My Dry Rub and Red Wine Barbecue Sauce Recipes

When barbecue season arrives you have to have a few go-to tools on your culinary tool belt. I have my dry-rub prepared and ready to go in my pantry as well as my favorite barbecue sauce in a jar in the refrigerator. When you have a great dry rub and sauce ready to go dinner can be made in a flash.

Here are my recipes developed over years of tweaking. You should feel free to tweak these recipes to fit your taste.

My House Dry Rub

• 1/2 cup smoked paprika
• 1/4 cup fine sea salt
• 1/4 cup brown sugar
• 1/4 cup ground chipotle ground (powder)
• 1/4 cup ground ancho ground (powder)
• 1/4 cup ground pasilla ground (powder)
• 2 tablespoons coriander
• 2 tablespoons cumin
• 2 tablespoons black pepper
• 1 tablespoon yellow mustard seed ground
• 1 tablespoon brown mustard seed ground
• 1 tablespoon ground ginger
• 1 tablespoon ground allspice

Mix well and store in an airtight container. This batch will cover many racks of ribs and can be used with chicken, beef, and pork chops.

Red Wine Barbecue Sauce

• 1 teaspoon allspice fresh ground
• 1 teaspoon cumin fresh ground
• 1 teaspoon yellow mustard seed fresh ground
• 2 cloves garlic – crushed
• 2 tablespoons canola oil
• 1/4 teaspoon ground chipotle
• 2.5 cups Red Wine (Zinfandel or Côtes du Rhône are good choices)
• 6 ounces tomato paste
• 1/2 cup honey
• 1 oz. apple cider vinegar
• salt and pepper

Heat the oil in the pot and add the first three ingredients lightly toasting until fragrant. Next add the garlic and cook for a minute. Add the ground chipotle stirring to combine and then quickly add the wine. (Do not use a tannic wine like Cabernet.) Reduce the wine by nearly half and then add the remaining ingredients cooking for five minutes on a low simmer stirring occasionally. Season with salt and pepper. This sauce will keep in your refrigerator for several weeks.