There are a whole range of soft-drink based barbecue sauces in the land of ‘Que.  I first created this sauce using Cheerwine which is the regional soft drink of my home state of North Carolina. The unique cherry-cola drink gives the sauce an edge over most basic sweet barbecue sauces.  Because Cheerwine is hard to find outside of North Carolina, I often make this sauce with Dr. Pepper and it is just as addicting.  The subtle spicy sweet flavor mixed with apple cider vinegar gives it the perfect sweet and acidic balance for a range of foods and is an unexpected flavor-bomb brushed on to cedar-planked salmon! 

Makes about 2 cups

1 large sweet onion, chopped

4 cloves garlic, grated on a Microplane

4 tablespoons unsalted butter1 cup Heinz ketchup

3 tablespoons tomato paste

1 12 oz. bottle sugar-sweetened Dr. Pepper brand soft-drink (about 1 ¾ cups)

½   cup apple-cider vinegar

⅓   cup Worcestershire sauce

½ cup firmly packed dark brown sugar

2 teaspoons ground ancho chile powder or New Mexican chile powder

1 teaspoon white pepper

1 teaspoon kosher salt

Melt the butter in a heavy saucepan.  Sauté onion and garlic in the butter until translucent, about 10 minutes.   

Add the remaining ingredients and simmer for about 15 minutes until the flavors have blended.  Continue cooking until the sauce begins to thicken, about 20-30 minutes. Taste and adjust seasonings with salt and freshly ground black pepper.   Remember, the food will be seasoned, so don’t over-season the sauce.

Let the sauce cool for about 10 minutes or until it is warm but no longer “boiling” hot.  

Puree with an immersion or traditional blender.  Let cool and pour into a clean glass jar for storing. 

The sauce can be made in advance and kept for 2 weeks in the refrigerator.