Battle Bland BBQ Sauce With Chopped Pickles To Give You A Tasty Upper Hand

Store bought barbecue sauce can be hit or miss. Maybe it's lacking flavor or maybe it's too sweet — whatever the case, it can put a damper on your barbecue plans when the bottled sauce is just not that good. Or, sometimes, homemade barbecue sauce just doesn't turn out as delicious as you expected. Whatever the circumstance, bland barbecue sauce can be salvaged in a number of ways, including adding in an unexpected ingredient: Chopped pickles.

It may sound a little out there, but trust us, it's as tasty as can be. If the sauce is too sweet, the salty tanginess from the pickles helps balance that out. Or, if the problem is just a lack of flavor, the pickles can help that too by amping up acidity in the sauce, making it much more dynamic and complex.

Chopped pickles also make the texture a bit more interesting and unexpected — much different from the smooth barbecue sauce that you're used to. The unique texture provided by those chopped up pickles could really make your barbecue sauce stand out as a condiment. Or, if you want to keep the smooth consistency, you can use a food processor or immersion blender to blend the chopped pickles directly into the sauce.

First things first, choose a type of pickle — there's a lot to know about pickles, including how they differ from one another in taste. If you're looking for an herby, tangy, salty taste to add to your sauce, then you can't go wrong with dill pickles. If you find that your barbecue sauce is too sweet or just lacks flavor, dill pickles are likely the way to go. (Garlic dill pickles would also work.)

If the problem with the sauce is something else, like a lack of sweetness or it's too spicy, then sweet pickles would work. Either bread and butter pickles, which still have some saltiness and tanginess or candied pickles, which are very sweet. Then, there are sour pickles, which may not be the best choice for using in barbecue sauce because the sour nature may be a bit too overpowering.  

When it comes to combining the two ingredients, it really depends on personal preference, but try about a ½ cup of chopped pickles for every cup of barbecue sauce. This ratio will make the sauce super chunky, with the pickle's crunchy texture and flavor at the forefront. If you want the sauce a bit less chunky, lessen the amount to a ¼ cup of chopped pickles to each cup of sauce. The next time you're faced with bland barbecue sauce, don't worry, as you likely have the solution already in your fridge or pantry!