This apple butter barbecue sauce is a quick, homemade substitute for store bought versions. Try it on meatloaf or use it to braise meat in the slow cooker.
Back in the Fall, I did a little project with the folks at All-Clad, in which they sent me the NS1 Chef’s Pan from their their new line of NS1 Nonstick Induction cookware and I used it to make a batch of really delicious batch of Kabocha Squash, Coconut, and Wild Rice Stew.
In March, I did it again. That time, they sent me an NS1 Stock Pot and I make a pot of roasted tomato and basil soup to brighten up a cold winter day.
I always enjoy these cookware challenges because they give me opportunities to play with a really fabulous pans and push myself outside my regular culinary patterns. So, when they got in touch again back in April and asked if I might want to do it again, this time with their d5 Stainless Steel All-In-One Pan, I said yes.
The particular challenge with this piece of cookware was to design a recipe that only used five ingredients, to mimic the five layers of metal that makes up the pan. I decided on building a five ingredient barbecue sauce, using a jar of apple butter as the base.
The result was a tasty, tangy, spicy sauce that is perfect for summer cookouts and slow cooker pulled pork. And it’s always useful to be able to make a sauce like this from scratch with pantry ingredients for those times when you don’t have any ready made in the pantry.
To make the sauce, you combine a pint of apple butter with apple cider vinegar, finely chopped onion, honey, and a couple heaping spoonfuls of gochugang in the pan and cook until it is thick and the onion is tender (also, add some salt and pepper to taste).
I like to scrape the finished sauce into a large measuring cup and zap it with an immersion blender to smooth it out, but that’s totally optional.
As you can see, I also used the pan to roast off some chicken legs that I then painted with my tangy sauce. I’d also use this sauce on top of turkey meatloaf, on grilled burgers, and will happily combine it with some chicken thighs in the slow cooker for pulled chicken sandwiches.
Disclosure: All-Clad sent me the pan you see pictured above and they’re provided a giveaway unit, both at no cost to me. No additional compensation was provided.
Apple Butter Barbecue Sauce
Ingredients
- 1 pint apple butter
- 1 cup apple cider vinegar
- 1 small onion finely chopped (I use a mini food processor)
- 1/2 cup honey
- 2-3 heaping tablespoons gochugaru it’s a fermented Korean chili paste
- salt and pepper to taste
Instructions
- Combine the apple butter, vinegar, chopped onion, honey, and gochugaru in a low, wide pan.
- Set the heat to medium and bring to a simmer. Cook, stirring regularly, until onions are soft.
- Taste and add salt and pepper to taste.
- Scrape sauce into a deep measuring cup or bowl and puree it with an immersion blender until smooth.
- Funnel into a jar and refrigerate.
Oh man, I would cook everything in this pot! It looks fantastic!
The sauce sounds great with some homemade veggie burgers!
I would use it to make some of that yummy bbq sauce!
I would use the pan for a batch of peach preserves! Yum
What wouldn’t I use this pan for?! I love All-Clad’s D5 series.
I’d use the pan to make an extra big batch of homemade mac and cheese for one last rainy spring day.
The pot is nice and wide. Just perfect for a batch of strawberry jam.
I would try that sauce on turkey burgers. I think they would partner well together.
I love this bbq sauce idea…. I would serve it with pork tenderloin.
I would love to try the sauce on meatballs- stuff them in some naan with some red cabbage slaw. Perfect summer meal paired with an ice cold IPA.
I’d use the pan for one pan dinners one week nights. I can see this being a favorite pan, for sure! Thanks for the giveaway!
I love the idea of putting that sauce on turkey meatloaf. Yum.
Oh my! I’d put that sauce on any grilled meat. Chicken, chops, ribs…….mmmmmm
I love this barbecue sauce recipe! I’d use it just for simple shredded crockpot chicken. We love to make a salad out of that.
Mexican Pot Roast would be my first try!
chicken cacciatore or coq au vin
Yes I would make a chicken dish too—all slathered in the bbq sauce
. During the canning season I could use it as a water bath pot
I feel like I would use this pan for just about everything!
Barbecue sauce would be great on smoked brisket or pork.
I would make some Chicken Tikka Masala!
Everything from apple sauce to chili to fried potatoes to lentil soup. This pan has no boundaries!
Looks like a super useful pan—and a delicious barbecue sauce! I’d try the sauce on ribs. Thanks for the opportunity to win!
Looks like a super useful pan—and a delicious barbecue sauce! I’d try the sauce on ribs. Thanks for the opportunity to win!
I’d put it on ribs that I smoked out on the grill.
I would make pasta sauce and throw the pasta into the pan to finish it with pasta water and make the dish come together! Such a beautiful pan!
Chicken curry!
We raise Ossabaw pigs and the pork is wonderful! I would use this sauce to make pulled pork- one of our favorite meals 🙂
I would make some sticky chicken with a grease gravy.
The sauce sounds heavenly! My husband loves apple butter (: First, I’ll try it on pork. Yum!!
Rhubarb compote!
The barbecue sauce sounds lovely. I’d marinate tofu or tempeh and then grill or broil it. The all clad pan would be useful for lots of different kitchen tasks – except frying an egg!
I would probably put the BBQ sauce on pork chops (my favorite grilled meat!!!) and use the pan for jellies and such. Send it to me!
I’d probably use that for a lot of different things, but I would definitely do a batch of mattar tofu in it. It’s the perfect size for that.
I would use the pan to make the barbecue sauce! Looks yummy!
The sauce sounds phenomenal and we would definitely use it on a smoked boston butt. The pan on the other hand would be pressed into service in a variety of ways in my kitchen. It would be an awesome opportunity to try out such a high quality piece!
The BBQ sauce sounds a bit sweet for us but I’d love to use the all-in-one pan for kale with poached eggs or my kids favorite meal – – Brick (eggs in a parsley bed with onions wrapped in an eggroll wrapper then fried in about 2″ of oil)
With it’s sweet-hot flavors, Korean chili paste is the perfect base for barbecue sauce—what a great idea! I plan to try this recipe on seitan strips!
I would try this barbeque sauce with turkey thighs. Any substitues for the gochugaru?
I would use the barbecue sauce for pork chops, putting it on before finishing them in the oven so that it would get nice and caramelized.
I used to make pretty much everything in my similar pan. Including caramel popcorn, which ended up being the end of that pan, thanks to the boyfriend. The All-clad one would be a great replacement (and no boyfriend allowed near it!).
Wouldn’t this be the perfect pot to reduce a no-pectin marmalade to the right thickness and texture? Or finish off some homemade ketchup to a rich consistency? Oh, wait! It has to be slow cooked Panang Curry.
I bet that sauce would be delicious on salmon. The pan would do a fine job of cooking it too!
i would try the bbq sauce on some veggie burgers to make them a little more exciting.
Making stock would be at the top of my list.
It’s narrow minded of me but I would use that sauce on pork. Yum. I’m going to try and make it with apple sauce.
I’d make chicken picatta in that beautiful pan, and then slow cook a pork shoulder with that Delicious bbq sauce.
I would love to try this barbecue sauce recipe with my Maple Bourbon Apple Butter, and put it on slow cooker pulled pork.
Is bathing in that beautiful sauce an option? No, really, I’d put it on almost everything, and, in fact, have some homemade apple butter that could go into a batch tonight!
I would love to try the sauce on chicken thighs, grilled on the bbq.
I’d definitely make chicken thighs with artichokes lemon and capers. A family favorite.