As many of you know, I am a judge at the Memphis in May World Championship Barbecue Cooking Contest held every May in Memphis, Tennessee. Boy that’s a mouthful. But it’s also a mouthful of great barbecue! And though I generally believe that if you are doing competition barbecue right you don’t need sauce, if you are going to put sauce on it this is the competition sauce you need. Thick, rich, and sweet and with a little heat on the back end, this one is a competition superstar for pork and chicken. And it’s so easy to make. (My wife likes it so much, she eats it on chips.)
Making this competition barbecue sauce is no competition; it’s a one-pot wonder. Truly, it’s dump, heat and go. Here’s how you make it (a recipe card is at the end).
In a 5 quart or larger pot, add:
- 32 oz. Tomato Sauce. You can get away with 2 15-oz. cans. Tomato sauce is liquid tomato, not chunks or puree.
- 32 oz. Ketchup (While we are a Heinz family, your favorite brand is what you want)
- Two 12 oz. bottles of Chili Sauce. Again, we are a Heinz family.
- 2 cups Apple Cider Vinegar. I’ve used store-brand and the fancy ones. I can’t tell the difference. It’s ok if you can.
- 2 cups Brown Sugar
- 1 cup Honey. I use standard clover honey. You can go fancy. It would probably be good with your favorite brand of hot honey, but then omit the hot sauce below.
- 2 Tablespoons Worcestershire Sauce
- 2 Tablespoons Soy Sauce
- 1 cup of your favorite dry rub. Here’s mine.
- 2 Tablespoons hot sauce
- 1 Tablespoon Liquid Smoke
Bring to a boil, stirring often, and then simmer on medium low for at least 30 minutes. Keep coming back to stir it to break up the sugar and rub or it will burn on the bottom. Taste it and adjust the flavors. It’s ok if it is a bit vinegary now; that will dissipate as it cooks.
At this point, you are done. If you want to bottle it, you can follow the instructions in my Bottling Your Own Barbecue Sauce recipe. That link has pictures. If you don’t need those, here’s what you do:
Fill clean, new, sterilized glass mason jars 
within 1/8 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. Process means to boil them for the 15 minutes.
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.
- 32 oz. Tomato Sauce. You can get away with 2 15-oz. cans. This is liquid tomato, not chunks or puree.
- 32 oz. Ketchup (While we are a Heinz family, your favorite brand is what you want)
- two 12 oz. bottles of Chili Sauce. Again, we are a Heinz family.
- 2 cups Apple Cider Vinegar. I've used store-brand and the fancy ones. I can't tell the difference. It's ok if you can.
- 2 cups Brown Sugar
- 1 cup Honey. I use standard clover honey. You can go fancy. It would probably be good with your favorite brand of hot honey, but then omit the hot sauce below.
- 2 Tablespoons Worcestershire Sauce
- 2 Tablespoons Soy Sauce
- 1 cup of your favorite dry rub. Here's mine.
- 2 Tablespoons hot sauce
- In a 5 quart or larger pot, add all ingredients. Bring to a boil, stirring often, and then simmer on medium low for at least 30 minutes.
- Keep coming back to stir it to break up the sugar and rub or it will burn on the bottom.
- Taste it and adjust the flavors. It's ok if it is a bit vinegary now; that will dissipate as it cooks.
- To bottle this for longer-term storage:
- 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. Process means to boil them for the 15 minutes. Make sure the jars are covered by two inches of boiling water while they process.
- 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.
I just made this. So easy and the taste is unreal. Going to use it as my new go-to BBQ Sauce. This recipe makes a lot of sauce (about 4 quarts). WPS!!!! from Winnipeg, Manitoba, CANADA
Rob, I am very happy you made my Competition BBQ Sauce! Very excited to hear from my first Canadian tester and hope your barbecuing is wonderful with it!!! WPS!!!
I just came back to your site to make some more. I handed out a few jars and the people that got them were very impressed. Thanks again for sharing your recipe!
Wow! This is awesome news!!! I am glad to hear this Rob! Thank you for sharing!!! This sauce is really good and it’s so easy to change up things to make it your perfect sauce!!! Take care.
Great sauce! We added a little bourbon to the mix. No more store bought in this house from now on!
Wow Rachel! What a great idea!! I’m going to try adding some bourbon to mine too!! Very excited to try this!! Thanks for the tip!!
I see the dry rub ingredients call for 3 cups brown sugar. Is that on top of the 2 cups brown sugar in the sauce recipe?
You can use any dry rub you like. Mine is sweet with a little heat. That’s a big rub recipe and you only need a cup of it. Feel free to use a cup of your favorite rub instead!
Would omitting the artificial smoke ingredient alter the recipe too much? We’re hesitant to use artificial chemicals in our sauce.
Hi Jannellea! You’ll be fine omitting the smoke flavoring, just note that the smoke flavoring is what gives it much of its barbecue flavor. You may be able to find a smoke flavor you like on Amazon or Whole Foods, or just omit it and enjoy it all the same. Take care!
If you have a smoker at home, you could put the sauce on the smoker for a bit to introduce that smoke flavor or option 2 if you don’t have a smoker is to use a gas/propane/charcoal grill with a smoke tube filled with your choice of wood. Light the smoke tube, place on grill, place sauce pot on grill (no need to light the grill itself). Smoke the sauce until desired “smoke taste” is acquired!! Then enjoy
Terrific advice!