Jamaican-Inspired Jerk BBQ Sauce

A glass mason jar filled with the jerk BBQ sauce on a wooden tray with a piece of folded burlap and fresh thyme and peppers around it.

Inspired by Jamaica's famous spice blend, this jerk BBQ sauce gives your favorite grilled meats and vegetables a touch of Caribbean flavor. This BBQ sauce shows off a blend of rich, complex spices with just the right heat kick that you can adjust to suit your taste. Plus, you can make your very own BBQ sauce in under 30 minutes, and it's so much better than those processed store-bought varieties.

Course Sauces

Cuisine Jamaican-American

Prep Time 10

Cook Time 15

Total Time 25

Servings people

Calories 53kcal

Author Amanda McGrory-Dixon

Equipment

Small saucepan

Ingredients

1 (15-ounce) tomato sauce can
1 (6-ounce) tomato paste can
3 garlic cloves grated or minced
1-2 finely chopped scotch bonnet or habanero peppers stemmed and seeded
½ cup apple cider vinegar
⅓ cup unsulphured molasses not blackstrap
¼ cup honey
¼ cup packed dark brown sugar
2 teaspoons Chinese five-spice seasoning
2 teaspoons dried thyme
1 teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
½ teaspoon ground ginger
¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg preferably freshly grated
¼ teaspoon ground allspice
¼ teaspoon ground cloves

Instructions

In a medium saucepan, stir together the tomato sauce and paste until it becomes one cohesive mixture.
Stir in the garlic, scotch bonnet or habanero pepper, apple cider vinegar, molasses, honey, dark brown sugar and spices.
Bring to a simmer over medium heat. Continue to simmer until the mixture slightly thickens, stirring often to prevent burning. If necessary, you can turn down the heat but maintain a simmer. Cooking time generally takes about 15-20 minutes. Turn off heat. Cool and store in an airtight container in the refrigerator. Enjoy!

Video

Notes

Store in an airtight container in the refrigerator for two to three weeks. If you see any mold or smell an off flavor, it's time for a new batch. You can also store it in a freezer-safe container for up to three months.
Use gloves when handling the pepper to protect your skin and eyes.
One pepper will give you a fairly mild sauce. If you'd like to up the heat, feel free to add another pepper or two.
By no means am I calling this an authentic Jamaican recipe. This is very much an Americanized recipe. I’ve absolutely loved my experience traveling to Jamaica as well as adore jerk cooking and thought the flavors would work well in a BBQ sauce.
Nutritional information is only an estimate. The accuracy of the nutritional information for any recipe on this site is not guaranteed.

Nutrition