You can use BBQ sauce in a variety of ways. While it is the main ingredient in steaks and sandwiches, did you know you can add it to grilled chicken, noodles, pizza, salads, nachos, and pasta? I’m probably missing out on more delicious ways to use BBQ sauce but this is enough to get your tastebuds going, right?
Now that you know you can use BBQ sauce for so many dishes, what’s stopping you from trying out these recipes?
Store-bought BBQ sauce can sometimes be too thin to use. It slides right off the meat before you can caramelize it on the pan or in an oven. The thicker the sauce, the better the texture of meat, right?
Thin BBQ sauce is never a good idea even for other recipes like baking a pizza or as a salad dressing or in making stir-fry sweet-and-spicy noodles. So learning how to thicken BBQ sauce can help you improve both the flavor and texture of the dish you’re making.
How to Thicken BBQ Sauce – 7 Amazing Ingredients to Try!
1. Cornstarch
Bring the BBQ sauce you have with you, store-bought or homemade, in a saucepan (about 1 cup) on low to medium heat. While the BBQ sauce heats up, take a mixing bowl and combine 1 spoon of cornstarch with 1/4 cup of water.
Keep mixing until all the lumps have disappeared and there’s a slimy, white liquid remaining. Continue whisking the BBQ sauce as you add the cornstarch+water mixture into the saucepan. All this while, keep the heat setting to low to avoid burning the BBQ sauce.
2. Flour
An alternative to cornstarch for thickening BBQ sauce is flour. Add 2 tablespoons of flour with 1/4 cup of water in a bowl. Combine it well and then add it in the way same as cornstarch to warm BBQ sauce in a saucepan.
To prevent clumping, make sure you add flour to the bowl first followed by water. You can also use a smaller whisk to combine and distribute the sauce well.
3. Butter
Adding natural fats to BBQ sauce is an interesting way to thicken it. It not only makes BBQ sauce thick but creamier and tastier as well.
Add 1 tablespoon of solid butter at a time to 1 cup of BBQ sauce in a saucepan. Maintain the heat setting to low to allow the sauce to boil and melt the sauce consistently.
Margarine is another substitute for butter. Never dump a large amount of margarine or butter at once in the saucepan. Once you reach your desired texture and thickness of BBQ sauce, you stop adding the butter altogether.
4. Heavy Cream
Heavy cream works for everything! One tablespoon of heavy cream for 1 cup of BBQ sauce does the trick beautifully. Make sure the BBQ sauce heats up before you add in the heavy cream. Once you do, lower the heat if it’s not already at the lowest heat setting, and allow the sauce to thicken and caramelize a bit longer.
Heavy cream does an amazing job of thickening BBQ sauce. It’s made entirely of cow or goat milk.
But you can go for a more natural, non-fat version of heavy cream. Such as coconut cream, almond cream, cashew nut cream, etc.
5. Tomato Puree
A tomato-based sauce like a puree or sweet sauce can help thicken BBQ effectively. In fact, BBQ sauce is part tomato sauce so tomato puree works brilliantly for this. It’s easy to use and you only have to 1-3 tablespoons for 1 cup. Depending on how thick and sticky you want the BBQ sauce to be.
Plain, unsalted tomato puree can alter the flavor of BBQ sauce slightly. So don’t be afraid to season the sauce with some salt and pepper for extra flavor.
6. Water
The simplest ingredient of them all, water is great to thicken BBQ sauce quickly and effectively. Adding a few spoons of water to 1 cup of BBQ is enough to start caramelizing the sauce. Leave the sauce on the stove for a couple of minutes until it reaches the desired consistency and texture.
Using water to thicken BBQ sauce is also considered as ‘reduction’, slow cooking the sauce thickens it over 15 to 30 minutes. You can cover the saucepan with a lid and keep the heat in the lowest setting. To prevent burning add butter (no extra water) to let the sauce caramelize a bit more.
7. Food Gums
Natural gums are made of seaweed plants or land plants. It’s commonly used in most Asian recipes to transform the texture of homemade sauces and curries.
A fat-free alternative to using fat or oil in food is to use natural food gum. It adds flavor, texture, and consistency very effectively. Homemade sauces are a combination of many herbs and spices so food gums play an important role in keeping the consistency of homemade sauces smooth and delicious.
The best type of food gums that work well with BBQ sauce is Guar gum, Xanthan gum, and pectin.
Stirring the sauce while adding the gum keeps it from breaking apart. And since they dissolve quickly in hot or cold liquids, 1-2 teaspoons of food gum per cup should do the trick.
Conclusion
There’s so much to be done when you want to know how to thicken BBQ sauce. You don’t have to use artificial ingredients or waste time searching for a thick BBQ sauce. With these amazing ingredients, you can literally thicken any homemade sauce you like for salad dressing, curries, spreads, marinates, etc.
If you have some time to spare in the kitchen, this won’t take you longer than 10 minutes. And it’s a great tip to make all kinds of delicious BBQ recipes after this. Using natural ingredients like nut paste, coconut oil or cream adds that boost of omega fatty acids and vitamins that your recipe needs.