Our favorite sauce for smoked ribs


 

JohnInPA

New member
This is not my recipe, must give credit to a 1980's Better Homes & Gardens grill cookbook, but this is my family's favorite sauce for ribs. Can't say it's a particular style (KC, Memphis, Carolina, etc.) but it is so good on ribs you won't believe it. Glaze 'em and pass more at the table. Part of the attraction is the ease, no spices to measure, just grab the commercial ingredients and mix.

The downside to that, is it's more expensive using commercial products than scratch-made, but ribs are a special day anyway, so splurge a little. Hope you like this.

  • 12 oz. Bottle Heinz chili sauce (1 cup)
  • 9 oz jar Crosse & Blackwell's Major Grey's Mango Chutney
  • 10 oz bottle A-1 Steak Sauce (1/2 cup)
  • 1/4 cup Worchestershire sauce

Pour ingredients into saucepan, pour Worchestershire sauce through all bottles and shake to get the most of the ingredients. Simmer on low heat to blend flavors for about 15 minutes. Put in blender and blend till smooth. Cool.

Glaze ribs near end of cooking once, as per normal. Pass sauce with ribs at table. Get rave reviews! Works well with chicken, too! Not so much on beef, IMO.
If you like a little heat, there is a "hot" version of the mango chutney you can use.

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John, I usually don't print out recipes here that call for store-bought stuff that you posted, BUT, I made an exception this time, #1 because I love mangos and #2 I am from Pa. myself. Born in Essington. 🥰
 
I'm telling you, I had that cookbook for decades, and when I was making ribs on the weber with a Smokenator, then with a Slow 'n Sear, and now with a Pit Barrel Cooker, I'd play with sauces found on the Internet, Meathead's book, competition writeups, you name it. My kids, now 30 and 34 years old, kept saying, "Dad, quit goofing around with sauces when you make ribs! Do that with pulled pork, brisket, chicken, whatever, but when you make ribs, PLEASE use the sauce with the mango chutney!"

I finally quite using anything else when I make ribs. And yes, it feels like cheating in a way, and it's not cheap, but OMG, it is good. Try it, you'll be glad you did. I can't find that cookbook to save my life, thought it was in my bookshelf. Thankfully, I have this one in OneNote.

And no matter how hard I try, I cannot come up with something from scratch that comes close. It's probably the A-1 Steak sauce (and the chutney). Once you get those, may as well use the chili sauce and Worcester, common ingredients in scratch BBQ sauce. But you need the A-1 and mango chutney to make this work.
 
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I have used a sauce recipe from Joy of Cooking that uses Heinz Chilli Sauce as a base. My family loves it and wants only it when I use a sauce.
 

 

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