The ingredients in this sauce are an unlikely pairing. But the taste is sure to surprise you! It’s sweet, tangy and delicious. Use on barbecue ribs, hamburgers, little smokies, and more.

We love recipes that bring back good memories. This is one of them! Our Dad stumbled upon this 2 ingredient barbecue sauce 20+ years ago while barbecuing in our hometown in eastern Montana. We ran out of barbecue sauce and decided to try mixing a few ingredients from the fridge.

We use this sauce for many different types of meat. Our favorite is my Dad’s barbecue ribs. They are a summertime favorite on the grill—and they are so good when you caramelize the sauce.

Barbecue ribs are also a Christmas Eve tradition (along with lutefisk, but we won’t go there yet :)). Boiled, covered in sauce, and baked in the oven. Served with baked potatoes, pineapple-carrot lemon-lime jello salad, and lefse.

Ingredients

Heinz Ketchup
Western Salad Dressing
Lemon juice and black pepper – optional

How to Make 2 Ingredient Barbecue Sauce

The Western Salad Dressing is sometimes hard to find. We can find it in grocery stores in North Dakota, but not in Montana. So, we normally order it from Amazon.

The recipe is super simple: combine 1 part of Heinz ketchup with 1 part of Western dressing. Change the amount based on the dish you are making.

If you’re making little smokies for an appetizer, you might use 1/2 cup of ketchup and 1/2 cup of dressing. However, for ribs, you’ll want to use more.

Lemon juice and black pepper are optional. However, lemon juice will help caramelize the sauce. SaveSave

Ways to Use This Sauce

Here are a few of our favorite ways to use this barbecue sauce.

Barbecue Ribs

Grilled Hamburgers

Barbecue Smokies