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20-Minute Paleo BBQ Sauce Recipe

April 10, 2019 //  by Rebecca Baron 53 Comments

Clean Eating
C
Dairy-Free
D
Easy
EZ
Gluten-Free
G
Grill
GR
Nut-Free
N
Paleo
P
Sides
SD
Vegan
V
Whole-Food, Plant-Based
WP
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This Paleo BBQ Sauce Recipe only takes 20 minutes to make. It’s a really good, easy homemade sauce for sloppy joes, ribs, pulled pork or whatever. I was very excited to create this recipe! I love Paleo barbeque sauce but it has been years since I could eat it because of all the stuff I don’t want to consume.

So I was on a search for a good BBQ sauce recipe that’s Paleo and delicious and still has the flavor I love. One reason why I love this recipe is that it is so versatile.  I can put in on chicken or any other meat with some sides or I can make a sloppy joe or some many other things! It is wonderful to be able to make this sauce and use it for several different meals.

Paleo BBQ Sauce Recipe

Making your own sauce can be very good if you want a healthy lifestyle. A lot of calories and fats come from sauce alone. A lot of people think if they make homemade healthy food it is okay to put store-bought sauce on it and it would still be good for you. Yes, of course, it would be better than not homemade food but my point is if you want to take it to the next level let’s start making our own sauce too! I think it tastes better too!

You may be thinking there’s no way a paleo barbecue sauce without ketchup can be any good in only 20 minutes. Well, I’m here to tell you that it can. Sure. It would taste better if you cooked it longer – and you totally can cook it longer if you want it to get a deep, richer flavor – but in 20 minutes you will get a sauce I think is better than any store-bought sauce and it sure as heck is a lot healthier than any store-bought sauce full of preservatives. Plus, this costs a lot less money and is easy to make with a few ingredients.

And, am I the only person in the world who HATES ketchup? Please comment below and tell me if you hate ketchup. I can’t be the only person. . . I can’t even explain why. It’s too concentrated on tomato flavor or something. I don’t know. It’s just not my favorite.

Plus, most ketchup is processed, so it’s best to avoid on a healthy diet anyway. Although, my daughter LOVES, LOVES ketchup, as in, “May I please have some fries to go with my ketchup?”, and she likes Annie’s brand of ketchup. So, there such a thing as Clean ketchup you can buy in stores. Well, enough about ketchup . . .

If you try not to eat much sugar and/or don’t like things too sweet, you could take out the honey and replace it with some extra maple syrup. You won’t need as much maple syrup, because it has a stronger flavor. I hope you will be pleasantly surprised by the ingredient of balsamic vinegar in this recipe. I use it a lot in my cooking.

I use it in recipes that call for soy sauce or recipes like this where you want a deep, rich sauce. Once you try it, I hope you will agree with me that it’s delish! I get my balsamic vinegar at Costco and it’s Clean there. I’ve heard it’s not always clean, so make sure you read your label. Of course, if you’re on the Clean Eating diet, that’s should be something you are used to doing anyway.

I love how fast I can make this sauce and how it’s good on lots of different things, like sloppy joes, hamburgers, ribs, smoked meat, pulled pork, instead of ketchup, with chicken nuggets and probably tons more things.

Check out my favorite recipe to use with this sauce –  Crock Pot Paleo Sloppy Joes Recipe.

Paleo barbeque sauce

You may also like these recipes:

Paleo Sauces Index

Paleo Side Dishes

Paleo Hamburger Buns Recipe

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20-Minute Paleo BBQ Sauce Recipe

Paleo BBQ Sauce

★★★★★

5 from 24 reviews

This clean bbq sauce whips up in minutes and is really flexible. I love it on pulled pork, ribs, sloppy joes, hamburgers, chicken and more!

  • Author: Rebecca Baron
  • Prep Time: 10 minutes
  • Cook Time: 60 minutes
  • Total Time: 70 minutes
  • Yield: 8 1x
  • Category: Sauce
  • Cuisine: Paleo

Ingredients

Scale
  • 15 oz Can Tomato Sauce
  • 3/4 Cup Water
  • 1/4 Cup Balsamic Vinegar
  • 2 tsp Ground Mustard
  • 1/3 Cup Raw Honey (or Vegan sweetener of choice, such as agave *)
  • 2 Tbl Pure Maple Syrup *
  • 1 tsp Real Salt *
  • 3/4 tsp Onion Powder
  • 1 tsp Smoked Paprika

Instructions

  1. Add all ingredients to a medium sized saucepan and whisk together.
  2. Bring to a simmer over medium/high heat.
  3. Reduce heat to medium and let simmer for 15-20 minutes, or until sauce has thickened to desired consistency.
  4. Let cool.
  5. Store in an airtight container. Will keep for several weeks in the refrigerator.

Keywords: easy, flexible, healthy, homemade

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Clean BBQ sauce

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Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Sarah

    October 19, 2020 at 12:19 pm

    Made for the first time, minus onion powder which I didn’t have, and it was fabulous – we both loved it! Thanks very much!

    ★★★★★

    Reply
    • Rebecca Baron

      November 20, 2020 at 7:56 am

      You’re welcome!

      Reply
  2. Jodi

    July 20, 2020 at 1:34 pm

    I substituted the honey with coconut aminos to cut carbs, and it was delicious!

    ★★★★★

    Reply
  3. Melody Andres

    May 28, 2020 at 4:31 pm

    So happy for a BBQ sauce w/ high fructose corn syrup to use on my homemade BBQ Chicken Pizza!

    Reply
  4. LC

    December 16, 2019 at 2:06 pm

    I rarely ever leave comments on recipe websites but this sauce is absolutely incredible! It reminds me of my favorite restaurant bbq sauces. This will be my go to sauce from now on! Thanks 🙂

    ★★★★★

    Reply
    • Rebecca Baron

      December 17, 2019 at 12:14 pm

      I’m so glad you like the recipe!

      Reply
      • Tami

        August 31, 2020 at 2:44 am

        This is delicious.

        ★★★★★

        Reply
  5. Jacqi

    October 31, 2019 at 3:26 pm

    Made this keto by using sugar free maple syrup. Only had small can of tomato paste so added 3cans of water for the liquid. Excellent!

    ★★★★★

    Reply
  6. Lynn Quiambao

    August 10, 2019 at 12:49 pm

    I made the sauce for some BBQ cauliflower – it was pretty good.

    ★★★★★

    Reply
  7. Porscha

    August 4, 2019 at 1:17 pm

    Made this for ribs. Oh my, super yummy! Love that it’s clean. This will be my go to bbq sauce. Easy and delicious!

    ★★★★★

    Reply
  8. Wez Thompson

    August 3, 2019 at 7:52 pm

    This is so good! Poured it over our main meal and it complimented it really well.

    ★★★★★

    Reply
  9. Kimberly

    August 3, 2019 at 1:23 pm

    This is delicious!! Highly recommend! Thank you for such a wonderful BBQ sauce.

    ★★★★★

    Reply
  10. Molly S.

    July 25, 2019 at 12:34 pm

    Wonderful!

    ★★★★★

    Reply
  11. Whitney Estelle Jaramillo

    June 10, 2019 at 1:02 pm

    My best so far… Needed to add garlic powder, onion powder, & Chile powder to taste.

    ★★★★★

    Reply
  12. Shawna Canaga

    June 9, 2019 at 7:53 pm

    Turned out yummy! Was a bit sweet for me so I added a touch of pepper and garlic salt, plus a little more paprika. Making bbq ribs now!!

    ★★★★★

    Reply
  13. Abigail

    May 9, 2019 at 7:54 pm

    Delish….

    ★★★★★

    Reply
  14. Sara Walker

    April 9, 2019 at 7:55 pm

    Absolutely delicious! I added some liquid smoke to really round it out.

    ★★★★★

    Reply
  15. Traci T

    January 29, 2019 at 3:49 pm

    This bbq sauce is perfect! Tastes just like BBQ sauce should but without high fructose corn syrup and modified starch. I added 1 capful of liquid smoke. Definitely a keeper!

    ★★★★★

    Reply
    • Rebecca

      February 7, 2019 at 8:09 pm

      I’m glad you like it. I love how easy it is and how it doesn’t taste like it comes from a bottle (which it doesn’t, but I have never had a BBQ sauce from a bottle that I liked).

      Reply
  16. Jo D

    November 28, 2018 at 12:38 pm

    This was very easy and tasty on my pulled pork

    ★★★★★

    Reply
  17. Claire

    October 25, 2018 at 12:49 pm

    Very good! I think it got sweeter as it reduced, so next time I may add a touch of apple cider vinegar to balance it out.

    ★★★★★

    Reply
  18. Katia

    September 16, 2018 at 12:39 pm

    This is the tastiest bbq sauce I`ve ever tasted. Thank you so much for your recipe!!! Greetings from Greece!

    ★★★★★

    Reply
    • Rebecca

      September 18, 2018 at 10:52 am

      I’m so glad you like it and it’s so fun to know that someone in Greece has made one of my recipes!

      Reply
  19. Chester

    August 19, 2018 at 1:19 pm

    Very nice and smooth BBQ sauce…I used avc and added some chipotle as well….very nice….will be a family staple

    ★★★★★

    Reply
  20. Brittilla T

    August 18, 2018 at 1:13 pm

    Turned out great!

    ★★★★★

    Reply
  21. Mandi

    May 28, 2018 at 2:11 am

    I still can’t believe how easy this was to make, and I had everything in the pantry! I cooked this up in my multicooker on sauté before slow-cooking 1kg of chicken breasts in it for pulled chook. I used 500g of passata, and I added 1/2tsp garlic powder and 1tsp liquid smoke. It was soooo good, I was eating the chicken as I was shredding it! Drool… lol. We had pulled chook buns for 2 nights, then bbq chicken pasta for the 3rd. Definitely keeping this in rotation, it’s phenomenal!

    ★★★★★

    Reply
    • Rebecca

      May 30, 2018 at 10:16 pm

      That’s so good to hear! I’m so glad you liked it and thanks for commenting.

      Reply
  22. Hilary

    March 27, 2018 at 1:06 pm

    About how much does a single batch yield? Trying to decide if i should double or not!

    Reply
    • Rebecca

      March 29, 2018 at 9:45 pm

      About 2 cups/1 pint.

      Reply
  23. Brittany

    July 19, 2017 at 9:29 am

    If I’m making the sloppy joes, do I need to make the sauce separately then add it to the croc pot … Or can I just add the sauce ingredients to the meat mixture? Also I’m planning to double the meat portion, so would you double the sauce as well?

    Reply
    • Rebecca

      August 31, 2017 at 2:39 pm

      When I make sloppy joes, I always just throw it all in. And, yes, I would double the sauce as well.

      Reply
  24. Ndksidn

    July 3, 2017 at 4:19 pm

    Paleo? But it has sugar and sweetner in it?

    Reply
    • Rebecca

      July 10, 2017 at 4:58 pm

      Paleo isn’t no carbs or sugar, like the Whole30 or Keto diets. Most people are fine eating some honey or maple syrup on occasion on the Paleo diet.

      Reply
  25. Rachel

    June 26, 2017 at 6:13 pm

    This BBQ sauce is AMAZING. I let mine simmer a bit longer, about 30 minutes and it is nice and thick and has such a wonderful BBQ flavor. This just made my life SO much easier and also saves me tons of money not having to order paleo BBQ sauce off the internet. Thank you!!!

    ★★★★★

    Reply
    • Rebecca

      July 10, 2017 at 4:54 pm

      I’m glad you like it! My kids practically drink it. And so easy. Who knew?

      Reply
  26. Jessica

    August 27, 2016 at 9:03 pm

    Could I use apple cider vinegar instead of balsamic?

    Reply
    • Rebecca

      August 30, 2016 at 8:56 pm

      No. Those two things are too different. The next closest thing would probably be coconut aminos, but I can’t guarantee the results because I haven’t tried it with anything else.

      Reply
      • Jessica

        August 31, 2016 at 7:03 am

        Thank you! I love coconut aminos in anything so I might give that a try…will report back with results! 🙂

        Reply
  27. Danni

    January 9, 2016 at 3:08 pm

    I never comment on these things but I had to let you know I tried your recipe and it was TO DIE FOR! This will be on my weekly menu from now on. I almost inhaled my sticky ribs tonight!! Thank you!

    Reply
    • Rebecca

      January 13, 2016 at 1:19 pm

      So glad the recipe works well for you! We sure love it too!

      Reply
  28. Tonya

    January 1, 2016 at 4:04 pm

    Is there a reason why I shouldn’t use a little mixture of arrowroot powder and water to thicken up this sauce? It has a wonderful taste/aroma, would just like it to “hang on” our bbq’d meat a little better!

    ★★★★

    Reply
    • Rebecca

      January 1, 2016 at 10:02 pm

      I suppose you could, but I would think a better way to thicken it would be to cook it longer than the instructions so it reduces down and gets thick on it’s own. You’ll be able to watch the level of the sauce on the side of the pot as the water evaporates and the BBQ sauce gets thicker. It will take a half hour or so. That will also give it a deeper, richer flavor.

      Reply
  29. Amy

    September 16, 2015 at 9:08 am

    Hi, there!
    I like my BBQ sauce more on the tangy side rather than sweet. Can you recommend a modification to cut back on sweetness?

    Reply
    • Rebecca

      September 16, 2015 at 4:39 pm

      You can try reducing the amount of honey and maple syrup to see if you prefer that flavor.

      Reply
      • Erin

        October 23, 2016 at 6:26 pm

        And add some pepper.

        Reply
  30. patricia

    February 1, 2015 at 5:13 pm

    This sauce sounds good. Everything is so much better made from scratch

    Reply
  31. Megan D

    July 23, 2014 at 12:15 pm

    Thanks rebecca!!

    Reply
    • Rebecca

      July 24, 2014 at 11:13 am

      You’re welcome! Thanks for stopping by.

      Reply
  32. Megan D

    June 25, 2014 at 11:24 am

    How long does this BBQ sauce last in the fridge??? Thanks for all these great recipes!

    Reply
    • Rebecca

      July 12, 2014 at 1:07 pm

      Since it doesn’t have preservatives, it lasts only about as long as tomato sauce would, so I would say a week or so.

      Reply
  33. Shana Fuller

    April 3, 2014 at 10:58 am

    I love bbq cant wait ti try this

    Reply
  34. jo n

    January 12, 2014 at 12:58 pm

    The bbq sauce recipe sounds pretty similar to my homemade that I have been making for years. Either way…..Yyyuuummmmmm

    Reply
    • Daniel

      December 29, 2019 at 11:51 am

      Super easy! And I hate ketchup. Most disgusting sauce on this planet in my opinion. So thank you for helping me know I’m not alone with this.

      ★★★★★

      Reply

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Welcome!

Rebecca Baron of My Natural FamilyHi! I’m Rebecca Baron! I have been cooking healthy, made-from-scratch meals for my family of six for 15 years and it has helped us feel so much better. Join us on our journey!

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