Root Beer Barbecue Sauce

Mmm, root beer. How many wish it came in more forms than just a drink or the occasional candy or sometimes even ice cream? And how many of you love to grill ribs?

Here’s something I put together in a bid to infuse the essential herbaciousness of the root beer into a barbecue sauce in preparation for some smack-down ribs (recipe to follow).

My issue with store bought sauces is that they’re packed with a tonne of nasties, artificial this-and-that, and are loaded with unnecessary sodium that passes for ‘flavour.’ This is a stupidly easy recipe that anyone can make — my only suggestion is that in consideration of the fact that you’re making a ‘healthy’ bbq sauce here that is free of nasties, buy an all-natural root beer soda like Virgil’s that is free of artificial flavours and ingredients like sodium benzoate (what the hell? that sounds like salt and gasoline). Virgil’s is available across Canada and the US in many higher quality super markets (e.g. Whole Foods, Trader Joe’s, or Farm Boy here in Ottawa) as well as health and speciality food stores. Enjoy and simply freeze in smaller servings any extra sauce you don’t use.

Serve with Barbecued Pork Ribs with Root Beer Sauce and Baked Apples.

Prep time: N/A
Cook time: 20 minutes
Total time: 20 minutes
Servings: Enough for 4-6 racks of ribs or whatever else you’re grilling

Root Beer Barbecue Sauce

INGREDIENTS:

1 bottle (355mL / 12 ounces) natural root beer
1 can tomato paste (156mL / 5.5 ounces)
½ teaspoon garlic powder
½ teaspoon of onion powder
½ teaspoon of onion powder
½ teaspoon of chile powder
¼ teaspoon of ground cumin
¼ teaspoon of chile paste
→ or a pinch of chile flakes instead
3 tablespoons of agave syrup
1 teaspoon of salt (to taste)

DIRECTIONS:

Pour root beer into a shallow-bottom sauce pan and lightly boil until reduced by roughly half and about 2/3 cup remains (about 10 minutes).
→ Note: Using a shallow bottomed pan will speed up the reduction.
Stir in the tomato paste until all is incorporated. Add all the spices stir.
Lightly simmer for another 10 minutes. Taste for sweetness (agave) and salt and adjust to your taste.
Remove from heat and you’re done.

Note: Even though I’ve used dried spices to provide a longer shelf-life, because this has fresh tomato paste and no preservatives in it, this sauce will only keep refrigerated for about 3 days. Therefore, freeze any extra sauce for a later time.