This easy-to-make homemade Ancho BBQ Sauce recipe focuses on the flavor of the awesome ancho pepper. It is rich, tangy and deeply flavored, a barbecue sauce with a southwestern flair.
Ancho BBQ Sauce Recipe
Ancho peppers seriously ROCK. Wouldn’t you agree? They’re so perfectly earthy and rich in flavor, I want to dive into a pool of the stuff. Ancho peppers are dried poblano peppers, and poblanos themselves are crazy amazing to cook with with.
The dried version actually brings the resulting flavor up a notch. Dried pods have a way of trancending the flavor of fresh pods, particulary when it comes to sauces, so hurry up and grab yourself some ancho peppers and let’s get cooking!
I made a different sauce with anchos fairly recently – Ancho Chili Sauce Recipe. I know you’ll want to check that out. This recipe is similar in flavor, but goes in the bbq direction instead.
Check out this ancho pepper. Gorgeous, right? I can’t get enough of these.
I know you need a great bbq sauce recipe for this time of year, especially with all these HUGE holiday gatherings.
You'll want this for smoking or grilling up ribs, chicken, pork, shrimp, fish, just about anything you can cook up in the back yard. Make extra, because you can serve it in squeeze bottles and let people smother their plates with the stuff.
Seriously, you'll need more than you think. It will disappear quickly.
Let's go through it, step by step.
Ancho BBQ Sauce Ingredients
- Ancho Chili Peppers.
- Vegetable Oil.
- Yellow Onion. Chopped.
- Fresh Minced Garlic.
- Tomato Paste.
- Cider Vinegar.
- Light Brown Sugar.
- Worcestershire Sauce.
- Molasses.
- Cayenne Powder.
- Paprika.
- Ancho Chili Powder.
- Cumin.
- Salt and Pepper. To taste.
- Soaking Water. Or stock for thinning.
How to Make Ancho BBQ Sauce - The Recipe Method
First, heat a pan to medium-high heat and add your ancho peppers. Do not use any oil or liquid. You want to dry toast them. You CAN make this recipe without lightly toasting the peppers, but I urge you not to skip this step, as the dry toasting loosens up the oils in the peppers, resulting in richer flavors.
Toast them a couple minutes per side. The peppers will puff slightly and the skins will begin to turn red.
Next, set them into a large pot of boiling water and remove from heat. Let them soak covered in water for 30 minutes.
As they soak, the ancho peppers will begin to leech into the water, darkening it in color. This soaking water has a lot of nutrients in it, so do not throw it away for now.
Remove the stems and coarsely chop the anchos. Reserve that valuable soaking liquid. Set the chopped anchos into a food processor.
Next, heat the oil in a pan to medium heat and cook down the onion, garlic, and tomato, then add them to the food processor along with the rest of your ingredients. Process until it smooths out.
The ancho bbq sauce will be thick at this point. You can add more soaking liquid to achieve your desired consistency.
Next, give your ancho bbq sauce a taste. Adjust it with salt and pepper.
Finally, press the sauce through a coarse strainer into a bowl. I use a wooden spoon to push it through. This removes the solids and bits of rough ancho skin that didn't get processed.
So, so good.
I hope you love it as much as I do! Enjoy!
Recipe Tips & Notes
- Can't find ancho peppers near you? Here's a link (affiliate!) where you can purchase them at Amazon. Very inexpensive: Dried Chile Ancho - Sweet & Smoky Flavor, 16-Ounce Bag.
- You CAN make this recipe without lightly toasting the peppers, but I urge you not to skip this step, as the dry toasting loosens up the oils in the peppers, resulting in richer flavors.
- You'll want this for smoking or grilling up ribs, chicken, pork, shrimp, fish, just about anything you can cook up in the back yard.
Storage & Leftovers
The leftovers can typically last for 1-2 weeks in the refrigerator if stored properly. Just make sure to use an airtight container for it and always check for signs of spoilage before consuming.
Try Some of My Other Popular BBQ Sauce Recipes
Got any questions? Ask away! I’m happy to help. If you enjoy this recipe, I hope you’ll leave a comment with some STARS. Also, please share it on social media. Don’t forget to tag us at #ChiliPepperMadness. I’ll be sure to share! Thanks! — Mike H.
Ancho BBQ Sauce – Recipe
Ingredients
- 5 ancho chili peppers
- 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
- 1 small yellow onion chopped
- 2 teaspoons fresh minced garlic
- 6 ounces tomato paste
- 1/2 cup cider vinegar
- 1/2 cup light brown sugar
- 6 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
- 2 tablespoons molasses
- 1 teaspoon cayenne powder
- 1 teaspoon paprika
- 1 teaspoon ancho chili powder
- ½ teaspoon cumin
- Salt and pepper to taste
- Soaking water or stock for thinning
Instructions
- Dry roast the ancho peppers on a hot pan about 1-2 minutes per side. The peppers will puff slightly and the skins will begin to turn red.
- Set them into a large pot of boiling water and remove from heat. Let them soak covered in water for 30 minutes.
- Remove the stems and coarsely chop the anchos. Reserve the soaking liquid.
- Set the chopped anchos into a food processor.
- Heat the oil in a pan to medium heat and add the onion. Cook about 5 minutes to soften.
- Add the garlic and cook another minute or so, until you can smell the garlic. Add them to the food processor.
- Add the remaining ingredients along with about 1/2 cup of the soaking liquid. Process until it smooths out.
- The sauce will be thick at this point. You can add more soaking liquid to achieve your desired consistency.
- Adjust with salt and pepper, then press the sauce through a coarse strainer into a bowl. I use a wooden spoon to push it through.
- Store in the fridge in an airtight container.
Notes
Nutrition Information
Gordon Roessner says
Excellent flavor and good heat balance from the start.
BettyAnn says
I finally found the recipe that I saw on TV back in the 70's. I made it once and loved it but forgot to write down the recipe. I can't wait to make this with my homegrown tomatoes and have already bought the chillies.
Mike Hultquist says
Nice! I never heard of that one from the 70s, but hopefully this hits the spot for you! Enjoy!
Eric says
I only used 1 tsp of sugar and added a LOT of soaking water to this as it is very thick. Ended up with over a liter of sauce. Using a good blender I found that straining wasn't needed. 🙂
Using more sugar might give better caramelization but we weren't unhappy with that at all.
Michael Hultquist - Chili Pepper Madness says
Glad you enjoyed it, Eric. Thanks for commenting and sharing.
Gimny says
How long will this last in the fridge? Could this recipe be canned?
Michael Hultquist - Chili Pepper Madness says
Gimny, there is quite a bit of vinegar in it so it should last a few weeks in the refrigerator, properly sealed. If you're concerned, add more acid (vinegar or citrus). You can water bath it, but you'd need to check the acidity. 3.5 or lower is best for home preserving. Or use a pressure canner.
Stephanie Raffaele says
I want to start making my own sauces. This just looks too awesome. I want to try this as soon as possible and today to load up on squeeze bottles!
Scott says
Oh man thats good. I didn't have any molasses and I cut down on the sugar a bit but yeah, thats some good sauce!