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 BBQ sauce but it has been years since I could eat it because of all the stuff I don't want to consume. So I came up with this recipe that has wholesome ingredients but 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 many other things! It is wonderful to be able to make this sauce and use it for several different meals.
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 this 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.
PrintRecipe
20-Minute Paleo BBQ Sauce Recipe
- Prep Time: 10 minutes
- Cook Time: 60 minutes
- Total Time: 70 minutes
- Yield: 8 1x
- Category: Sauce
- Cuisine: Paleo
Description
This whips up in minutes and is really flexible. I love it on pulled pork, ribs, sloppy joes, hamburgers, chicken and more!
Ingredients
Instructions
- Add all ingredients to a medium sized saucepan and whisk together.
- Bring to a simmer over medium/high heat.
- Reduce heat to medium and let simmer for 15-20 minutes, or until sauce has thickened to desired consistency.
- Let cool.
- Store in an airtight container. Will keep for several weeks in the refrigerator.
Keywords: easy, flexible, healthy, homemade
Jeannine
This is so easy and so very delicious!
★★★★★
Martha Kladitis
This is my first time commenting on a recipe website. One of the best tasting BBQ sauces I have EVER had. This recipe is everything that I wished the prefabbed ones could be, but I have never had one measure up to this. I added, black pepper, cayenne pepper and smoke flavor.
★★★★★
Rebecca Baron
I totally agree! I've never liked the bottled stuff and now I know how easy it is to make your own healthy and good stuff, it's life-changing!
Theresa Ellison
Best bbq sauce ever, I am doubling the recipe and making now.
Sarah
Made for the first time, minus onion powder which I didn’t have, and it was fabulous - we both loved it! Thanks very much!
★★★★★
Rebecca Baron
You're welcome!
Jodi
I substituted the honey with coconut aminos to cut carbs, and it was delicious!
★★★★★
Melody Andres
So happy for a BBQ sauce w/ high fructose corn syrup to use on my homemade BBQ Chicken Pizza!
LC
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 🙂
★★★★★
Rebecca Baron
I'm so glad you like the recipe!
Tami
This is delicious.
★★★★★
Rachel S
Yes
Jacqi
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!
★★★★★
Lynn Quiambao
I made the sauce for some BBQ cauliflower - it was pretty good.
★★★★★
Porscha
Made this for ribs. Oh my, super yummy! Love that it's clean. This will be my go to bbq sauce. Easy and delicious!
★★★★★
Wez Thompson
This is so good! Poured it over our main meal and it complimented it really well.
★★★★★
Kimberly
This is delicious!! Highly recommend! Thank you for such a wonderful BBQ sauce.
★★★★★
Molly S.
Wonderful!
★★★★★
Kellie
Call me Dan + Shay cuz’ I’m SPEECHLESS! This is the BEST BBQ sauce I’ve ever had! I made it exactly as written. I planned to make bbq chicken for dinner and realized I forgot bbq sauce at the store this morning and I am so glad your website came up when I googled “paleo bbq sauce” I will never buy store bought again! I had all of the ingredients in my pantry! Thank you so much! I can’t wait to try your other recipes.
★★★★★
Whitney Estelle Jaramillo
My best so far... Needed to add garlic powder, onion powder, & Chile powder to taste.
★★★★★
Shawna Canaga
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!!
★★★★★
Abigail
Delish....
★★★★★
Sara Walker
Absolutely delicious! I added some liquid smoke to really round it out.
★★★★★
Traci T
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!
★★★★★
Rebecca
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).
Jo D
This was very easy and tasty on my pulled pork
★★★★★
Claire
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.
★★★★★
Katia
This is the tastiest bbq sauce I`ve ever tasted. Thank you so much for your recipe!!! Greetings from Greece!
★★★★★
Rebecca
I'm so glad you like it and it's so fun to know that someone in Greece has made one of my recipes!
Chester
Very nice and smooth BBQ sauce...I used avc and added some chipotle as well....very nice....will be a family staple
★★★★★
Brittilla T
Turned out great!
★★★★★
Mandi
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!
★★★★★
Rebecca
That's so good to hear! I'm so glad you liked it and thanks for commenting.
Hilary
About how much does a single batch yield? Trying to decide if i should double or not!
Rebecca
About 2 cups/1 pint.
Brittany
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?
Rebecca
When I make sloppy joes, I always just throw it all in. And, yes, I would double the sauce as well.
Ndksidn
Paleo? But it has sugar and sweetner in it?
Rebecca
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.
Rachel
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!!!
★★★★★
Rebecca
I'm glad you like it! My kids practically drink it. And so easy. Who knew?
Jessica
Could I use apple cider vinegar instead of balsamic?
Rebecca
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.
Jessica
Thank you! I love coconut aminos in anything so I might give that a try...will report back with results! 🙂
Danni
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!
Rebecca
So glad the recipe works well for you! We sure love it too!
Tonya
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!
★★★★
Rebecca
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.
Amy
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?
Rebecca
You can try reducing the amount of honey and maple syrup to see if you prefer that flavor.
Erin
And add some pepper.
patricia
This sauce sounds good. Everything is so much better made from scratch
Megan D
Thanks rebecca!!
Rebecca
You're welcome! Thanks for stopping by.
Megan D
How long does this BBQ sauce last in the fridge??? Thanks for all these great recipes!
Rebecca
Since it doesn't have preservatives, it lasts only about as long as tomato sauce would, so I would say a week or so.
Shana Fuller
I love bbq cant wait ti try this
jo n
The bbq sauce recipe sounds pretty similar to my homemade that I have been making for years. Either way.....Yyyuuummmmmm
Daniel
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.
★★★★★