We had such a great time at Leatha’s Bar-B-Que Inn, and their barbecue sauce was something special. It was full of tomato and vinegar flavor, with a light sweetness and a savory onion, garlic and black pepper base. We loved it so much, we bought some of their sauce to take home. We were really excited to dive in and use it on some of our own home-smoked barbecue, but when we opened the bottle, it seemed too ketchup-y and lacking in the nice broad spiciness the original had. So we decided to make our own barbecue sauce. We also went big, and made enough to bottle.
We took inspiration from Leatha’s ingredient label and our memories, but gussied it up to our tastes with white and brown sugar and cider vinegar. This is tomato-y and sweet, with a nice underlying heat and spice. It is an easy sauce to make, and if you make it in bulk like we did, you can bottle it and keep it for a good long while. This made 13 lucky pints of goodness.
Here’s what you need (the full recipe is at the end):
Add 2 cups Worcestershire sauce
Stir those together and take few pictures. It was pretty neat to watch them mix. (It’s like a lava lamp, right?)
Add:
- 3 cups cider vinegar
- 1 T onion powder
- 1 T garlic powder
- 2 T black pepper, freshly ground
Mix those in. It can get clumpy, so you may have to take out your favorite immersion blender 
Add 2 cups white sugar plus 1 cup brown sugar (you can use all brown sugar, but it will make it much darker)
Finally, add 10 cups of water. Of course I underestimated the volume of this so I had to switch to my turkey roasting pan
Bring to a boil and cook it for 10 minutes, then cook over medium heat for 30 more minutes. Put it through its final taste tests, adding spices as you like them. If it tastes too vinegary, you can add more sugar, or you can take the bite out of the vinegar by making a volcano… I mean, adding 1/8 teaspoon of baking soda. Stir it in, watch the foam subside, and taste again. If it is still too vinegary, add some more. (That’s a serious BBQ sauce making geek trick I just taught you.)
Now it’s time to bottle this magic.
Bottle it and sterilize it via the water bath method. You need a giant pot like this 
Fill clean, new, sterilized glass mason jars 
Pull the bottles out after 15 minutes of boiling, let them cool and listen for the pops as the jars seal, check the seals and tighten the mason jar twist lids, add a mighty nice label (or do what I do and just write on it with a magic marker), and stock them in your pantry.
- 114 oz (7lb 2 oz) jug of Heinz ketchup
- 2 C Worcestershire sauce
- 3 C cider vinegar
- 1 T onion powder
- 1 T garlic powder
- 2 T black pepper, freshly ground
- 2 C white sugar AND
- 1 C brown sugar (you can use all brown sugar, but it will make it much darker)
- 10 C water
- Mix all ingredients together in a large pot.
- Bring to a boil and cook it for 10 minutes, then cook over medium heat for 30 minutes more.
- Put the sauce through its final taste tests, adding spices as you like them. If it tastes too vinegary, you can add more sugar, or you can take the bite out of the vinegar by making a volcano… I mean, adding ⅛ teaspoon of baking soda. Stir it in, watch the foam subside, and taste again. If it is still too vinegary, add some more. (That’s a serious BBQ sauce making geek trick I just taught you.)
- Bottle it and sterilize it via the water bath method. You need a giant pot for this, and can get them pretty inexpensively at the big box stores. Make sure you get one with a bottle rack inside.
- Fill up the pot so that the water will cover the jars by 2 inches, and get it boiling hot. I like to heat up the kettle too, so that I have extra water hot and ready, just in case I need it.
- Fill clean, new, sterilized glass mason jars within ⅛ inch from the top with hot barbecue sauce and process in that boiling hot water bath for 15 minutes. Make sure the jars are covered by two inches of boiling water while they process.
- Pull the jars out after 15 minutes of boiling, let them cool and listen for the pops as the jars seal, check the seals and tighten the mason jar twist lids, add a mighty nice label (or do what I do and just write on it with a magic marker), and stock them in your pantry.
Hi! Thanks for the tips, how long does the sauce keep for roughly?
Ikepo, it keeps a couple of years if you do jar it using the water bath method. I store it in my pantry and check and make sure it is still sealed before I open it. If it doesn’t look or taste right or has fermentation signs, toss it out!
Can I add fresh garlic and grated onion to this recipe and still water bath can it?
Yes! You sure can! It is terrific with fresh grated onion and garlic. Just make sure you process the whole length of time. Take care!!!
How long does your sauce last once it’s been opened? So if I’m giving it as a gift what’s the fridge life on it ?
Thank you
That’s a great question! My general go-to is to try and use within two weeks of opening. (While originally sealed it lasts just about forever. At least a couple years.) Since this has been cooked and canned, you might get far longer when opened. I keep my fridge cold and only pour out of it, not dip food into it, and get a month or two just fine. I toss it after a month or so, so I make it in little jars of 8 or 16 ounces, so it’s always fresh. I hope you enjoy your sauce!!!
I looking to bottle my sauce what can you do for me
You’ll want to bottle yours in a local commercial kitchen following your local health laws, or contact what is called a co-packer. Search for one on Google.
Hey I saw you comment about bottling your own sauce I want to do the same….I just emailed you to ask how is it going?….And what did you have to do?
Hey Kyle, so you just need to follow the recipe from above. That will guide you through the process. You’ll want to water-process your barbecue sauce when you’re done, to seal the jars up from the bad stuff. Good luck!
Hey woopigfoodie, I want to bottle and sell my bbq sauce.Can I use ketchup instead of tamato puree are tamato paste?
Yes, you sure can. Most folks use a ketchup base. You can buy in in the big gallon cans over at the warehouse store.
Hi there! This looks awesome! Is there any adjusting I need to do if I put the sauce in smaller jars? Thanks!
Hi TD! You’re good to go, no changes to the recipe needed for smaller jars. You’ll still heat them as long, but since you’ll just cover the jars with an inch of water you’ll be putting in less water in the water bath than if you used larger jars. That will making the preserving step faster! Good luck!
Does it thicken after its cooled?
Yes, Tabetha! It will thicken as it cools. You can keep reducing it in the pot to make it even thicker if you don’t think it is thick enough. If you’ve already canned it and only later think it’s too thin, you can also pour one jar into a pot and reduce it over medium low heat for about 40 minutes, stirring occasionally until it reduces down. Have fun!!!
What if you didn’t do the hot water bath how long will the sauce last?
Hi Jenna! It will generally last as long as any other homemade sauce. So, maybe a month in a cold fridge. Perhaps 6 months if you were to freeze it.
The water bath process is super easy to do, so if you plan on making a batch for keeps or gifts you should definitely do the water bath method! Have fun and be safe!
Is the 10 cups of water for the canning process? Or does this actually go into the sauce? Seems like a lot of water.
Hi Jeremy! Yes, the 10 cups of water are for the sauce. (This makes about 4 gallons.) For the water bath, it takes about 3-4 gallons of water, too. When making the sauce, add more or less water to get to the thickness you prefer!
Just so you know it doesn’t look like your recipe on the bottom doesn’t have the Worcestershire sauce.
Thank you Aaron! I have it fixed now!
So, I was thinking of using this recipe but putting it in 12 oz bottles with lug lids. Would the water bath processing time and jar head space stay the same? The last thing I want to do is get someone sick by not processing it correctly! Thanks for helping out this newbie.
Hi Catherine! I have only used the screw down Ball-type lids before, but yes,even changing to this size you will process for the same time and cover with the same amount of water. I used the timing and instructions for the ketchup recipe from my Ball jar cookbook to come up with that so feel free to explore Ball on the web further!
I want to start make my own sauce I don’t know how to start, can you tell me
Hi Angie!
Just find a recipe that looks tasty and follow the above bottling instructions.
Take care!
I have my own BBQ sauce recipe that consists of ketchup, smoke, pepper, and sugar. All are store bought. Do I need to heat up the sauce first before canning? Will that change the consistency? And how do I go about bottling and selling my sauce? I’m new at this. Thank you.
Hi Michael! Yes, you would want to heat it up since the canning method needs everything hot to kill any bacteria for a long and safe shelf life. Heating should not change the consistence of these ingredients. If you intend to bottle and sell commercially, google a “co-packer” in your area. They’ll bottle it for you. If you want to do it yourself, check with your local health department. They may require you to prepare it in a commercial kitchen or you may fall under a “cottage industry” exception that doesn’t. They will help you understand that! Good luck!
Can I use a pressure canner instead of the hot water bath method?
Hi Jason! I have not used a pressure canner myself, but a google search shows that the National Center for Home Food Preservation has instructions for a method to do so! Good luck!