Quick & Easy Barbecue Sauce

Whenever I have to choose a dipping sauce, it's almost always barbecue, so having this quick and easy recipe in my repertoire comes in handy. Unfortunately, most barbecue sauces are packed with sugar and, for my taste, excessively sweet. This sauce is made with allulose and is not as sweet as a typical storebought sauce. Feel free to increase the sweetener to suit your tastebuds. With a small amount of sriracha, this barbecue sauce has a mild heat. You can replace the sriracha with additional tomato paste for a heat-free version, or reduce the tomato paste to 2½ tablespoons and increase the sriracha to a full tablespoon for a spicier sauce. Happy dipping!
Yield: 10 servings of 1 tablespoon (15ml/16g) each, totaling ½ cup ​+ 2 tablespoons (150ml/160g)
Macros (per serving): 22 calories | 0.3g protein | 1.5g fat | 1g net carbs
Prep: 5 minutes
Storage: refrigerated for up to a week (or longer) ✎
Ingredients:
  • ​¼ cup (50g) granulated allulose ​✎
  • ​2½ tablespoons (38ml) apple cider vinegar
  • 3 tablespoons (49g) tomato paste
  • 1 tablespoon (15ml) light olive oil or neutral-flavored oil of choice
  • ½ tablespoon (9g) srirancha (or additional tomato paste)​
  • 1 teaspoon liquid smoke (optional) ​✎
  • 1 teaspoon paprika, preferably smoked
  • ​​1 teaspoon ground cumin
  • ½ teaspoon onion powder
  • ½ teaspoon salt
  • ¼ teaspoon garlic powder
Directions:
  1. Put the allulose and vinegar in a small microwave-safe mixing bowl. Microwave for 1 minute. Pause to whisk after 30 seconds. Monitor to make sure it doesn't bubble over. The contents of the bowl will be very hot, so be careful. 
  2. Whisk in the remaining ingredients.
  3. Microwave for another 2 minutes. Pause after 1 minute to whisk and then again after another 30 seconds. You may wish to partially cover the bowl to prevent splatter.
  4. Enjoy as you typically would use barbecue sauce.
✎ Notes:
  • The storage-limiting ingredient here is the tomato paste. Many packages/jars say to use within days of opening. However, I have kept tomato paste without spoilage for weeks at a time. And, I have stored this barbecue sauce for at least a month without issue. Use your own judgement here.
  • I have not made this sauce with any other type of sweetener at this time and so I cannot say how it would work out with erythirol or xylitol. If I try this recipe with another sweetener in the future, I will update the recipe page. If you try it with another sweetener, please let us know how it goes.
  • Liquid smoke really adds that barbecue flavor, but using smoked paprika and a smoked salt can add a touch of smokiness if you're not using liquid smoke. Check your labels on liquid smoke, some are carb-free and others are not.
  • Other things you can add to your barbecue sauce for a more varied flavor are mustard (I prefer Dijon), tamari (reduce the salt), vegan Worcestershire sauce, and black pepper.
  • I assume it is possible to make this recipe on the stovetop if you prefer, but I have not done this myself as of yet.
  • Macros for this recipes are calculated with American national nutritional data (i.e. NCCDB & USDA entries in Cronometer) for all ingredients apart from the liquid smoke (Stubb's).
  • Macro numbers are rounded. Numbers equal to or greater than 10g are rounded to the nearest whole number (e.g. 10g, 11g, 12g, etc.) and numbers below 10g are rounded to the nearest 0.5g (0.5g, 1g, 1.5g ... 9g, 9.5g). Any numbers below 0.5g are given as is (e.g. 0.1g, 0.2g, etc.). Calories are rounded to the nearest multiple of 5.