BBQ Sauce
Have you had success in finding a squeaky clean bottled barbecue sauce on supermarket shelves? You may be able to answer yes to that question. If you have found one, what did you think of the price? I know that nowadays there are a ton of companies offering much healthier food options. Of course, those healthier food options can sometimes come with a pretty hefty price tag. Today I’m sharing a simple recipe for BBQ Sauce that is mostly made from ingredients you likely already have in your pantry if you already follow a Paleo/Whole30 diet. Some things are worth the money to buy already made, but in my opinion barbecue sauce is not one of them. I may just be biased however. Give this recipe a try and let me know if you’d rather buy it!
I have been wanting to make a Whole30 approved BBQ sauce for a long time. It’s actually one of the very first things I put on my blog to do list almost a year ago now! I have no idea what took me so long to get off my butt and make it happen.
Mike and I ventured out into the world last week (I know I know, we aren’t supposed to talk about these things in quarantine times) to go to the grocery store. Relax. We hadn’t set foot in a store of any kind in over three weeks. It was time to resupply, okay? I was dying for some fresh produce, so that was most of what we bought. But I also wandered by some cans of organic tomato sauce. I decided right then and there that it was finally time to create the Whole30 BBQ sauce that I had been dreaming of for so long. And so I did!
This BBQ sauce is incredibly flavorful and you would never guess that it is completely free of refined sugars. It makes an awesome dipping sauce. I’m planning to create some more recipes using it over the next few weeks, so you can go ahead and call this recipe the first in the BBQ Series. This recipe makes a fair amount, between 4-5 cups, so it will last you a long time in the refrigerator. It also freezes extremely well. When I make this BBQ sauce I usually freeze a 2 cup Mason jar so that I can pull it out a month or so later and have fresh BBQ sauce at the ready all over again. I’ll be honest and admit I really don’t freeze a ton of things, but this BBQ sauce easily makes the cut. I get so excited to have a delicious condiment ready and waiting for me that I don’t even have to make. Didn’t I warn you in a previous post that I’m the condiment queen? This BBQ sauce further solidifies my viewpoint on that because it is the freakin’ BEST. Maybe one day summer will come and we’ll be allowed to host barbecues with our friends and families and you can feed them ribs and chicken slathered in this delicious sauce. The things I dream about these days, I swear.
BBQ Sauce
Ingredients
Equipment
Method
- Add the ghee to a medium soup pot (I used a 6 quart pot) over medium heat. When the ghee has melted, use kitchen shears to cut each date into thirds and add to the pot. Sprinkle the sea salt over the dates and stir to coat the dates with the ghee and salt. Saute for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the dates have softened.
- Add the remainder of the ingredients to the pot and stir to combine. Let simmer for 5-10 minutes over medium low heat, stirring occasionally.
- Remove from heat and blend with an immersion blender. Stir the sauce to make sure no dates remain unblended. Let cool completely before storing in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to two weeks or in the freezer for up to three months.
