Whole30 BBQ Sauce is sweet, smoky & delicious slathered on chicken, pork or steak! This easy homemade recipe is also gluten free, sugar free, vegan & keto friendly. Dates are used to naturally sweeten the sauce, but monk fruit can be used in it's place for a lower calorie, lower carb sweetener!
Try this sugar free bbq sauce on grilled chicken in these BBQ Chicken Bowls!
BBQ sauce is one of the most beloved condiments in America. And for good reason, it's sweet, tart, smoky and can be used in a variety of ways. It's great for dipping, basting and marinating meats and veggies!
These days, most bottled BBQ sauces are high in sugar and contain a long list of ingredient, a lot of which would not be allowed on a vegan, keto or whole30 diet. Luckily I'm here today with an easy homemade bbq sauce recipe, that fits all of these diets!
This Whole30 BBQ Sauce recipe includes natural ingredients that are allowed on vegan, gluten free, keto and paleo diets. And it's made in just 10 minutes!
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What ingredients you'll need
- Apple Juice - just make sure it's 100% apple juice with no added sugar!
- Balsamic Vinegar
- Dates - to make this recipe keto-friendly, replace the dates with Monkfruit Sweetener, which contains zero net carbs. (More on that below!)
- Tomato Paste
- Coconut Aminos - this delicious soy sauce alternative adds great flavor to the sauce! To learn more about it, visit this post, What Is Coconut Aminos?
- Garlic Cloves
- Onion Powder
- Salt
- Black Pepper
- Smoked Paprika
- Mustard Powder
- Optional: Cayenne Pepper - if you'd like a little spice in your sauce, feel free to add ½ teaspoon of cayenne pepper!
How to make sugar free BBQ sauce
- Add all of the ingredients to a saucepan on the stove over medium heat. As soon as the sauce starts to bubble, remove it from the heat.
- Transfer the sauce to a blender or food processor, then puree for 30-60 seconds, or until smooth.
- Quick Tip! This recipe makes a thick BBQ sauce. If you'd like the sauce thinner, feel free to add 1-2 tablespoons of water until the sauce reaches your desired consistency.
- Store in the refrigerator for up to 3 weeks.
How to make keto BBQ sauce
Simply replace the dates in this recipe with one tablespoon Monkfruit Sweetener. This will reduce the carbs from 9 grams per ounce, down to 5 grams per ounce.
This equals 2.5 carbs per tablespoon of bbq sauce. For comparison purposes, most bottled BBQ sauces contain 9 carbs per tablespoon.
Brush this low carb bbq sauce on your favorite grilled meats for a delicious meal, perfect for a low carb diet!
How long does homemade BBQ sauce last?
This sauce will stay good in the refrigerator for up to 3 weeks. You can also freeze the sauce! To do so, freeze the sauce in an airtight container. If using mason jars, just be sure to leave an inch of space at the top of the jar to allow for expansion.
To defrost frozen bbq sauce, place the frozen sauce in the refrigerator for 24 hours. You can use the sauce cold from the refrigerator or reheat it in a saucepan on the stove, depending on how you're going to use it in a recipe.
What to make with it
Whole30 BBQ Sauce is delicious as a dipping sauce, wonderful as a marinade and scrumptious as a basting sauce for meat and veggies! Try it in these Whole30 approved dishes!
- Whole30 BBQ Chicken Bowl
- Slow Cooker Whole30 BBQ Pulled Pork - place 2 pounds of pork tenderloin, or pork shoulder, in a slow cooker with ½ cup whole30 approved chicken bone broth and ½ cup whole30 bbq sauce. Slow cook on high for 4-5 hours or on low for 8-10 hours. Shred the pork in the slow cooker. I recommend serving the pulled pork inside a roasted sweet potato for a whole30 approved meal.
- Shredded BBQ Chicken - follow the recipe for this Instant Pot BBQ Chicken, but use 12 ounces of this sugar free bbq sauce to make it Whole30 approved. Use the shredded bbq chicken in salads or bowls!
- Whole30 Hamburgers - replace the sesame scallion sauce in this recipe from WhitneyBond.com with whole30 bbq sauce to make delicious, healthy bbq burgers! Or replace the burger sauce in these Keto Burger Bowls with this bbq sauce for a tasty keto bbq burger bowl.
- Whole30 BBQ Chicken Poppers - from Healthy Little Peach
To make easy keto recipes with this low carb bbq sauce, simply brush the sauce on your favorite grilled meats, like beef, pork or chicken. Serve the bbq meat with a low carb side like this Greek Cauliflower Rice Salad or Cucumber Tomato Salad.
More whole30 approved sauces
In addition to this delicious sugar free bbq sauce, these sauces are also gluten free, dairy free and whole30 compliant!
- Creamy Vegan Cashew Chipotle Sauce
- Lemon Tahini Dressing
- Vegan Poblano Cashew Ranch Dressing
- Harissa Tahini Sauce
- Vegan Avocado Ranch Dressing
- Whole30 Teriyaki Sauce
Recipe
Whole30 BBQ Sauce
Ingredients
- ½ cup balsamic vinegar
- ¾ cup apple juice
- 6 ounce tomato paste
- 4 medjool dates pitted
- 2 tablespoon coconut aminos
- 4 cloves garlic crushed
- ½ teaspoon onion powder
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon black pepper
- 1 teaspoon smoked paprika
- ¼ teaspoon mustard powder
Instructions
- Add all of the ingredients to a saucepan on the stove over medium heat.
- Once the sauce begins to simmer, remove it from the heat and transfer the sauce to a blender or food processor, puree until smooth.
- Store the bbq sauce in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 3 weeks.
Notes
- To make this recipe keto friendly - replace the medjool dates with monkfruit sweetner. It will reduce the carbs per ounce from 9 grams, down to 5 grams.
- This recipe makes 18 ounces of sauce, which equals 2 ¼ cups.
- To add spice to this BBQ Sauce, add ½ teaspoon cayenne pepper.
- This recipe makes a thick BBQ Sauce, to thin out the sauce add 1-2 tablespoons of water until the sauce reaches your desired consistency.
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