Refrigerator Leftovers: BBQ Sauce
Article By: Bruce Weinstein and Mark Scarbrough


Before your collection of near-empty BBQ bottles gets bigger, we've got some clever tips on what to do with that last dollop of sauce.

Who doesn't have a bottle of barbecue sauce in the fridge? You know the one: half-empty, caked on sauce around the lid. One of these days, it'll end up in the garbage. But why waste it?

Barbecue sauce is — yep — a sauce. Like a classic one, it too has been reduced, long simmered, and ready to use, all the flavors melded to perfection: a chef's dream right in your fridge. So scrape off the caked bits for food way beyond the ordinary.

1. Toss together a barbecued potato salad, adding 1/4 cup barbecue sauce to your favorite recipe. Or just mix it into store-bought potato salad for a new twist on a favorite summer treat.

2. Skip the ketchup! Use the sauce on burgers and dogs. Or try it in your favorite wrap or on a turkey club. For even more flavor on your sandwich, mix barbecue sauce in equal parts with nose-spanking Dijon mustard.

3. Give your favorite chile recipe a douse of barbecue flavor. Use it to substitute for the tomato paste or ketchup — or for 1/4 cup of the broth or canned tomatoes.

4. Want to wake up your breakfast? Try barbecue sauce on eggs: scrambled, poached, fried — or even as a topper for an omelet. Pour on a couple tablespoons and that breakfast won't know what hit it.

5. Don't think pasteurized egg substitutes are as tasty in the morning as real scrambleds? Add a little barbecue sauce and you'll never know the difference.

6. OK, even in the summer corn can get boring. So skip and slather barbecue sauce on those ears instead.

7. Push that corn even farther! Toss together an easy grilled corn salad by heating up six ears for five minutes, then cutting the kernels off the cobs, adding a little diced red onion and celery, and tossing with two tablespoons each barbecue sauce and fat-free mayonnaise.

8. Want a Western side with your next piece of steak or chicken? Put two tablespoons barbecue sauce and one tablespoon fat-free sour cream on that baked potato.

9. Forget fussy drawn butter. Barbecue sauce is the perfect dip for cocktail shrimp, lobster tails or crab claws. Fiery and tangy barbecue sauce with sweet and salty shellfish? A match made in heaven.

10. Whisk together a little with mayonnaise and pickle relish for a new take on Thousand Island Dressing. Drizzle it over a wedge of iceberg lettuce for a tangy side dish at any meal.

11. Whip up pulled chicken for dinner some night. Place one cup chicken broth and one cup barbecue sauce in a pan; add 6 skinless, bone-in thighs. Simmer very slowly, covered, for 1 1/2 hours; then shred the meat off the bones and into the sauce. Serve on whole-wheat buns with chopped lettuce and tomatoes.

12. Fire up a barbecued pizza. Take a store-bought crust, top it with two tablespoons shredded smoked mozzarella, 1 cup chopped-up rotisserie chicken, and a 10-ounce bag of frozen mixed vegetables. Dab liberally with barbecue sauce and set in a baking sheet over high heat on the grill or in a 400°F oven for about 20 minutes or until the cheese is bubbling.

13. Barbecue sauce can push even the blandest vegetables a real treat. Drizzle some over the top, and even you might like steamed Brussels sprouts or grilled summer squash.

14. Trying to impress someone on a second date? Place a boneless skinless chicken breast or a fish fillet on a large piece of aluminum foil along with some lots of vegetables like artichoke hearts, zucchini, and red onion. Top with a little barbecue sauce, seal the foil into a the packet, and set over high heat on the grill until the meat is done, about 15 minutes.

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