This homemade Sugar Free BBQ Sauce is made with chipotle peppers, caramelized onions and a blend of spices that’s healthy, wholesome and insanely addicting!
This sugar free bbq sauce is easily one of my favorite barbecue sauces I’ve ever had! It’s tangy, spicy, slightly sweet and made with ingredients that I always have on hand. Not only is it sugar free, but it’s also gluten free, dairy free, paleo, vegetarian and vegan.
Have you ever tried to find a sugar free bbq sauce in stores that’s also free of artificial sweeteners? It’s almost impossible. In fact, finding any condiments and sauces made without added sugar or artificial sweeteners is difficult. Just ask my husband.
John has been trying to follow the slow-carb diet that he read about from his man crush Tim Ferris for a few months now, and sugar free condiments have been one of the hardest things to find in stores. The ask is simple – no sugar or artificial sweeteners. Who thought it would be so hard?! Lucky for him, I cook all the time for the blog and have so many diet-friendly salsas in the fridge that are his go-tos. But bbq sauce? That’s a different story.
After searching for barbecue sauces in stores, I found that even the ones that say they’re sugar free have artificial sweeteners listed in their ingredients. So doing what I do best, I set out to make my own. 🙂
The secret to the perfect sugar free bbq sauce?
Caramelized onions.
You guys, I can’t even tell you just how much flavor caramelized onions give the sauce! Let’s just say it’s a ton and it wouldn’t be the same without it. Trust me.
The kicker is that you’ve got to cook them low and slow. The full caramelization process takes about 45 minutes to an hour, but the final product is so so worth it. Don’t let this step keep you from trying this recipe!
The browner you can get the onions without burning, the better. Anywhere from the color of the onions in the recipe video below to this darker brown color is good.
How to make sugar free bbq sauce {video}
Once the onions are beautifully caramelized, you’ve officially got the sweet and savory element of the sauce.
For the smoky element, I added some chipotle peppers in adobo. I personally used 2 or 3 chipotles in my sauce, but I recommend blending in one at a time, tasting it and adding more if necessary. Even with that many chipotles, I didn’t think it was that spicy, but it’s totally personal preference so start with a little in the beginning and adjust as you go.
For the tangy element of the bbq sauce, I added some apple cider vinegar and tomato paste. These acidic components help balance out the sweet and savory flavors of the caramelized onions and brightens some of the heat from the chipotles.
All that’s left to do is throw everything in a blender and blend until smooth!
That is it, my friends! Super simple, but honestly one of my favorite barbecue sauces I’ve ever had.
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons cooking fat (you can use olive oil, coconut oil, avocado oil or whatever you have on hand)
- 4 cups thinly sliced onions (about 4 small onions or 2 large onions)
- 1/2 teaspoon dried rosemary
- 1 teaspoon minced garlic
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1 cup water (or more if you want a thinner sauce)
- 1 6-ounce can tomato paste
- 3 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
- 2 chipotle peppers in adobo sauce (more if you want it spicier or less if you don't want it too spicy)
- 1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
- 1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
Instructions
- Heat a large skillet over medium heat. Add the cooking fat and the onions and saute for 8 to 10 minutes, until the onions become translucent.
- Add the rosemary, garlic and salt and mix together. Lower the heat to low and cook for 45 minutes, stirring occasionally to make sure the onions don't burn. The onions should be a brownish/yellow color at the end of the cooking process and reduced 3/4 in volume.
- Add the caramelized onions to a blender along with water, tomato paste, vinegar, chipotle peppers in adobo sauce, ground ginger and ground cinnamon.
- Blend until completely smooth.
Isabel’s Tips:
Nutrition Information
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This was really great. Worth the effort to slice all those onions! I also added a little liquid smoke. I used quite a few chipotle peppers as well.
What brand of chipotle sauce did you use? I searched and searched and cannot find one brand that doesn’t have sugar. I have a Candida overgrowth, so sugar is strictly forbidden.
Hi Eliza! This recipe uses a can of la costena chipotles, and it contains 2g of sugar and no added sugars. I’m not sure how much this helps. You may try using dried chipotles! You can soak them until softened, blend them and use that in place of the can.
Exactly what I was looking for! I agree that it is odd that something so simple (barbecue sauce with no added sugar or artificial sweeteners) would be so hard to find. Our local store has one with stevia glycosides as the sweetener, and it is not bad, but I prefer to make my own. Tomorrow I plan to cook the slab of ribs that are in my fridge now, with your sauce. i am giving it 5 stars on faith right now :-).
BTW, some chipotle in adobe brands have sugar; Goya does, and Herdez does not (I happen to have both in my cupboard).
I hope to report back in after making the sauce. Thank you again for the great post.