Versatile Barbecue Sauce

This recipe will work as a marinade or a pouring sauce when serving. You can baste cooking meat as it cooks to keep it moist, or just use it as a dipping salsa with some chips.

I was struggling to find a way to photograph a sauce, so I knocked up a little dish with tortilla chips, grated cheese and this sauce. It worked out really well.

I have also spread this sauce on bread as a relish with some leftover chicken from the previous day’s barbecue and it was awesome. This sauce is so simple and versatile, it work's almost anywhere.

Sauce Preparation

The recipe is fairly straightforward; first fry the onions in a little butter, or a vegetarian friendly oil, if desired – I used coconut oil. Cook until the onions are soft and brown and then add the rest of the ingredients except the herbs. Here’s the ingredient list:

• 1 onion, diced
• chopped tomatoes – a can or freshly chopped
• 3-4 garlic cloves, minced
• 50g brown sugar
• 3 tablespoon malt vinegar
• 1 tablespoon soy sauce
• 2 tablespoon Worcester sauce (use a vegetarian variety if required!)
• salt and black pepper to taste
• fresh coriander leaves (basil will also work well)

Bring the mix to a gentle simmer and then continue on a low heat for up to 30 minutes or until it reduces a little. When you take the pan off the heat add the herbs. Coriander is a good choice to add a little spiciness.

Allow to cool and then blend if desired or keep it as is to include the chunkiness of the vegetables . Taste and season at this point as needed.

You can make it hotter by adding some chilli power or less sweet by reducing the sugar or leaving it out altogether. Play around with this base recipe until you find something you love.

Check out my Chicken Breasts and Vegetable Skewers recipe for a great use of this barbecue sauce.