This is a quick and easy Whole30 / Paleo compatible barbecue sauce recipe. Some say it is a Tessemae’s copycat, although I’ve never personally tasted Tessemae’s BBQ sauce, so I can’t say for sure. The whole thing takes maybe ten minutes (plus a few more for cleanup). It uses dates for the sweetener, so has no sugar.
Ingredients
- 3/4 cups balsamic vinegar
- 1/2 cup water
- (1) 6-ounce can tomato paste
- 8 pitted medjool dates
- 2 tablespoons dijon mustard (make sure it doesn’t contain sugar)
- 2 tablespoons coconut aminos
- 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1/2 teaspoon onion powder
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon pepper
Instructions
Combine all ingredients into a sauce pan; heat over medium low heat, stirring until it’s at a low simmer (around five minutes). Don’t boil it; just warm it up enough to meld the flavors and soften the dates.
Transfer the warm concoction to a blender and blend on high speed until dates are completely blended (around two minutes). Of course, exercise caution when blending warm liquid in your blender.
Store it in an airtight container. Is safe to keep in the fridge for at least four weeks, or frozen maybe even a year or more.
Optional Modifications
- If you like it thinner, add water and blend until you reach your desired consistency.
- I sometimes add one or two thumb-size pieces of raw ginger to kick it up a notch. You could experiment with all sorts of additional ingredients to add a little flare … I want to try some cayenne pepper in my next batch.