DIY Steak Sauce Recipe

The other night, the Accidental Locavore was getting ready for dinner, which was going to be burgers on the grill, when Tasting Table posted a recipe for grilled bacon with steak sauce. Hmm, I thought, why not bacon burgers with steak sauce, so I made a batch of the steak sauce in question, which seems to originate from Peter Luger’s (an extremely overpriced steak house in Brooklyn, if you by some chance haven’t heard of it). Try it now and make it for your Dad on Father’s Day. Here’s my version:

• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• ¼ cup onion, minced (about ½ a small onion)
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• ¼ cup dark brown sugar, packed
• ¼ cup red wine vinegar
• 2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon pepper
• 1 cup tomato sauce
• 2 tablespoons horseradish
• ½ a chipotle (optional)

Heat the olive oil in a small saucepan or sauté pan over medium-low heat. Add the onion and garlic and cook, stirring occasionally, until the onion is soft and translucent, about 15 minutes. Be careful not to brown the onion.

Stir in the brown sugar, vinegar, Worcestershire sauce, salt and pepper. Bring to a simmer and add the tomato sauce. Simmer for 1 minute. Remove from heat and let cool slightly. Add the horseradish and chipotle. Taste and adjust seasonings. Pour into a blender or food processor and process until fairly smooth. Serve and enjoy!

My verdict: This was really good and easy enough to whip up. I thought it was missing a little heat, so I added the chipotle. For some reason, we didn’t have any tomato sauce, so I used a half a can of diced tomatoes with the juice and that worked out fine. I’m sure it’s good over grilled bacon (that’s kind of a no-brainer), but it was also great with the bacon burgers. Later in the weekend we used it as a straight-up steak sauce, and it was a good if unnecessary addition to a beautiful porterhouse from Brykill Farm. We also thought it would be good on hot dogs, or as a marinade/glaze for pork chops (bacon, get it?).

I might be tempted to use apple cider vinegar the next time, but I’m not sure if that would make it too sweet (which was part of the reason for the chipotle — I wanted a little heat and some smokiness).