How to Make Cannabis-Infused Sauce

Cannabis-infused sauce is a finished sauce, usually tomato, butter, oil, or hot sauce based, that carries activated cannabinoids from decarboxylated flower, infused butter or oil, or a measured CBD distillate. You make it in two stages: infuse a fat with activated cannabis, then fold that fat into a cooked sauce after the sauce comes off the heat so the cannabinoids do not break down. Cannabinoids are fat soluble, not water soluble, so a water-based sauce needs an emulsifier such as sunflower lecithin to hold them in suspension.

Cannabis Butter: How to Decarb and Infuse It at Home

What You Need

  • Hemp or cannabis flower, or a measured CBD or THC distillate
  • Unsalted butter, olive oil, or another cooking fat
  • Baking sheet, parchment, kitchen scale, grinder
  • Slow cooker or double boiler, thermometer
  • Cheesecloth or fine mesh strainer, clean glass jar
  • Sunflower lecithin for water-based sauces

Steps

  1. Heat the oven to 240 degrees F and spread ground flower in a single layer on a parchment-lined baking sheet.
  2. Bake for 40 minutes to decarboxylate, which converts THCA and CBDA into their active forms.
  3. Weigh the cooled, decarbed flower on a kitchen scale and write the number down.
  4. Melt 1 cup of butter or oil in a slow cooker or double boiler and add the flower.
  5. Hold the fat between 160 and 180 degrees F for 2 to 3 hours, stirring every 30 minutes.
  6. Line a strainer with cheesecloth and pour the mixture through into a clean jar.
  7. Press the plant solids against the cloth to recover the remaining fat.
  8. Measure the volume of infused fat you ended up with, since this sets your dose math.
  9. Cook your tomato, barbecue, or hot sauce base as you normally would.
  10. Pull the sauce off the heat and let it drop below 180 degrees F.
  11. Whisk the measured infused butter or oil into the warm sauce until it disappears.
  12. For a water-based sauce, whisk in about 1 teaspoon of sunflower lecithin per cup and blend.
  13. Portion the sauce into jars and label each with the date and milligrams per serving.

Dosing the Sauce

Divide the total cannabinoid content of your infused fat by the number of servings the recipe makes. If your jar holds roughly 200 mg of CBD and the sauce yields 10 servings, each serving carries about 20 mg. For THC, start at 1 to 2.5 mg per serving and wait a full 2 hours before eating more, because edible onset is delayed and easy to overshoot. CBD dosing varies by person and reason for use, so keep servings small and adjust over several days.

cannabis dressing

Storage and Safety

  • Refrigerate the sauce in a sealed jar for up to 5 days.
  • Freeze portions for up to 3 months and thaw in the refrigerator.
  • Keep the jar labeled and out of reach of children and pets.
  • Avoid driving after a THC serving and do not stack it with alcohol.
  • Check with a pharmacist before combining CBD with prescription drugs, since it can alter how some medications clear.