Description
This homemade BBQ sauce recipe is easy to make, in just 25 minutes! It’s deep and smoky, tangy, sweet with a little bit of heat. Vegan, gluten-free adaptable!
Ingredients
Units
Scale
- 1 tablespoons olive oil
- 1/2 cup shallots (or sub 1 cup red onion) finely diced ( or sub other
- 1/2 teaspoon dried thyme (or oregano)
- 1 teaspoon smoked paprika
- 1 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
- 15-ounce can tomato sauce (or sub 1 3/4 cups ketchup,or 6-ounce can tomato paste –see notes)
- 1–2 teaspoons liquid smoke
- 1/2 cup apple cider vinegar
- 1/4 cup soy sauce or Braggs Liquid Amino Acid ( GF)
- 1/3 cup molasses (or sub honey or maple syrup)
- 1/4 cup brown sugar (or coconut sugar or other sugar alternative)
- 1/2 teaspoon salt and pepper
- Optional additions: chipotle powder, cayenne, adobo sauce from canned chipotles
Instructions
- Heat oil over medium heat in a medium sauce pan or pot. Add shallots and sauté, and stir continuously for 3-4 minutes. Turn heat down to medium-low, and cook until they are deeply golden, fragrant and soften, 5-6 more minutes.
- Add thyme, smoked paprika, garlic powder, and saute one minute. Add tomato sauce, liquid smoke, vinegar, soy sauce, molasses and brown sugar.
- Season with salt and pepper.
- Simmer gently, uncovered, for 10-ish minutes, letting it reduce, stirring occasionally, until slightly thickened.
- Taste. Adjust salt, vinegar and sweetness to your liking. If it lacks depth try adding a bouillon cube (break it up first), or even a little miso paste.
- To add heat, use the adobo sauce from canned chipotle peppers one tablespoon at a time, or add ground chipotle or cayenne to taste.
- Store in a sealed jar in the fridge. Keeps up to 2 months and miake a great hostess gift.
Notes
Molasses really adds beautiful deep color here.
If using 6-ounce can of tomato paste, add 1 cup water.
If using ketchup, reduce brown sugar, salt and vinegar by half, then add more back in to taste at the end.
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 2 tablespoons
- Calories: 59
- Sugar: 10.8 g
- Sodium: 295.6 mg
- Fat: 1 g
- Saturated Fat: 0.1 g
- Carbohydrates: 12.1 g
- Fiber: 0.7 g
- Protein: 1 g
- Cholesterol: 0 mg
Keywords: homemade bbq sauce, easy bbq sauce, bbq sauce recipe, barbecue sauce recipe, easy vegan bbq sauce