Making your own keto-friendly BBQ sauce at home is easy and allows you to control the ingredients. In this post, I’ll share a recipe for a homemade keto BBQ sauce that’s both tasty and versatile. We’ll also look at some of the best store-bought options for low-carb BBQ sauce.
My Homemade Keto BBQ Sauce Recipe
This homemade keto BBQ sauce recipe is a riff on one shared by Jeff Phillips at seriousketo.com. It makes a sauce with a nice tangy, smoky flavor that goes great on ribs, chicken, or burgers.
The base of the sauce is no-sugar-added ketchup and sugar-free syrup, which gives you that classic BBQ sauce sweet/tangy flavor profile without the added carbs. From there, you add Worcestershire sauce, lemon juice, and spices like garlic and black pepper to round things out.
One of the great things about this recipe is that it’s endlessly customizable based on your tastes. Don’t like things too sweet? Use less syrup. Want more heat? Add more hot sauce. Prefer a tangier sauce? Toss in some apple cider vinegar. Play around with it to make it your own.
Ingredients
- 1 bottle (20 oz) Heinz No Sugar Added Ketchup (Amazon link)
- 1/2 cup Log Cabin Sugar-Free Syrup (Amazon link)
- 3 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
- 2 tablespoons lemon juice
- 1/2 cup Sukrin Gold (Amazon link)
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 tsp hot sauce (Tabasco, Louisiana, etc)
- 1 tablespoon coarsely ground black pepper
Instructions
- In a small saucepan over medium heat, whisk together the ketchup, syrup, Worcestershire sauce, and lemon juice until well combined.
- Add the Sukrin Gold and whisk until incorporated.
- Add the minced garlic and hot sauce and whisk again.
- Finally, add the coarse ground black pepper and whisk until combined.
- Bring the sauce to a gentle bubble, then reduce heat to medium-low.
- Simmer the sauce for 15 minutes, stirring occasionally.
- Remove from heat and allow sauce to cool for at least 30 minutes.
- Transfer to a squeezable bottle or mason jar for storage.
The sauce will keep in the refrigerator for up to 2 weeks. The flavor improves after a day or two as the spices meld together.
Tips for Customizing
As mentioned, the great thing about this recipe is that you can tweak it to your preferences:
- Tangier sauce: Add 2-4 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
- Sweeter sauce: Increase Sukrin Gold to 3/4 cup or 1 cup
- Spicier sauce: Add more hot sauce or 1-2 tsp chili powder
Experiment and have fun with it! The basic formula of ketchup, sweetener, Worcestershire, and spices is endlessly adaptable.
Buying Low-Carb BBQ Sauce
If you don’t have time to make your own keto-friendly BBQ sauce, there are some decent store-bought options. Here are a few of my favorites:
G Hughes Sugar-Free BBQ Sauce
G Hughes makes a line of sugar-free BBQ sauces that are excellent. The hickory and honey flavors are particularly good.
Nutrition per 2 tbsp (30g):
- Calories: 10
- Fat: 0g
- Total Carbohydrate: 2g
- Protein: 0g
Guy Fieri BBQ Sauce
Food Network chef Guy Fieri teamed up with fat fighter Dr. Ian Smith to create this keto-friendly BBQ sauce. It uses erythritol as the sweetener. Great smoky, tangy flavor.
Nutrition per 2 tbsp (28g):
- Calories: 40
- Fat: 0g
- Total Carbohydrates: 10g
- Protein: 0g
Stubbs BBQ Zero Sugar Sauce
Stubbs makes a line of classic BBQ sauces like hickory, mesquite, and spicy. The zero-sugar varieties use stevia and erythritol to keep net carbs low at just 1g per serving.
Nutrition per 2 tbsp:
- Calories: 15
- Fat: 0g
- Carbs: 4g
- Net carbs: 1g
- Protein: 0g
The Takeaway
Making your own keto-friendly barbecue sauce gives you control over the ingredients and carb count. But store-bought sugar-free sauces can also be a quick and tasty option for BBQs and grilling.
Whip up a batch of my homemade sauce or grab a bottle of your favorite – either way, you’ve got delicious low-carb sauces to add flavor to chicken, ribs, pulled pork and more this grilling season.
Happy keto cooking!
Keto BBQ Sauce Recipe
Ingredients
- 1 bottle (20 oz) no sugar added ketchup
- 1/2 cup sugar free syrup
- 3 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
- 2 tablespoons lemon juice
- 1/2 cup Sukrin Gold
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 teaspoon hot sauce
- 1 tablespoon black pepper
Instructions
- In a saucepan, whisk together ketchup, syrup, Worcestershire sauce, and lemon juice over medium heat.
- Add Sukrin Gold and whisk until combined.
- Add minced garlic and hot sauce. Whisk again.
- Add black pepper and whisk until fully incorporated.
- Bring sauce to a gentle bubble.
- Reduce heat to medium-low and simmer for 15 minutes, stirring occasionally.
- Remove from heat and let cool for at least 30 minutes.
- Transfer to a bottle or jar for storage.
Nutrition Information:
Yield:
16Serving Size:
2 tbspAmount Per Serving: Calories: 29Total Fat: .04gCarbohydrates: 5.48gNet Carbohydrates: 3.93gSugar Alcohols: .039gProtein: 0.14g