Chef Julie’s Cherry BBQ Sauce
There are so many options for you at the store for BBQ sauce. In the summer months when we are outside grilling more, I personally LOVE BBQ sauce. So many of our favorite brands though include sweeteners that are not awesome like high fructose corn syrup. One way I like to get around that is just to cut down on the refined sugar by using natural alternatives like cherries or you could go with peaches too if you’d like. I do think that many people in the U.S., myself included, prefer a semi-sweet BBQ sauce. You can easily make BBQ sauce at home with ingredients you might have on hand already like maple syrup sans most of the sugar.
This recipe I’ve come up with uses real cherries, not any sort of cherry flavoring. In order to save time, I buy frozen cherries because they typically have the cherry pits removed already. (Don’t take my word for it though, check them!) I like to have frozen fruit on hand because they work really well for smoothies. You can skip the ice cubes when you use frozen fruit. Please don’t use dried cherries or canned cherries. If you can’t use frozen cherries, fresh cherries are great too! Please remember to take the pits out.
I found this sauce to be really great because it doesn’t require a whole lot of effort to make either. You’re going to need a blender or a food processor and a large sauce pot, dutch oven or crock pot. Side note: A recent walk through the neighborhood this month on any given Saturday in America and you’ll find lots of yard sales where you can almost always find pots like this for less than $5. Also, check your local thrift store for deals.
If you’re concerned about cooking and warming up the house, you can easily make this in the morning when it’s still cool outside and chill this sauce all day until it’s time to use it on some chicken or burgers. Bonus tip: this sauce is really great added to ground meat as a flavoring, like a knife and fork burger or a regular grilled burger too. (About a quarter cup per pound.) Also, don’t forget the vegetarians. You too will love this added extra flavor on top of your bean burgers you’re going to eat all summer long. I also do believe if you wanted to bake some meatballs or roasted chicken, this would be a wonderful sauce to use.
I added a bonus flavor here that compliments both the sauce, and the cherries. Cocoa powder. Its an ingredient I usually have on hand for baking. Look for a brand that is unsweetened. You really don’t need any more added sugar. This brand from Ghirardelli is great.
If you try this recipe, let me know by tagging EmeraldMenus in social media. Enjoy!
Chef Julie's Cherry BBQ Sauce
A delicious BBQ sauce sweetened with natural cherries.
Ingredients
- 1 each medium yellow onion, peeled and chopped
- 2 cups frozen cherries, pitted
- 1 6oz can tomato paste
- 2 cloves garlic
- 2 tsp kosher salt
- 1/4 cup apple cider vinegar
- 1 Tablespoon honey
- 1 Tablespoon maple syrup
- 1/2 tsp liquid smoke this is very concentrated stuff. Use sparingly.
- 64 oz beef stock
- 1/2 Tablespoon cocoa powder unsweetened
- 1 28oz can crushed tomatoes
- 2 Tbsp olive oil
- 1/2 tsp cayenne powder or a few dashes of hot sauce optional
Instructions
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In a blender or food processor, add the peeled and chopped onion, cherries, garlic, olive oil, tomato paste and crushed tomatoes
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Blend these ingredients for about a minute until all the ingredients are pureed
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In a crockpot or a large sauce pot (dutch oven) on the stove top, first add the contents of the blender
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Then, add the salt, vinegar, maple syrup, honey, liquid smoke flavoring, cocoa, paprika and beef stock and gently stir together
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Cook the sauce in the crockpot on medium to high heat for 90 minutes, stirring at regular intervals. If you prefer to cook on the stove top, simmer at medium low heat for 90 minutes
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After the cooking time has finished, taste the sauce and add additional seasoning to your taste if necessary
The recipe in this blog post belongs to Chef Julie and Emerald Menus. Please do not reproduce or post without permission. The image in this post is from pixabay.com. There are a few affiliate links in this post which help sustain this blog and pay for groceries.
