A sweet and spicy barbecue sauce that is great with smoked chicken or ham, and barbecue sandwiches. Like any sauce, sitting overnight in the refrigerator allows the flavors to meld. It just gets better with a little time.
"*" See Kitchen Notes for more information or links to special ingredients.
Heat the oil over medium heat in a deep saucepan. Add the onion and lower heat to medium low. Sweat the onion for 3 minutes until translucent.
more of a smoky flavor without the heat, add 1/4 smoked paprika.
more heat and smokiness, add ¼ tsp. chipotle or the Serrano powder.
just more heat, add ¼ tsp. or more New Mexico red chile powder.
Apricots – Use fresh or frozen. If you don’t have apricots, replace with peaches or nectarines.
Sweetness – If the apricots are really sweet, cut back on the sweetening components unless you like a really sweet BBQ sauce. If you do like a sweeter sauce, then, when you do the tasting halfway through cooking it down, you might find add a little more brown sugar or maple syrup. Keep in mind, it’s only going to get sweeter as it gets thicker.
Vinegar – If you like your BBQ sauce with a little more vinegar then you can add more by adding 1 tsp. at a time to your taste.
Consistency – We like a rather thick sauce so it took about 30 minutes to reach consistency. Plus it does thicken overnight. If you find it too thick, just add a little more ginger ale or light beer.
BBQ Sandwich Ingredients – Toasted buns, a tender smoked meat like chicken or ham, dill pickles, apricot BBQ sauce, and a simple slaw.
Recipe author: MJ of MJ's Kitchen