Sauces

BBQ sauce is a flavoring sauce used as a marinade, basting (cooking) or topping for meat cooked in the barbecue cooking style, including pork or beef ribs and chicken.

The ingredients vary widely, but most include some variation on vinegar and/or tomato paste as a base, as well as liquid smoke, spices such as mustard and black pepper, and sweeteners such as sugar or molasses.

The most common BBQ sauce in the U.S. is a Kansas City-style sauce, which uses tomato puree, corn syrup, molasses and vinegar and has a long shelf life.