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Home / Collections / Spices & Seasonings

Browning Sauce

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Author: Imma Published:3/24/2022Updated:3/22/2022
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Browning Sauce – This 3-ingredient sauce recipe is a game-changer to your usual stews, soups, barbecues, and even cakes. It adds a wonderful deep flavor with its lovely combination of sweet and salty and gives your dish a beautiful color. This homemade sauce will surely be your new favorite condiment alongside Worcestershire and Oyster Sauce.

Browning sauce being poured into a pitcher

I used to buy bottles of browning sauce until a friend taught me how to make it from scratch. And how simple this famous Caribbean seasoning is to make will surprise you. I bet you’ll never buy a bottle again after you see how. 😉

Contents…

Recipe Ingredients
How to Make
Recipe Variations
Tips and Tricks
Serving and Storage Instructions
FAQs
Where to Use
More Homemade Sauces to Try
Watch How To Make It

Jamaican Browning Sauce

Caribbeans use this condiment in most of their recipes. Though it’s just water, sugar, and salt, it creates an exceptional flavor when added to any dish. That’s because the sugar’s caramelization produces a richer and deeper flavor than just plain sugar.

In short, you toast the sugar to give our sauce its robust and smoky flavor. Adding a teaspoon or two of this browning sauce is enough to give our dish a flavor boost. However, adding too much will make your finished dish a little bitter. The right amount is a deal-breaker.

Three simple ingredients to make browning sauce

Browning Sauce Recipe Ingredients

Surprisingly, this brown sauce is made with only three pantry staples and is ready in about 15 minutes. Making it from scratch is straightforward, cheaper, and better because it has no unnecessary additives and preservatives. Oh yes!

  • Brown Sugar â€“ Caramelized sugar is so delectable. If you’ve never tried it, try making some flan. But browning it even more adds exciting flavors to our dishes like Jamaican Oxtail Stew. You can also use white sugar to make this; however, it won’t be as dark and rich.
  • Water â€“ Boiling water works best for this recipe because cold water may cause the sugar to clump and harden. Then it’ll be harder to mix and take longer to cook.
  • Salt â€“ A pinch of salt is enough to balance the sweetness of our seasoning and give a hint of saltiness in the background.

How to Make Browning Sauce

Caramelizing the sugar

Caramelize the Sugar

  1. Heat on Low – Heat a small pot over low heat.
  2. Melt the Sugar – Add the brown sugar and stir until the sugar melts. (Photos 1-4)
Boiling water and sugar until it becomes beautifully dark

Boil and Simmer

  1. Add Boiling Water – When the sugar becomes frothy and turns from light brown to dark brown, carefully add boiling water a little at a time while stirring. Do not let the sugar turn too black, as you will end up with bitter-tasting browning sauce. Note: Be very careful when adding the hot water as the sugar may sputter and rise up. (Photos 5-6)
  2. Stir – Keep stirring for about 5 minutes until your sauce is ready. (Photos 7-8)
  3. Allow to Cool and Set Aside – Remove from the heat and set aside to cool.
  4. Use or Store – Use immediately or bottle and store in the fridge.

Recipe Variations

  • Chinese Brown Sauce – This version is more savory because of its rich umami flavors from the oyster sauce, soy sauce, and broth. It also uses cornstarch as a thickener.
  • Spanish Brown Sauce (a.k.a. Espagnole) – The Spanish version is loaded with great flavors from herbs such as thyme and parsley. And fresh veggies, too, like celery, carrots, and tomatoes.

Tips and Tricks

  • Keep the heat on low while cooking our browning sauce to avoid burning the sugar quickly.
  • Please leave the window open and keep the fan on to reduce the accumulation of smoke throughout the house.
  • Add the hot water carefully as the sugar mix may rise and splatter. You may do this in the kitchen sink to avoid messy spills and accidents.
  • If it begins to smoke as it melts before it gets dark enough, lower the heat or remove it from the heat for a bit.
  • If possible, use a nonstick saucepan for easy clean-up.

Serving and Storage Instructions

Aside from adding our Brown Sauce to stewed meat, you can use it to add flavor to grilled meats and give them a beautiful dark brown color. And, surprisingly, it goes great in cakes, too.

The best thing about our homemade Browning Sauce is its long shelf life since sugar and salt are natural preservatives. You can keep your condiment in a clean and dry airtight container, squeeze bottle, or glass bottle, and store it in the fridge from six months to a year.

FAQs

Is browning sauce the same as Worcestershire sauce?

Although these two are similar in appearance and consistency, they are actually two different seasonings. Because browning sauce is water and brown sugar, it tastes similar to molasses. On the other hand, the Worcestershire sauce base is vinegar and spices. It has a rich umami flavor from anchovies and soy sauce and tastes a little sour.

What does browning sauce taste like?

I would describe the taste as slightly bitter (pleasantly so) with a hint of sweet and salty. This is because browning sauce is technically toasted brown sugar, water, and salt.

What does using too much browning sauce do?

Adding too much browning sauce may ruin your finished dish due to its slightly bitter flavor profile. A teaspoon of this seasoning is enough to add flavor to your dishes.

Where to Use Browning Sauce

Our Browning Sauce enhances and deepens the flavor of the sauce and broth of the following dishes.

  • Jamaican Brown Beef Short Ribs Stew
  • Slow Cooker Jamaican Brown Stew Chicken
  • Jamaican Oxtail Stew

This brown gravy also makes excellent flavoring and creates a lovely dark hue to the following desserts.

  • Caribbean Black Cake
  • Jamaican Easter Spiced Bun

More Homemade Sauces to Try

  • Peruvian Green Sauce
  • Enchilada Sauce
  • Peri-Peri Sauce
  • White Pizza Sauce
  • Mustard BBQ Sauce
Finished browning sauce spooned from a bowl

Watch How to Make It

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Browning sauce being poured into a pitcher
Print

Browning Sauce

This 3-ingredient sauce recipe is a game-changer to your usual stews, soups, barbecues, and even cakes. It adds a wonderful deep flavor with its lovely combination of sweet and salty and gives your dish a beautiful color. This homemade sauce will surely be your new favorite condiment alongside Worcestershire and Oyster Sauce.
Makes 1 cup
5 from 1 vote
Prep: 2 mins
Cook: 10 mins
Total: 12 mins
Caribbean, Jamaican
Servings 16

Ingredients

  • 1 cup (200g) brown sugar
  • ¾ cup (6oz) boiling water
  • ½ teaspoon (3g) salt, optional

Instructions

  • Heat a small pot over low heat.
  • Add the brown sugar and stir until the sugar melts.
  • When the sugar becomes frothy and turns from light brown to dark brown, carefully add boiling water a little at a time while stirring. Do not let the sugar turn too black, as you will end up with bitter-tasting browning sauce. Note: Be very careful when adding the hot water as the sugar may sputter and rise up. 
  • Keep stirring for about 5 minutes until your sauce is ready. 
  • Remove from the heat and set aside to cool.
  • Use immediately or bottle and store in the fridge.

Tips & Notes:

  • Keep the heat on low while cooking our browning sauce to avoid burning the sugar quickly.
  • Please leave the window open and keep the fan on to reduce the accumulation of smoke throughout the house.
  • Add the hot water carefully as the sugar mix may rise and splatter. You may do this in the kitchen sink to avoid messy spills and accidents.
  • If it begins to smoke as it melts before it gets dark enough, lower the heat or remove it from the heat for a bit.
  • If possible, use a nonstick saucepan for easy clean-up.
  • Please keep in mind that the nutritional information is a rough estimate and can vary significantly based on the products used in the recipe.

Nutrition Information:

Serving: 10g| Calories: 30kcal (2%)| Carbohydrates: 8g (3%)| Sugar: 6g (7%)
Author: Imma
Course: Condiment, sauce
Cuisine: Caribbean, Jamaican
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Comments & Reviews
  1. Crystal says

    Posted on 3/24 at 11:36AM

    Just like Kitchen Bouquet.
    I will have to try your homemade version. I like that it’s only 3 ingredients. Thank you for sharing

    Reply

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