Simple, satisfying 3-ingredient barbecue sauces

By Steven Raichlen, The New York Times

Traditional American barbecue sauces have always had an air of mystery. The lengthy ingredient lists. The complex flavors. The secrecy surrounding the recipe. The mythical pitmasters who vow to take their formulas to the grave.

So the notion of a barbecue sauce that contains only three ingredients smacks of heresy — even more so when you can assemble it in a matter of minutes. But there are precedents in regional American barbecue. Each of these recipes requires just three ingredients (not counting salt and pepper), and all will take your barbecue far beyond the sweet tomato-based condiment most of us call barbecue sauce.

“Vinegar sauce is the original American barbecue sauce,” said John Shelton Reed, author of “On Barbecue.” While a watery mix of cider vinegar, red pepper flakes, and salt and pepper may not seem like barbecue sauce to most Americans, North Carolina-style pulled pork just wouldn’t ...