Honey Chipotle Barbecue Sauce Recipe
Skip the bottled BBQ sauce, this easy Honey Chipotle Barbecue Sauce is a little sweet, a little spicy and VERY addicting. Add some heat to your summer cookouts by basting this from scratch barbecue sauce on all your favorite meats and vegetables!
Happy Monday, my sweet friends! I hope everyone had a great weekend. It was a rough week with all the news of some of my favorite celebrities and it’s a huge reminder as to how precious life is. Nobody is immune to heartache or pain, no matter how successful their life may seem. And with everyone posting to those that are hurting to reach out if they feel desperate, I think it’s important for us to recognize when a loved one or friend may actually be hurting. If you stop seeing them enjoying their usual activities, it may be time to step in and give them some of your time. You just never know what someone has going on in their life so let’s all remember to be kind to one another. And now I’ll step off my soapbox and talk barbecue because summer is about friends and loved ones getting together to enjoy life, love and good eats.
Food has always been my way of bringing people together and what better food to make than stick to your ribs barbecue. I love making barbecue sauce from scratch because it’s thicker, sweeter, stickier and you can basically make any flavor you want like this Blueberry barbecue sauce from years ago or this Carolina style barbecue, which is my absolute favorite thing ever.
What is barbecue sauce made of?
Homemade barbecue sauce is a caramelized tomato based sauce that tends to have a smokey flavor to replicate outdoor, open fire cooking. It usually has onions, garlic and spices to punch of the flavor even more. You can basically use any ingredients you like that would work well in sauce such as fruit, bacon or even bourbon. Use your imagination and make up your own sauces to fit your own personal style.
How do you make barbecue sauce?
Barbecue sauce from scratch is so easy to make. To start, saute onions and garlic in a large saucepan, then stir in your tomato paste, seasonings or fruit. In this case for the Honey Chipotle Barbecue Sauce recipe, I added smokey chipotle chilis and adobo sauce to add a bit of smokey flavor to this sauce. To tone down the heat just a bit, I stirred in some honey with the tomato puree. Most homemade barbecue sauce recipes call for brown sugar but we skip it in this case because the honey is our “sweet.” Simmer for a bit to allow the flavors to blend together and then store in an airtight container until your ready to use it.
What are Chipotle Chilis in Adobo Sauce?
Chipotle chilis are dried, smoked jalapeños. They’re generally canned in adobo sauce which is a smokey, tangy, slightly sweet tomato based sauce. You can use the chilis in just about any recipe where you want to add some fiery heat or you can just add the adobo sauce for a slightly sweet and spicy flavor. If you’re sensitive to heat but still want that smokey, sweet flavor, you can skip the chilis in this recipe and just add the sauce as called for in the recipe.
This homemade barbecue sauce is simple and quick. I love to make a bit batch of Honey Chipotle Barbecue Sauce to have on hand for impromptu cookouts. Friends and family are always stunned when I tell them I made it with just a few simple pantry ingredients. If you’re not a fan of the chipotle chilis you can get your spice fix by making this Spicy Barbecue Sauce recipe that gets it’s heat from a combination of jalapeño peppers and ground cayenne. It’s fabulous on chicken but I love it on these ribs, too.
And if you’re feeding a big crowd you will LOVE these Barbecue Beef Brisket Sundaes where everything you love about summer barbecue food is piled high in one jar so guests can grab, go and mingle. So much fun in one big jar! And if you want to check out what’s going on behind the scenes…be sure to follow along on my Instastories!
Get the Recipe: Honey Chipotle Barbecue Sauce Recipe
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 large vidalia onion, diced
- 3 garlic cloves, minced
- 1 canned chipotle chilis in adobo sauce, chopped
- 1 teaspoon smoked paprika
- 1 tablespoon chili powder
- 1 tablespoon cayenne pepper
- 1/2 tablespoon onion powder
- 1/2 tablespoon dry mustard
- 3 tablespoons adobo sauce
- 1/2 cup honey
- 1/4 cup apple cider vinegar
- 8 ounces tomato sauce, I like Muir Glen Organic
- 1/4 cup Ketchup
- 1/4 cup molasses
- 1 teaspoon worcestershire sauce
- kosher salt and fresh ground pepper, to taste
Instructions
- In a large saucepan, heat the olive oil over med-high heat. Add the onion to the pot and cook until softened, approximately 4-5 minutes. Stir in the garlic and chopped chilis. Cook for 1-2 minutes longer or until the garlic is fragrant.
- Stir in the paprika, chili powder, cayenne pepper, onion powder, dry mustard, adobo sauce, honey and cider vinegar. Cook for 1 minute. Add the tomato sauce, ketchup, molasses and worcestershire sauce, stirring to combine.
- Turn the heat to low and allow the sauce to simmer for 15 minutes, stirring occasionally. Season with salt and pepper to taste.
- Using an immersion blender, puree the sauce until almost smooth. (I like to leave a little chunkiness but you do you.)
- Cool the sauce to room temperature before transferring to an airtight container. Can be made up to 1 week in advance and stored in the refrigerator in an airtight container.
Notes
2 Comments on “Honey Chipotle Barbecue Sauce Recipe”
Oh yum! I love the flavor of chipotle spice. I’m definitely trying this recipe!
It’s sooo good!