Simple Whole30 BBQ Sauce Recipe
This homemade BBQ sauce is sweet, tangy, and perfectly spiced. It’s so addicting, you’ll be putting it on everything you eat!
Did you know you only need a few common ingredients to make your very own BBQ sauce at home? Plus, unlike most store-bought brands, this recipe contains no added sugars, preservatives, or other unwanted ingredients! It’s also gluten-free, dairy-free, AND Whole30 approved!
Ingredients in BBQ Sauce:
- Coconut Oil: You could also use olive oil or your oil of choice.
- White Onion: When the onion cooks down, it sweetens and adds a lot of flavor to the sauce.
- Garlic: Minced garlic adds a sweet and spicy flavor.
- Tomato Paste: This is the base of the sauce. When the tomato paste cooks down, its natural tomato flavor and sweetness comes out.
- Water: Water thins out the BBQ sauce and helps the flavors come together.
- Apple Cider Vinegar: ACV adds the signature tang you want in BBQ sauce, and also helps to preserve its freshness.
- Apple Cider: The apple cider adds a balanced, sweet flavor.
- Coconut Aminos: Coconut aminos are a gluten and soy free version of soy sauce. I haven’t tried anything in its place, but if you’re willing to take a chance (and not doing Whole30)… you could try Worcestershire sauce in its place.
- Smoked Paprika: This adds a smokey flavor to balance out the rest of the tangy sweetness.
- Mustard Powder: Mustard powder also adds a depth of flavor to the otherwise sweet BBQ sauce.
- Garlic Powder: Just in case the minced garlic wasn’t enough 😉
- Date Syrup (optional): Date syrup is a thick syrup made of solely dates. It adds the perfect amount of natural sweetness to the sauce. If you don’t have date syrup, you could substitute 1/3 cup chopped dates, or honey or brown sugar to taste.
How to Make BBQ Sauce:
- Sauté onions and garlic. This is an essential step. Cooking the onions and garlic really helps bring out their spicy, sweet flavor and adds so much depth to your BBQ sauce!
- Stir in the liquids. Add your tomato paste, water, apple cider, apple cider vinegar, and coconut aminos to the saucepan. This helps the flavors combine and starts the thickening process of your sauce.
- Add dry ingredients. Don’t forget to add the remaining spices that add even more smokey sweetness!
- Blend. Blend your BBQ sauce in a food processor, blender, or immersion blender. This smooths out your sauce and gets rid of those chunks of onion and dates (if you used chopped dates).
And that’s it! Just store your smooth and blended BBQ sauce in a glass jar in the fridge! It will stay fresh for up to 1 week. I like to spread mine on chicken, pork tenderloin, pork chops, or dip my sweet potato fries in it! I hope you love this tangy sauce as much as I do.
Simple Whole30 BBQ Sauce
This homemade BBQ sauce is tangy and naturally sweetened! It's delicious on pork chops, pork tenderloin, chicken, or even as a dip for your french fries!
Equipment
- Blender or food processor
- Medium saucepan
Ingredients
- 1 tbsp coconut oil
- ½ cup white onion, chopped
- 1 tbsp mined garlic
- ¾ cup tomato paste
- 1 cup water
- 4 tbsp apple cider vinegar
- ¼ cup apple cider
- ½ cup coconut aminos
- 1 tbsp smoked paprika
- 1 tsp mustard powder
- 1 tsp garlic powder
- 2 tbsp date syrup, optional, or 1/3 cup chopped dates
Instructions
- In a medium-sized sauce pan, melt coconut oil over medium heat. Add onion and garlic and cook until softened, about 3 minutes.
- Add tomato paste, water, apple cider, apple cider vinegar and coconut aminos to the sauce pan. Stir to combine. Once well combined, add remaining ingredients.
- Turn heat to medium low and let it simmer for 15-20 minutes until slightly thickened. Stir occasionally to prevent burning.
- Carefully transfer sauce to your blender or food processor (it will be hot!). Blend until smooth, about 30 seconds to 1 minute.
- Use immediately, or let cool at room temperature before transferring to a glass jar. Store in the refrigerator for up to 1 week.
Notes
- Calories are estimated based on a serving size of 2 tablespoons.
- Store leftover BBQ sauce in a sealed glass container in the refrigerator for up to 1 week.