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I’ve mentioned once or twice that my family has the Dr Pepper gene, right?
Although most of us will drink any Dr Pepper that we can find we crave the pure, sweet-spicy, old fashioned flavor of, what we call in Texas, “The Real Stuff” made with Imperial cane sugar and created in a tiny bottling company in Dublin, Texas. The only one that didn’t sell out to the Corn Syrup Gods in the 1980s. We know our Dr Pepper around here.
Sadly, the corporation that owns Dr Pepper recently hit the little guys in Dublin with a law suit… and switched them over to the Dark Side. You can’t even find the Dublin Dr Pepper Museum webpage anymore. (This update was added in 2012)
When I was looking at Dr Pepper BBQ sauce recipes on the web I noticed a couple of things.
- Most of them had catsup as an ingredients.
- None of them really were going to have the sweet spicy Dr Pepper flavor I was looking for.
So, I decided just to start opening cans and pouring. And the result? Sweet, spicy, and a definite Dr Pepper flavor with a kick. This is a sweet BBQ sauce, no doubt about it but when it is finished and ladled over a fork tender piece of brisket you have a real somethin’ somethin’ that you want to put in your mouth. In fact, I think that I could pretty much live on this stuff.
The secret is slow cooking the sauce over low heat and letting it reduce. It intensifies the flavor until you just can’t believe how good this is. Use it on beef, pork, chicken, salmon, or burgers… And prepare for your kitchen to smell amazing.
You can use my favorite brisket recipe to recreate this amazing dish. It is just so good… Make it once and you’d better hope your local grocer puts briskets on sale regularly.
You might also like my Dr Pepper glaze for grilling. It is not BBQ-ey at all… just a sweet, spicy glaze that is oh-so-yummy on chicken or …
Summary: Sweet and spicy sauce with the distinct flavor of Dr Pepper
Ingredients
- 4 cans Dr Pepper (48 ounces)
- 1 c chopped onion
- 1 15 oz can tomato sauce
- 3 cloves garlic, peeled and chopped
- 1/2 c balsamic vinegar
- 1/2 c brown sugar
- 1 to 2 tbs Sriracha or 1 tsp hot sauce (or to taste)
- 1 tsp liquid smoke
Instructions
- Put all ingredients in a heavy saucepan and simmer until liquid is reduced to about 4 c.
- Blend ingredients in a blender.
- Taste and adjust seasonings.
- Simmer until sauce is reduced to about 3 cups.
Notes:
You can substitute root beer for the Dr Pepper, 1 dried chipotle chile for the srircha, if you like.
Images: (c) Marye Audet 2011
Nice! Now I’m hungry, we’re in the middle of a string of huge storms so I can’t get to the store and I’m so sad. This looks so delicious!
Umm… It gives you something to look forward to?
Marye…. I love you…..
<3 U too Monica….. you weirdo.
Interesting. I would definitely would give your version a try.
Ben…. Let me know how it goes!
My husband loves any and all BBQ sauce, definitely going to have to try this on him!
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Hey, thanks for the recipe!
Im going to try this one out tomorrow.
Coming from Australia, I’m a bit confused about what you mean by tomato sauce – ketchup or crushed tomatoes/sugo?
Thanks heaps!
tomato sauce is basically pureed, strained tomatoes