This Sweet BBQ Sauce Recipe is a thick, rich, and tangy sauce that is so good! Making your own BBQ sauce at home is easy, and you'll wonder why you've never made it before! Make this bbq sauce sugar-free or regular.
🎥 Recipe Video
You'll ❤️ Homemade BBQ Sauce
Okay BBQ lovers, I've come up with more homemade BBQ sauce recipes - each unique and tasty and perfect for your next grilling adventure! Try Blueberry BBQ Sauce, Carolina Gold BBQ Sauce, and Peach BBQ Sauce on chicken, pork, and beef. Happy grilling! Enjoy!
Best BBQ Sauce Recipe!
Well, we think it's the best BBQ sauce recipe, anyway! LOL. You will love this sauce. Homemade barbecue sauce is always better than store bought. This version is thick and sticky, finger-licking good.
Make Extra And Store In Your Fridge!
You can easily double or triple this recipe and store some in the fridge for your next grilling adventure! 🙂 It's just as easy to double or triple a recipe as it is to make one batch.
Sugar-Free Sweet BBQ Sauce (Low Carb & Keto)
This sweet barbecue sauce can be made two ways - sugar-free and regular. I actually always make the sugar-free version, and no one has ever guessed that it's healthy.
The sugar-free version is my preferred way to make my sauce (for health reasons. I serve it all the time at cookouts - and everyone goes on and on about how good it is. Let's keep that a secret! 🙂
14 g fat | 4.7 net carbs | 0.8 g protein
🥘 What You'll Need
Here are the ingredients and tools you'll need to make this sweet bbq sauce recipe:
Extra Virgin Olive Oil
Yellow Onion - you could also use red onion or a sweet onion to make this sauce even sweeter!
Garlic
Salt and Pepper - I typically use kosher salt
Beef Broth - I prefer beef broth but you can use chicken or even vegetable broth.
Unsweetened Ketchup or Regular Ketchup - (Note: if you used regular sweetened ketchup, start with 1/4 cup and add more to taste)
Apple Cider Vinegar - rice vinegar can also be substituted.
Brown Sugar or a Sugar Substitute - It is perfectly fine to use a substitute brown such as Gold Monk Fruit/Erythritol or my favorite Brown Allulose. Double check that it has a 1:1 sugar ratio and make adjustments if needed.
Liquid Smoke - gives this sauce a nice smoky flavor.
Cumin
Celery Salt
Cayenne Pepper
Tip: if you used a sweetened ketchup, reduce the sugar called for in this recipe by 1/4 cup.
For exact ingredient quantities, please see the recipe card below!
🔪 How To Make
Step-by-step instructions for making this homemade BBQ sauce recipe:
Saute Onions and Garlic
In a skillet, saute onion and garlic in olive oil over medium heat until the onions are soft.
Add Remaining Ingredients
Add remaining ingredients and bring to a boil.
Simmer and Reduce
Reduce heat and simmer 25 to 30 minutes until the sauce is very thick.
Stir occasionally to keep the sauce from sticking.
Makes approximately 12 ounces.
🥗 How To Use It
Here are a few ways to use this sweet barbecue sauce recipe:
- Brush chicken, lamb, pork, beef, and burgers while grilling.
- Make a BBQ chicken pizza - use pre-made pizza dough, barbecue sauce instead of marinara, grilled chicken, onions, and cheese. De-lish.
- Use it in this slow cooker pulled pork recipe, these baby back ribs, on grilled pork steaks, and slow cooker BBQ chicken thighs or baked BBQ chicken drumsticks.
📖 Variations
Here are a few ways you can vary or make substitutions to this recipe:
- Spicy - hot sauce or red pepper flakes to make this a sweet and spicy BBQ sauce.
- Add a little Worcestershire to the sauce to increase tang and "beefiness"
- Make it a honey BBQ sauce - by substituting half of the brown sugar.
- Give it a smoky flair - add 1 teaspoon (or more to taste) of smoky paprika.
💭 Top Tips
- If sweetened ketchup is used, reduce the brown sugar called for by 1/4 cup.
- Pay attention to ketchup ingredients. Sugar-free does not mean unsweetened. Sugar-free ketchup is often sweetened with Sucralose, so it is sweetened. Reduce the brown sugar by 1/4 cup.
- If you're not following a sugar-free/keto diet, feel free to substitute regular brown sugar and ketchup for this recipe!
- Play with this recipe to your liking. Increase or decrease sugar to your liking. Substitute garlic salt for celery salt. Increase cayenne pepper for more spice. Add 1 tbsp bourbon or whiskey for added flavor!
❓ FAQ's
BBQ sauce can easily be sweetened with honey, molasses, brown sugar, and regular sugar. If you are following a low sugar diet, keto, or watching calories, use a sugar substitute. Add a little at a time, tasting as you go until it reaches your desired sweetness level.
Yes, absolutely! You can add honey to BBQ sauce to give it more sweetness.
Sweet BBQ sauce is most commonly made with honey, molasses, or brown sugar, along with ketchup, mustard, vinegar, and various spices depending upon the recipe.
Many people don't realize that sugar-free ketchup does not necessarily mean it is unsweetened. Unsweetened ketchup has no sweetener in it at all, while sugar-free ketchup usually means that it is sweetened but not with sugar. The most common sweetener used in sugar-free ketchup in the grocery store is Sucralose, but you may see different types.
✔️ Grilling Recipes
Here are a few grilling recipes that will pair well with your homemade barbecue sauce:
- Best Grilled Chicken Recipe
- Best Baby Back Ribs
- How To Grill a Ribeye Steak
- Herbed Butter Steak
- Grilled Boneless Chicken Thighs
Tangy and Sweet BBQ Sauce
A thick, rich, and tangy sauce that is so good! Making your own BBQ sauce at home is easy and you'll wonder why you've never made it before! This recipe can be made two ways: sugar-free or regular. Both are good and either way you make it everyone will love it! If you want to make it a low carb or keto BBQ sauce follow the sugar-free instructions. Enjoy!
Ingredients
- 3 tbsp olive oil
- 1/2 cup finely chopped onion
- 4 garlic cloves, minced
- 1/4 tsp each salt and pepper
- 1 cup beef broth
- 1 cup unsweetened ketchup or regular ketchup (see note ketchup below)
- 1/4 cup of apple cider vinegar
- 1/2 cup brown sugar substitute (see note on ketchup below)
- 1 tsp liquid smoke
- 1/2 tsp cumin
- 1/2 tsp celery salt
- 1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
Instructions
- In a nonstick saucepan pan, saute onion and garlic in olive oil over medium heat until the onions are soft.
- Add remaining ingredients and bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer 25 to 30 minutes until the sauce is very thick. Stir occasionally to keep the sauce from sticking. Makes approximately 1-1/4 cup.
Notes
- Pay attention to ketchup ingredients. Sugar-free does not mean unsweetened. Sugar-free ketchup is often sweetened with Sucralose so it is sweetened.
- If sweetened ketchup is used, reduce the brown sugar called for by 1/4 cup.
- If you're not following a sugar-free/keto diet, feel free to substitute regular brown sugar and ketchup to this recipe!
- Play with this recipe to your liking. Increase or decrease sugar to your liking. Substitute garlic salt for celery salt. Increase cayenne pepper for more spice. Add 1 tbsp bourbon or whiskey for added flavor!
Nutrition Information:
Serving Size:
2 ozAmount Per Serving: Calories: 148Total Fat: 14gCholesterol: 0mgSodium: 708mgCarbohydrates: 5.1gNet Carbohydrates: 4.7gFiber: .4gSugar: 2gProtein: 0.8g
A tasty tangy and sweet BBQ sauce recipe that is so good you'll be eating it from the spoon! Can be made two ways: sugar-free or regular - both are GOOD (and no one can tell the difference)! This barbecue sauce is perfect for grilled chicken, pork, & beef recipes. This homemade barbecue sauce will go quickly! A low-carb, sugar-free, & keto bbq sauce will help you stay on track. #bbq #bbqsauce #grilling #cookout #sugarfree #keto #lowcarb #chicken #pork #beef #westerncarolinabbq #barbecue #sauce
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