This is the kind that everyone’s grandmother knows how to make without looking it up.
1 cup ketchup
1 cup water
1/2 cup vinegar
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
Mix it all up! Can be used on all kinds of cuts of meat, as a basting glaze, in the crock pot or boiled down as a stand-alone sauce.
My fave is to take whatever meat you want, put it in a covered casserole dish or large pan at 200 degrees for a couple hours, drain off the fat, then pour this sauce over top. Cook for another hour or so, leaving the cover off for 15 – 30 minutes for the sauce to thicken a bit.
Variations & Substitutions:
- add a chopped onion
- add a tsp of worcestershire sauce or mustard
- use molasses or honey instead of brown sugar
- use tomato sauce or condensed tomato soup instead of ketchup.
Sure beats the bottled version. Aren’t you sometimes surprised by how easy it is to make stuff that is sold pre-packaged? I guess I was when I found out what BBQ sauce was made of.
It is also a basic sloppy joe recipe thrown in the crockpot with a pound of browned ground beef. Saute some diced peppers and onions along with the meat, and it’s better than Manwich!