You Should Try Adding Tequila To Your BBQ Sauce. Here's Why

You may think of tequila only in terms of cocktails and mixed drinks, but the truth is that it's a pretty magical ingredient in other food, too. Aside from making your drinks extra tasty and your pie crusts extra flaky, tequila is also the secret to the best barbecue sauce. According to Taste of Home, adding tequila is a surefire way to add depth of flavor to any barbecue sauce recipe, whether it be sweet and tangy, thick and spicy, Texas, or Kansas-style.

If you're worried about your ribs or chicken tasting too margarita-like, rest assured the tequila's smooth, rich flavor only serves to complement the spices of the BBQ sauce. Much like the sauce for pasta alla vodka, the strong alcohol taste will cook down and evaporate, leaving behind a robust flavor profile. For best results, Taste of Home suggests Jose Cuervo Especial Silver Tequila, or anything bold enough to not be overpowered by the barbecue sauce, with the obvious exception of flavored tequila.

If you're planning to use tequila in your barbecue sauce, Guy Fieri recommends making the sauce from scratch. According to the celebrity chef's recipe shared by Food Network, the process starts off as most recipes traditionally do, by heating tomato paste, brown sugar, and molasses in a saucepan. But instead of moving on to add the spices and seasonings, you'll first add the tequila and allow it to simmer.

Fieri's BBQ sauce calls for half a cup of white tequila per 6-ounce can of tomato paste, but if you're not making homemade sauce, it's just as easy of a ratio when using the store bought kind. As per Taste of Home's instructions, simply measure out two cups of the barbecue sauce of your liking and add no more than 2 to 4 tablespoons of tequila. Simmer it all together until the sauce reaches your desired consistency, and it's ready to be slathered on your favorite barbecued dishes.