Maple BBQ Sauce Recipe That Actually Tastes like Maple

The Truth About Maple Ingredients in BBQ Sauces

While this might be borderline sacrilegious to say in New England, real maple syrup does not work well for maple barbecue sauce.

Below is like ~$100 in real maple syrup bought locally from my grocery store.

To list the things I’ve tried:

• Various grades of maple syrup – from Grade A, Pancake Syrup to Grade A, Dark, Robust Last run.
• Fenugreek – this spice contains high amounts of the aroma compound “sotolon” which smells like maple syrup.
• Maple Extract – A concentrated form of maple syrup or “natural flavors” that taste like maple.
• Maple Sugar – Essentially just granulated maple syrup. Typically though the “lighter grades” are used to make maple sugar.
• Maple Sweets or Maple Leaf Candy – Essentially just maple syrup and butter.
• Imitation Syrup – Combination of a number of ingredients like Corn Syrup, Caramel color and artificial flavors.

I think you get the gist.

The only thing that actually lets you taste “maple” is the fake stuff.

Ingredients for Maple Barbecue Sauce

This is my personal recipe for Maple BBQ Sauce:

• 1/2 cup Ketchup (Heinz)
• 1/2 cup Water (regular tap water)
• 6 Tablespoons Dark Brown Sugar
• 6 Tablespoons Pearl Milling Company Maple Syrup
• 1/2 Teaspoon 16 Mesh Black Pepper

The only other ingredient I tend to add is some granulated garlic – around 1-2 tsp at most for a “Maple garlic” flavor.

Combine All the Ingredients, Bring to a Slight Boil, Reduce to a Simmer

Allow to simmer for 10 minutes and then transfer to a mason jar or similar container.

If you want the sauce thicker, simmer longer and stir occasionally.

Why No Vinegar?

So there’s vinegar in the Ketchup – but adding additional vinegar, like say ACV will completely overwhelm the maple flavor.

I’ve tried adding stuff like mustard, white vinegar, malt vinegar, and every time it ends up overwhelming the palette.

Print Pin Recipe

Maple BBQ Sauce

A Maple Barbecue Sauce that Actually Tastes like Maple

Prep Time5 minutes mins

Active Time5 minutes mins

Ingredients

• ▢ 1/2 Cup Heinz Tomato Ketchup
• ▢ 1/2 Cup Water
• ▢ 6 Tbsp Dark Brown Sugar
• ▢ 6 Tbsp Pearl Milling Company Maple Syrup
• ▢ 1/2 Tsp 16 Mesh Black Pepper

Instructions

• Combine ingredients in a medium pot over medium-low heat.
  1/2 Cup Water, 6 Tbsp Pearl Milling Company Maple Syrup, 1/2 Tsp 16 Mesh Black Pepper
• Bring to a slight boil and reduce to a simmer. Simmer for 10 minutes and then transfer to a mason jar or similar container.
• If you want the sauce thicker, simmer for 10 minutes at a time until your desired consistency.

Notes

To reiterate:

Do not add additional vinegar in the form of distilled white vinegar, apple cider vinegar, or mustard. Doing so will completely wash out the maple flavor. 

Other ingredients:

The only other ingredient I tend to add is some granulated garlic – around 1-2 tsp at most for a “Maple garlic” flavor.