Homemade Real Food BBQ Sauce Recipe

The weather’s getting warmer here in the south and that means it’s time for BBQ! There are so many ways to make a delicious homemade BBQ sauce, but most of the recipes I’ve found call for ketchup and sugar. No thank you!

I took some time to come up with my own homemade BBQ sauce recipe that uses real food ingredients to deliver a fabulous, well-balanced punch of flavor. I’m thrilled to share the final product with you today.

Check out the recipe and then scroll down for a printable version.

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Homemade BBQ Sauce Recipe

A Note About Store Bought Paleo Friendly BBQ Sauce

When my family first transitioned to a real food diet I had a difficult time finding store bought BBQ sauces with ingredients I felt good about my family eating. Now, several years later, there are many store-bought BBQ sauces that I love to use when I don’t have time to make my own homemade BBQ sauce.

Here are a few of my favorites:

Favorite Paleo BBQ Sauces

You can click on the pictures to find out more about my favorite paleo BBQ sauces.

Keto BBQ Sauces

I haven’t tried any of these keto BBQ sauces because I don’t enjoy the taste of no-calorie sweeteners. But I know many folks don’t mind the taste of no-calorie sweeteners like stevia or monkfruit, so here are a few keto BBQ sauces to try if your diet is completely sugar free.

My Refined-Sugar Free Homemade BBQ Sauce

When we gave up refined sugars I had to find a new way to make our favorite sweetened dishes and sauces. Fortunately, there were many natural sweeteners to choose from such as coconut sugar, maple syrup, and sucanat.

Sucanat imparts a lot of flavor to recipes and tastes great in chocolate dishes, tomato-based recipes and sauces, such as BBQ sauce, that are meant to pack a flavor punch. That’s why I chose to sweetened my BBQ sauce with sucanat.

The combination of apple cider vinegar, full-flavored sucanat, and spices creates a thick, hearty real food bbq sauce recipe. The addition of butter smooths and mellows the sauce while giving it a richness that delights your taste buds. (Oh, hello cliche! But it’s true, though …)

I have used my sucanat-sweetened BBQ sauce on beef short ribs, pulled pork, and shredded bbq chicken. It also tastes great as a burger sauce.

Here’s the recipe!

Homemade BBQ Sauce Recipe

Ingredients:

1 medium onion, diced

5 cloves of garlic, crushed

4 Tbs butter

1/2 cup sucanat
1/4 cup apple cider vinegar

2 tsp paprika

1 tsp chili powder

1 tsp cumin

1 tsp salt

3 ounces tomato paste

Instructions:

1. Melt the butter in a large pot and saute the onion and garlic until the onion is translucent.

2. Add the rest of the ingredients and stir until they are well combined and heated through. (You can also combine the ingredients in a slow cooker and heat on low for 4-6 hours.

3. Pour over meat or use as a dipping sauce.

Print This Recipe

Homemade BBQ Sauce

Print Recipe

Ingredients

1 medium onion diced
5 cloves of garlic crushed
4 Tbs butter
1/2 cup sucanat
1/4 cup apple cider vinegar
2 tsp paprika
1 tsp chili powder
1 tsp cumin
1 tsp salt
3 ounces tomato paste

Instructions

Melt the butter in a large pot and saute the onion and garlic until the onion is translucent.
Add the rest of the ingredients and stir until they are well combined and heated through. You can also put the ingredients in a slow cooker and heat on low for 4-6 hours.
Pour over meat or use as a dipping sauce.