Keto BBQ Sauce (No Sugar, Makes 2 Cups, 3.9g Net Carbs)
- Total time
- 30 minutes
- Makes
- 16 servings (2 tbsp)
- Net carbs
- 3.9g
- Calories
- 24
Turn a bottle of barbecue sauce around and read it. High fructose corn syrup, then sugar, then molasses. Two tablespoons of most supermarket brands carries 12 to 16 grams of it.
Which is a shame, because the flavor you actually want from barbecue sauce is not sweetness. It is smoke, vinegar and a slow tomato depth. Sugar is just how the big brands make cheap tomato taste rich.
This keto bbq sauce builds that depth from tomato paste and 25 minutes on the stove instead. It makes about two cups, keeps two weeks in the refrigerator, and a two-tablespoon serving is 3.9g net carbs.
How This Keto BBQ Sauce Gets Its Depth Without Sugar
Tomato paste, not ketchup. Plenty of sugar-free barbecue sauce recipes start with sugar-free ketchup, which means you inherit whatever that brand decided about salt, sweetener and thickness. Tomato paste is one ingredient, it is concentrated, and you control everything after it.
Vinegar does the work sugar used to. Half a cup of cider vinegar sounds aggressive and it is, on the first taste. Twenty-five minutes of simmering takes the raw edge off and leaves a tang that makes the tomato taste like more than tomato.
Liquid smoke is not optional here. Without a grill or a smoker there is no other way to get that flavor into a sauce made on a stove. One tablespoon in two cups is the right amount; two makes it taste like an ashtray.
If you have made my keto sloppy joes, the sauce in that recipe is a cousin of this one — tomato paste, Worcestershire, vinegar and yellow mustard. The difference is that it is built around a pound of beef in the pan. This is the jar you keep in the door of the refrigerator and reach for all week.
Recipe Overview
- Prep Time: 5 minutes
- Cook Time: 25 minutes
- Total Time: 30 minutes
- Makes: about 2 cups, 16 servings of 2 tablespoons
- Net Carbs: 3.9g per serving
- Keeps: 2 weeks in the refrigerator
- Difficulty: Easy
Ingredients
| Ingredient | Quantity | Notes |
| Tomato paste | 12 oz (340 g) | Two 6-oz cans |
| Water | 1¼ cups (300 g) | Added last, to thin |
| Apple cider vinegar | ½ cup (120 g) | The backbone of the flavor |
| Brown-sugar-style sweetener | ¼ cup | Monk fruit allulose blend |
| Worcestershire sauce | 2 tbsp | Adds savory depth |
| Liquid smoke | 1 tbsp | Hickory or mesquite |
| Smoked paprika | 2 tsp | Smoked, not sweet |
| Garlic powder | 1 tsp | |
| Onion powder | 1 tsp | |
| Ground yellow mustard | 1 tsp | Dry mustard powder |
| Fine sea salt | ½ tsp | Adjust at the end |
| Black pepper | ½ tsp | |
| Cayenne pepper | ¼ tsp | Optional, for a slow warmth |
A brown-sugar-style blend beats a plain white one here. Those blends carry a molasses note that plain erythritol does not, and molasses is a large part of what your tongue reads as barbecue. If all you have is a plain sweetener, add half a teaspoon of blackstrap molasses; at that quantity it costs about 0.3g of carbs across the whole batch.
Allulose behaves best of the sugar substitutes in a sauce you will refrigerate. Erythritol has a habit of recrystallizing into a faint grittiness once it is cold.
Recipe Timing
| Order | Step | Time |
| 1 | Whisk everything except the water | 3 minutes |
| 2 | Add the water and bring to a gentle boil | 5 minutes |
| 3 | Simmer uncovered, stirring often | 20 minutes |
| 4 | Taste and adjust off the heat | 2 minutes |
| 5 | Cool, then jar | 30 minutes |
Step-by-Step Instructions
1. Whisk the base together
In a medium saucepan, off the heat, whisk the tomato paste with the apple cider vinegar, the brown-sugar-style sweetener, the Worcestershire sauce, the liquid smoke, the smoked paprika, the garlic powder, the onion powder, the ground yellow mustard, the fine sea salt, the black pepper and the cayenne pepper.
It will be a stiff paste. That is right. Get it completely smooth now, while it is thick enough to push the lumps against the side of the pan. Once the water goes in, the lumps just float.
2. Add the water and bring it up
Whisk in the water and set the pan over medium-high heat until it reaches a gentle boil. It should look slightly thinner than you want the finished sauce to be, because it will reduce.
3. Simmer 20 minutes, and stir often
Drop the heat to medium-low and simmer uncovered for 20 minutes, stirring every couple of minutes. Tomato paste catches on the bottom of a pan faster than almost anything else, and a scorched patch stirred back in will flavor the whole batch bitter.
It is ready when the sauce coats the back of a spoon and a finger drawn through it leaves a clean stripe. Remember that it thickens again as it cools, so pull it a shade thinner than you want it.
4. Taste it off the heat
Sweetener and salt both taste different hot than cold, so take the pan off, let it sit two minutes and then taste. Too sharp, add a tablespoon more sweetener. Too flat, a quarter teaspoon more salt. Too thick, whisk in water a tablespoon at a time.
5. Cool completely before it goes in a jar
Let it cool to room temperature, about 30 minutes, then pour it into a clean jar. Warm sauce in a sealed jar builds condensation under the lid, and that water sits on the surface and shortens how long it keeps.
Recipe Tips and Variations
Brush it on at the end, not the start. Sweeteners scorch, and so does tomato paste. On the grill or under a broiler, give the meat its sauce for the last five minutes only.
Carolina style. Cut the tomato paste to 6 oz, raise the vinegar to ¾ cup and add a tablespoon of yellow mustard. Thinner, sharper, made for pulled chicken.
Spicy. Double the cayenne and add a tablespoon of sugar-free hot sauce at the end, off the heat.
Smokier. Add a teaspoon of chipotle powder rather than more liquid smoke. It brings heat and smoke together and will not taste synthetic.
Double it. The simmer time barely changes, and it freezes well in an ice cube tray, which gives you two-tablespoon portions on demand.
Serving Suggestions
Wings, first and always. Brushed on in the last five minutes of my keto chicken wings, which come out at 1.3g net carbs before any sauce, it is the best use this jar gets.
After that: stirred into ground beef for a quick skillet, brushed over chicken thighs, spooned onto burgers, or used as a dip for anything fried. A tablespoon mixed into mayonnaise makes a barbecue aioli in about ten seconds.
Storage and Freezing
Refrigerator: in a sealed jar, 2 weeks. The flavor is noticeably better on day two than on day one.
Freezer: up to 3 months. Freeze it in an ice cube tray, then bag the cubes, so you can thaw exactly what a meal needs.
If it separates in the jar, which it sometimes does, shake it or stir it. Nothing has gone wrong; there is no emulsifier holding it together the way a commercial bottle has.
Frequently Asked Questions
Why is my sauce bitter?
Tomato paste caught on the bottom of the pan. It happens quickly at anything above a low simmer. Stir every couple of minutes, and if you smell scorching, tip the sauce into a clean pan without scraping the bottom.
Can I make keto bbq sauce without liquid smoke?
You can, but it will taste like a tangy tomato sauce rather than barbecue. Smoked paprika alone is not enough. Chipotle powder is the closest substitute.
Is store-bought sugar-free barbecue sauce as good?
Some are fine. Read the label for maltodextrin, which is keto-unfriendly despite often appearing in sugar-free products, and check the serving size, which is frequently one tablespoon rather than two.
Why does it thicken in the fridge?
Tomato paste sets as it cools. Let a jar sit out for ten minutes before you try to brush with it, or thin what you need with a splash of water.
How many carbs are in a serving?
Two tablespoons are 3.9g net carbs and 24 calories. Tomato paste is the whole of that figure, and there is no way around it in a tomato-based sauce.
More Keto Sauces, Dips and Spreads
- Keto Ranch Dressing — mayonnaise, cream and vinegar, with fifteen minutes in the fridge to let the garlic through.
- Keto Spaghetti Sauce — a 30-minute tomato sauce that makes twelve half-cup servings.
- Cottage Cheese Queso — a high-protein dip blended in eight minutes.
- Keto Buffalo Chicken Dip — the other thing to bring to a game day table.
- Keto Strawberry Jam — sugar-free jam thickened with glucomannan in 25 minutes.
Recipe Card
Making the mayonnaise for a barbecue aioli too? My keto mayonnaise is four ingredients and ten minutes of hands-on whisking.
Keto BBQ Sauce
Equipment
- Medium saucepan
- Whisk
- Glass jar about 16 oz, with a lid
Ingredients
- 12 oz tomato paste 340 g, two 6-oz cans
- 1 1/4 cups water 300 g, added last
- 1/2 cup apple cider vinegar 120 g
- 1/4 cup brown-sugar-style sweetener monk fruit allulose blend
- 2 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
- 1 tbsp liquid smoke hickory or mesquite
- 2 tsp smoked paprika smoked, not sweet
- 1 tsp garlic powder
- 1 tsp onion powder
- 1 tsp ground yellow mustard dry mustard powder
- 1/2 tsp fine sea salt adjust at the end
- 1/2 tsp black pepper
- 1/4 tsp cayenne pepper optional
Instructions
- Whisk the base: Off the heat, whisk the tomato paste in a medium saucepan with the apple cider vinegar, brown-sugar-style sweetener, Worcestershire sauce, liquid smoke, smoked paprika, garlic powder, onion powder, ground yellow mustard, fine sea salt, black pepper and cayenne pepper until completely smooth. It will be a stiff paste.
- Thin and heat: Whisk in the water and bring to a gentle boil over medium-high heat. It should look slightly thinner than you want the finished sauce.
- Simmer: Reduce to medium-low and simmer uncovered 20 minutes, stirring every couple of minutes so the tomato paste does not catch and scorch. It is ready when it coats the back of a spoon and a finger drawn through leaves a clean stripe.
- Adjust: Off the heat, rest 2 minutes then taste. Add sweetener if sharp, salt if flat, or water a tablespoon at a time if thick.
- Jar: Cool to room temperature, about 30 minutes, before sealing in a clean jar. Warm sauce in a sealed jar builds condensation and keeps less well.
Notes
Keep cooking
