Blueberry BBQ Sauce

Why You’ll Love This Recipe

Full of blueberry flavor: Some fruit BBQ sauces are loaded with so many different ingredients that you lose the fruity flavor. I specifically designed this blueberry BBQ sauce recipe so that you get a kick of warm spice while letting the fruit shine.

Can’t beat a from-scratch BBQ sauce: Store-bought BBQ sauce is fine, but it can’t reach the same depth of flavor as a good homemade sauce. Once you start making your own BBQ sauce, you’ll never go back.

Quick and easy to make: On top of tasting better, making BBQ sauce couldn’t be easier. If you can stir some ingredients on a stove, you can make this sauce.

Makes a great hosting gift: Maybe you’re taking a break from hosting duties and attending a summer barbecue. Bring a jar of this sauce as a thank-you gift – a homemade gift is always so thoughtful and appreciated. For a cute presentation, use a mason jar and decorative ribbon.

Related: For more homemade BBQ sauces, try my coffee bourbon BBQ sauce and honey-sriracha BBQ sauce!

Ingredients

Let’s chat about a few ingredient notes to ensure you have everything you need.

Blueberries: I like to use fresh blueberries, but frozen blueberries work just as well. Fruit is frozen at its peak ripeness, so you’re still getting flavorful berries. There’s no need to thaw either.

Spice mixture: For this blend, we use chili powder, cinnamon, allspice and salt. I specifically like to use a chipotle chili powder, which is a touch smokier, for more complexity, but regular chili powder works fine.

Fresh ginger: I’m a huge fan of adding fresh ginger to fruit salsas and sauces. Ginger adds a warmth and perfectly complements any fruit you can imagine.

Molasses: Make sure you use unsulphured molasses, not blackstrap. Unsulphured molasses is sweeter and made from ripe sugar cane for superior flavor.

Dark brown sugar: I prefer to use dark versus light brown sugar. Dark brown sugar has more molasses flavor for more depth, but you can substitute light brown sugar if need be.

Step-by-Step Instructions

Step 1: We add the blueberries, apple cider vinegar, dark brown sugar, ginger, molasses, chili powder, salt, cinnamon and allspice to a medium saucepan. Over medium heat, we stir to combine the ingredients (photo 1).

Step 2: Now we bring the blueberries to a boil and then turn down the heat to simmer. As the berries cook, they will begin to release their juices and break down. At first, the berries will only release a little juice, but as the process continues, some berries will remain while most of the mixture will eventually turn into a sauce (photos 2-3). This should take about 10-15 minutes.

Step 3: Now we pour the berry mixture into a blender or food processor and blend until our fruity BBQ sauce is nice and smooth like so (photo 4).

See how easy that was? It took just three simple steps to make the best blueberry BBQ sauce.

How to Use

As a fruit-based sauce, I especially love this recipe with lighter meats, such as chicken, pork and salmon. That said, it can certainly work with bigger meats as well. Here are a few of my favorite ways to enjoy this blueberry BBQ sauce.

• Brush onto smoked chicken.
• Use as a topping for these smoked burgers or minted lamb burgers.
• Spread on smoked pork ribs.
• Serve on the side of smoked brisket.
• Toss it with chicken wings.
• Spoon inside a grilled cheese.
• Serve it as a dipping sauce.
• Use as a base for this pulled pork pizza.

Recipe FAQs

Variations

Feel free to swap another fruit for the blueberries. Blackberries and raspberries would especially work well.

As mentioned, this is a mild BBQ sauce, but if you’d like a spicier kick, feel free to add more chili powder or even introduce some cayenne pepper to the mix.

This is a tangy BBQ sauce. If you prefer a less tangy sauce, you can use less apple cider vinegar or swap it for balsamic vinegar, which is sweeter and less acidic.

Expert Tips

Freeze ginger before grating: Frozen ginger grates much more easily. Unfrozen ginger can get stringy when grating, but frozen ginger shaves off beautifully with a microplane grater. I like to peel a bunch of ginger and then store it in the freezer to ensure it’s always on hand.

Watch your clothes and kitchen towels: Any kind of blueberry sauce stains easily. You may want to wear an apron. If not, be careful when pouring the sauce from the saucepan to the blender and the blender to your storage container. I also recommend using a kitchen-grade plastic spoon for stirring rather than a wooden spoon, which will stain.

Use fresh spices: After too much time in the cabinet, spices start to lose their flavor. For the most flavorful dishes, replace your spices every six months.

Perfect Pairing

You will love a Belgian strong dark ale with this sauce. The toffee and raisin backbone of the malt matches the rich molasses and brown sugar, and the fruity yeast esters complement the blueberries, cinnamon and allspice.

For a wine pairing, a merlot is great with this blueberry BBQ sauce. This wine is berry forward with soft tannins to keep it from clashing from the chili powder or any BBQ rubs you might use in conjunction with the sauce. Merlot also goes well with lighter meats as well as leaner beef cuts to give you some variety. If you’re not a merlot fan, try a pinot noir.

If a cocktail is more your style, you can’t go wrong with this blueberry bourbon smash. You will love how the sweet, caramel-like bourbon notes match with the berries and warm spices. 

Let’s upgrade your summer barbecue with a batch of this fresh blueberry BBQ sauce. With those very berry notes and touch of spice, this BBQ sauce will be a new summertime favorite recipe.

Cheers!

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