Memphis-style BBQ Sauce

Recipe by Catherine Neville

Heading up to Tennessee, you’ll find nuanced tomato-based sauces. The state is also home to paprika-spiked rubs, which are central to creating Memphis-style dry-rubbed ribs. The rub is applied prior to a long, slow smoke, and as the ribs’ fat breaks down, it mingles with the spices, creating a crust on the surface of the meat. In Memphis, pork ribs are most common, although chopped pork shoulder is beloved, too, and barbecue sauce is often served on the side (and sometimes not at all). When a sauce is served, it’s typically a vinegar-ketchup-mustard hybrid with a slight sweetness and a hint of heat. The sauce is thinner and tangier than its cousins in the Midwest, and completely optional, unlike the predominately wet style of barbecue found in Kansas City and St. Louis.

Memphis-style barbecue sauce

  • 2 Tbsp unsalted butter

  • 1 small yellow onion, diced

  • 3 cloves garlic, minced

  • 1 15-oz can tomato sauce

  • ½ cup apple cider vinegar

  • ¹⁄₃ cup white balsamic vinegar

  • ²⁄₃ cup dark brown sugar, packed

  • 2 Tbsp molasses

  • 2 Tbsp Worcestershire sauce

  • 1 tsp sea salt

  • freshly ground black pepper, to taste

  • ½ tsp cayenne pepper, plus more to taste

  • ½ tsp celery seed

  • 1 Tbsp yellow mustard

  • 2 tsp hot sauce, plus more to taste

| Preparation | In a medium saucepan over medium heat, melt butter. When butter is sizzling, add onion and reduce heat to medium-low. Cook onion until it just turns golden, then add garlic, and stir until fragrant. Add tomato sauce, vinegars, brown sugar and molasses, and stir until sugar has dissolved. Add remaining ingredients, stir and allow to simmer for 15 to 20 minutes. Allow to cool slightly, and blend until smooth using an immersion blender, or in the bowl of a standard blender.

Catherine Neville