Many a war has been waged over BBQ sauce…the battle between mustard-based, vinegar-based and tomato-based is long-standing. Here in the south, BBQ sauce is taken very seriously. Everybody has an opinion…and so do we (surprised?? Didn’t think so….)

To be quite frank, we appreciate and enjoy all versions of this fabled sauce…but when making our own, we rely on two recipes…one that is simple and the other that is even simpler. We will be BBQ sauce plentiful for Memorial Day and think these are great for y’all’s grilling choices too!

We have had a long-standing loyalty to Ina Garten’s barbecue sauce. Her recipe is easy, plentiful and delicious, but requires a fair number of ingredients. Link to recipe here.

Now that brings us to recipe number two…which doesn’t hale from the south either (Ina’s a yankee, right?…and we mean that in the kindest way possible…bless her heart). Back in California, where one belle was raised, “barbecuing” means grilling. The closest we got to barbecue was the sauce….on ribs, on chicken and tri-tip…but California belle has since made up for it and is quite BBQ savvy. Anyway, back to sauce…the matriarch of the California belle family created an extremely simple, quick and tasty BBQ sauce. One that, dare we say, rivals top-rated recipes. It’s so good you could eat it with a spoon, but will want to eat it with a ladle! Perhaps that grandmother had a few southern charms up her sleeves?!?!

Grandmother’s barbecue sauce

3/4 cup ketchup
1/4 cup water
2 tablespoons vinegar (white or apple cider)
2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon paprika
1 teaspoon chili powder
1 clove garlic minced
1 teaspoon cayenne

Combine all ingredients and heat.

We don’t have pictures of the process because it’s just dump and pour. We do have a picture of the finished product. That is, a picture of what was left when we left the room for five minutes!!

North and South may still continue to to fight the fight….but these belles are bettin’ this sauce is how the West was won!!!

a&a