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Dress up your chicken and ribs with this homemade sweet and smoky Low Carb BBQ sauce!
While there are some decent sugar-free and low carb barbecue sauces on the market, many of them still have pretty questionable ingredients. Ingredients that might be fine for a low carb diet, but not so great for Keto.
Barbecue sauce is definitely something that can vary greatly! Some sauces have more vinegar, some are more tomatoey, some are sweeter and some are more smoky. And honestly they are taste so completely different!
This sauce is a combination of everything. So it has a bit of smoky flavor, but not overly. It gets a little sweetness from the Brown Swerve, which if you’ve never used it before, is so similar to real brown sugar it’s amazing! I use a fair amount of vinegar, but it’s not like a Carolina-type sauce, where the vinegar dominates the sauce.
How to Make Low Carb BBQ Sauce
Ingredients
16 ounces tomato sauce (lowest carb/sugar)
1/2 cup Brown Swerve
2 tablespoons onion, minced
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 1/2 teaspoons dry mustard
1/3 cup apple cider vinegar
1 tablespoon sugar-free Maple Syrup
3 teaspoons smoked paprika
2 teaspoons Worcestershire Sauce
3 teaspoons liquid smoke
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
salt to taste
1 tablespoon avocado oil or mild flavored oil of your choice
Preparation
Add the oil into a saucepan over medium low heat.
Sauté the onions for 2-3 minutes, then add in the garlic and cook for another 20 seconds.
Add in the spices and allow to toast for about 10 seconds, while stirring.
Add in the remaining ingredients and simmer on low heat for 20-25 minutes or until your desired thickness is reached.
If you like a smooth sauce, blend it up using an Immersion/Stick Blender or puree in the food processor.
Store in an airtight container in the fridge for at least a week or longer.
Note: You can adjust this sauce to make it more to your liking. So if you prefer sweeter, add more Brown Swerve. If you prefer more smoky, add a little more liquid smoke. Don’t add too much, a little really does go a long way!
If you like a more vinegary sauce, add a little more vinegar. If you like a little more spicy kick, add more cayenne pepper.
If you like the sauce to be milder overall, add more tomato sauce. Because as I mentioned earlier, barbecue sauces can vary so much and of course you’ll want to make what you like best!
You can use this barbecue sauce on my Instant Pot Baby Back Ribs!
I also use my BBQ Spice Dry Rub on my ribs…
More Keto and Low Carb sauce recipes…
Bang Bang Sauce
Easy Alfredo Sauce
Homemade Buffalo Wing Sauce
Cheese Sauce for Veggies
Creamy Mushroom Gravy
Quick & Easy Marinara Sauce
Homemade BBQ Sauce - Keto and Low Carb
Ingredients
- 16 ounces tomato sauce lowest carb/sugar
- 1/2 cup Brown Swerve
- 2 tablespoons onion minced
- 2 cloves garlic minced
- 1 1/2 teaspoons dry mustard
- 1/3 cup apple cider vinegar
- 1 tablespoon sugar-free Maple Syrup
- 3 teaspoons smoked paprika
- 2 teaspoons Worcestershire Sauce
- 3 teaspoons liquid smoke
- 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
- 1 tablespoon avocado oil or mild flavored oil of your choice
- salt to taste
Preparation
- Add the oil into a saucepan over medium low heat. Sauté the onions for 2-3 minutes, then add in the garlic and cook for another 20 seconds. Add in the spices and allow to toast for about 10 seconds, while stirring.
- Add in the remaining ingredients and simmer on low heat for 20-25 minutes or until your desired thickness is reached.
- If you like a smooth sauce, blend it up using an Immersion/Stick Blender or puree in the food processor.Store in an airtight container in the fridge for at least a week or longer.
This sauce looks so rich, thick and flavorful! I wonder if you can give us any indication of the size of a serving? 2 Tbsp would be the standard size on a bottle of commercial sauce. Would that be right for this recipe (ie the nutrition panel)? If you mentioned it here, I must have missed it. Thank you.
Hi Roxana,
The serving size is actually about 2 tablespoons. I hope that helps!