness from brown sugar and molasses, cut by apple cider vinegar, bourbon, and soy sauce. Bourbon adds warm depth, while soy sauce brings salinity and umami. But the key to achieving that smoky flavor? Liquid smoke. Made from the steam trapped from burning lumber, a few dashes of this magical liquid gives BBQ sauce long-smoked flavor, no pitmaster required. And once you have this basic barbecue sauce fully locked down, venture into some of our favorite variations, like Spicy Cola Barbecue Sauce or Ginger-Mustard Barbecue Sauce.