You make cannabis sauce by whisking cannabutter or canna-oil into a warm sauce base until the fat blends in. The fat carries the THC, so each spoonful doses as long as you know the potency of your butter. Marinara, cheese sauce, gravy, garlic aioli, and honey mustard all handle cannabis fat well.

Ultimate Guide to Cannabis Sauce: A Comprehensive Review

One warning before you start: "cannabis sauce" also names a THC concentrate, a terpene-rich liquid that separates from THCA crystals in live resin. This guide covers the kitchen version first, then explains the dab version.

related article

What are the two kinds of cannabis sauce?

If you want a sauce for pasta or wings, you want the first one. If you saw "sauce" on a dispensary menu and want to know what it is, you want the second.

Cannabis Sauce Price Per Gram: What You'll Pay

What you need to make cannabis sauce

Step 1: Decarb the cannabis

Raw cannabis holds THCA, which does not get you high. Heat converts THCA into THC. Break the flower into small pieces, spread it on a baking sheet, and bake at 230°F for 30 to 45 minutes. The flower should smell toasted, not burnt.

Cannabis Sauce for Sale Online: A Buying Guide

Step 2: Infuse the fat

Melt one cup of butter or oil with 7 to 10 grams of decarbed flower in a saucepan or double boiler. Hold it at 160 to 180°F for 2 to 3 hours, stirring now and then. Higher heat burns the butter and cooks off terpenes.

Strain the mix through cheesecloth into a jar. Squeeze the plant material to get the rest of the fat out. Label the jar with the date and how much flower you used.

Step 3: Build the sauce

Cook your sauce the way you always do, then kill the heat. Fat-based sauces take cannabis butter at any point. Water-based sauces need the fat added at the end so the sauce does not split.

Step 4: Add the cannabis fat

Whisk the cannabutter in off the heat, one tablespoon at a time. Keep the pan under 300°F from here on. Boiling or frying above that point burns off THC and turns the flavor bitter.

Step 5: Taste, dose, and store

Eat a small test portion and wait two hours before you judge the strength. Store the sauce in a sealed container in the fridge and finish it within 3 to 5 days, or freeze it for later.

How do you dose cannabis sauce?

Dosing depends on the THC in your butter, not on how much sauce lands on the plate. Two formulas cover most home kitchens.

Using that example: 7 grams of 20% flower comes to about 1050 mg THC across 16 tablespoons, or about 65 mg per tablespoon. That is a large dose for most people.

New users should stay near 2.5 mg and regular users near 5 to 10 mg per serving. A quarter teaspoon of that butter is about 5 mg. Measure before you pour, not after.

Which sauces work best with cannabis?

Which sauces should you avoid?

Skip fat-free bases such as clear broths, vinegar-heavy hot sauces, and salsas, because THC needs fat to dissolve. Avoid long simmers at a hard boil, which cut potency and add a grassy taste. Cold sauces work with a cannabis tincture or infused oil instead of butter.

What is THC sauce concentrate, and can you make it at home?

Sauce concentrate is a dab product, not a cooking ingredient. It forms when live resin separates into two parts: THCA crystals and a liquid pool of terpenes and THC. Producers make it with closed-loop hydrocarbon equipment under state license, which is not a kitchen project.

Home versions exist. Hash makers press rosin and warm-cure it at 90 to 120°F for a day or more, which lets THCA crystals drop out of the terpene layer. That jar, called rosin jam or rosin sauce, holds more flavor than most other concentrates, so it sells at a premium in legal stores.

How do you store cannabis sauce?

Label every jar with the dose per serving. A sauce that looks like any other jar in the fridge is a common cause of an accidental heavy dose.

Frequently asked questions

How much cannabutter goes into one serving of sauce?

Start with a quarter teaspoon of butter per serving if you do not know the potency. Once you know the THC per tablespoon, aim for 2.5 to 10 mg per plate.

Does cooking cannabis sauce kill the THC?

Heat above 350°F starts to break THC down. Most sauces stay well under that, so add the cannabis fat near the end of cooking and keep the pan at a low simmer.

Can I make cannabis sauce without butter?

Yes. Olive oil, coconut oil, MCT oil, and ghee all work. For cold sauces, use a cannabis tincture or an infused oil that stays liquid in the fridge.

Does cannabis sauce taste like weed?

It can. Water-curing the flower before you decarb, or picking a strain with a light flavor, cuts the green taste. Strong sauces such as buffalo, BBQ, and marinara hide it best.