Stout Barbecue Sauce Recipe

By
Joshua Bousel
a photo of Joshua Bousel, a Contributing Writer at Serious Eats
Joshua Bousel
Joshua Bousel is a Serious Eats old-timer, having started sharing his passion for grilling and barbecue recipes on the site back in 2008. He continues to develop grilling and barbecue recipes on his own site, The Meatwave, out of his home base of Durham, North Carolina.
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Updated October 09, 2018
20110112-132407-stout-bbq-sauce.jpg
Photographs: Joshua Bousel

Winter is a call for us to beef up the heartiness of just about everything. Though I'm not normally a huge fan of stout beers, when the frigid cold has set in, there's something appealing to drinking what feels like a meal in a bottle. I wanted to take that appropriate seasonal heaviness and apply it to a barbecue sauce. So I married the two to create a stout barbecue sauce.

Adding nearly a bottle of beer to an otherwise common mixture of barbecue sauce ingredients meant that I had to boil it down for well over a half-hour so it'd return to an acceptable medium-thin consistency. In doing so, the flavor profile of the beer undoubtedly changed, and while that chocolaty robustness of the Guinness remained, the bitterness really amped up. Straight off the spoon this wasn't my favorite sauce. I did, however, venture forth and baste it on some barbecued ribs—that's where it totally rocked.

This full-bodied sauce found a balance where the bitterness became an undertone and the heartiness complemented the smoked meat. With most of the bottle still left in the fridge, I'm pondering what else this could smother. Any suggestions?

Recipe Details

Stout Barbecue Sauce Recipe

Active 30 mins
Total 60 mins
Serves 8 servings
Makes 2 cups

Ingredients

  • 2 tablespoons vegetable oil

  • 1 medium onion, finely diced

  • One 15-ounce can tomato sauce

  • 8 ounces stout beer

  • 1/4 cup molasses

  • 1 tablespoon Dijon mustard

  • 1/4 cup apple cider vinegar

  • 1 tablespoon dark brown sugar

  • 1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce

  • Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper

Directions

  1. Heat oil in medium saucepan over medium heat until shimmering. Add the onion and cook until lightly browned, about 7 to 8 minutes, stirring occasionally.

  2. Stir in the tomato sauce, beer, molasses, mustard, vinegar, brown sugar and Worcestershire sauce. Bring to a boil, then reduce to simmer and cook until sauce is reduced to a medium-thin thickness, about 30 to 45 minutes, stirring occasionally. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

  3. Transfer the sauce to a blender and puree until smooth. Allow the sauce to cool, then store in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to two weeks.

Nutrition Facts (per serving)
110Calories
4gFat
16gCarbs
1gProtein
×
Nutrition Facts
Servings: 8
Amount per serving
Calories110
% Daily Value*
Total Fat 4g5%
Saturated Fat 0g1%
Cholesterol 0mg0%
Sodium 508mg22%
Total Carbohydrate 16g6%
Dietary Fiber 1g4%
Total Sugars 13g
Protein 1g
Vitamin C 5mg27%
Calcium 41mg3%
Iron 1mg7%
Potassium 394mg8%
*The % Daily Value (DV) tells you how much a nutrient in a food serving contributes to a daily diet. 2,000 calories a day is used for general nutrition advice.
(Nutrition information is calculated using an ingredient database and should be considered an estimate.)

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