No Salt Barbeque Sauce

This homemade barbeque sauce proves you don’t need a grain of salt to build serious flavor. Molasses brings the dark sweetness, apple cider vinegar and Dijon mustard handle the tang, and liquid smoke plus cayenne add depth and heat. All built on a base of no-salt tomato sauce.

Cook the onion until translucent first. That’s 8 minutes of gentle sweating that breaks down the raw bite and adds a natural sweetness to the sauce base. Then everything else goes in and simmers until thick.

Stir frequently during that 15-minute simmer. Molasses and tomato sauce scorch easily on the bottom of the pan, and burned sugar turns bitter fast.

Chef Tips

• Use no-salt-added tomato sauce specifically. Regular canned tomato sauce has over 600mg of sodium per cup, which defeats the whole point.
• Taste and adjust the cayenne and hot pepper sauce at the end. Heat intensifies as the sauce reduces and cools.
• This keeps well in the fridge for up to two weeks in a sealed jar. The flavors actually meld and improve after a day or two.
• Brush it on grilled chicken or ribs during the last few minutes of cooking only. Sugar-based sauces burn if they go on too early over direct heat.

Variations

• Add a tablespoon of smoked paprika for even more smokiness without the liquid smoke.
• Swap molasses for maple syrup for a lighter, less robust sweetness.
• Blend the finished sauce smooth if you prefer a uniform texture without onion pieces.