A deliciously flavorful and fruity cherry barbecue sauce you can enjoy on your grilled meats, chicken, burgers, pulled pork sandwiches, and used in any recipe that calls for barbecue sauce!
What would you do with 75 pounds of cherries?
That’s what I picked up this past weekend: Three 25 lb boxes of plump, luscious bing cherries.
I’ve been busy pitting and canning cherries in light syrup, making jam, making cherry sauce, cherry crisp, fruit leather, and baking Cherry Almond Streusel Cake.
What are some of your favorite ways to use cherries? Ā Share with us by leaving a comment below!
With still more cherries left I wanted to try something savory. Ā How about a cherry barbecue sauce? Ā It sound great to me so I got to work experimenting with small quantities to get the ingredients and ratios right.
The end result: Ā A deliciously flavorful and fruity barbecue sauce you can enjoy on your grilled meats, chicken, burgers, pulled pork sandwiches, and used in any recipe that calls for barbecue sauce!
The flavor of this cherry barbecue sauce gets better with time, so I recommend waiting at least 3 days before using it to allow the flavors some time to meld.
I’ve also included instructions for canning if you want to make a larger batch for long-term storage, which is what I’m doing (I still have 25 pounds of cherries left to process!)
Cherry Barbecue Sauce Recipe
Let’s get started!
Heat the oil in a medium-sized heavy-bottomed pan and cook the onions and garlic until soft and translucent, 5-7 minutes.
Add the remaining ingredients and bring it to a boil.
NOTE: Ā Alternatively, at this point you can place everything in a slow cooker and cook on LOW for 3-4 hours. Ā Once pureed in the blender, return the sauce to the slow cooker and continue to cook uncovered if the sauce needs thickening.
Reduce the heat and simmer uncovered for 20 minutes.
Transfer the sauce to a blender and puree until smooth.
Pour into airtight jars and store in the refrigerator. Ā Wait at least 3 days before using to allow the flavors to meld. Ā Will keep in the fridge for up to a month.
How to Can Cherry Barbecue Sauce
If canning, pour the hot sauce into sterilized jars, leaving 1/4 inch headspace.
Process in a water bath for 15 minutes then carefully remove and let the cans sit undisturbed for 24 hours before moving them to a cool place to store for up to a year.
Enjoy!
For more delicious homemade condiments be sure to try our:
- Ultimate BBQ Sauce
- Big Mac Sauce
- Tartar Sauce
- Yum Yum Sauce
- Sweet Chili Sauce
- Curry Ketchup
- Sweet and Sour Sauce
- Hoisin Sauce
- Romesco Sauce
- Teriyaki Sauce
- Aji Verde Sauce
- Ponzu Sauce
Cherry Barbecue Sauce
Ingredients
- 2 teaspoons oil
- 1 medium yellow onion chopped
- 3 cloves garlic minced
- 3 cups pitted cherries fresh or frozen/thawed
- 1 cup plain tomato sauce
- 1 cup ketchup
- 1 cup cane sugar, for low sugar alternative use sugar substitute, e.g. Swerve Sweetener, though if canning you'll need to confirm if it's suitable for that purpose)
- 1/4 cup apple cider vinegar
- 3 tablespoons molasses
- 1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
- 1 tablespoon ancho chili powder
- 1 teaspoon dry ground mustard
- 1 teaspoon onion powder
- 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
- 2 teaspoons kosher salt
- 1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- 1/2 teaspoon smoked paprika
- 1-2 teaspoons liquid smoke optional
Instructions
- Heat the oil in a medium-sized heavy-bottomed pot and cook the onions and garlic until soft and translucent, 5-7 minutes. Add the remaining ingredients and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat and simmer uncovered for 20 minutes. Transfer the sauce to a blender and puree until smooth.
- Pour the sauce into non-reactive air-tight containers and store in the refrigerator. Wait at least 3 days before using to allow the flavors to meld. Will keep for up to a month.
- If canning for long-term storage, pour the hot barbecue sauce into sterilized half pint or pint sized jars leaving 1/4 inch headspace. Process in a water bath for 15 minutes. Remove and let the jars sit undisturbed for 24 hours before moving them to a cool place. Will keep for up to a year.
Notes
Laura says
Excellent cherry bbq sauce!! Great in pulled pork or pulled chicken, also great in baked pork chops! I cover with fold and slow bake so they are fork tender and oh so delicious!
As an alternate to cherries, I have made this with fresh peaches instead of fresh cherries! Just as luscious. I can’t keep it in the house!
Can this be water bath canned?
Kimberly Killebrew says
Thank you, Laura, I’m so glad you enjoyed it! Yes, I use the water bath method to can this sauce.
Ailsa McQuade says
Well we didnt use cherries this time (delicious with cherries) used apricots(big bucket full given to us by a neighbour) 5 jars and a wee bit..tastes delicious its going to be hard waiting till it develops! Also got 5 jars jam and 5trays drying in the dehydrator …but I’m just bragging now. Thank you for a terrific recipe…now you just know I’m going to claim it as my own šš
Kimberly @ The Daring Gourmet says
Awesome, Ailsa, apricots are a nice option, thanks for the feedback!
Lannette says
I made this today, instead of cherries I used prickly pear juice. I turned out amazing.
Kimberly @ The Daring Gourmet says
How fun, Lannette, thanks so much for the feedback!
Chantel says
Do I have to use a hot water bath or will it be hot enough to seal on it’s own? Only asking because I don’t have canning pot n such. Thank You
Kimberly @ The Daring Gourmet says
Hi Chantel, to be safe I recommend using the hot water bath method.
Ailsa McQuade says
Hi Chantel my mum has made chutneys, sauces and jams for years and never used a water bath method just hot jars. I have a fowlers bottling kit so thats how i do mine. My mum said the very important thing is sterilise the jars wash and in the oven(she always reused jam jars once the jam was finished) and make sure its all nice and hot when the mix goes in and make sure the lids suck back down or go pop either way lids to be flat when heat sealed (you probably know all this) shes never had a problem and shes 87 now (started bottling when she got married at 16 )
Chris King says
Made bbq sauce everybody loved it but wife gave it all away so none left for me. So making another batch and the dessert sauce too.
Do you have any plum recipes? I ran across cherry plums from Samās club cross between cherries and plums and wanna make bbq sauce and a dessert sauce with them too
Kimberly @ The Daring Gourmet says
Thank you, Chris, I’m so glad everyone enjoyed it! Plum recipes, I sure do. Here are a few:
Plum Butter
Plum Jam
Chinese Plum Sauce
German Plum Cake
French Almond Plum Cake
Denise blessing says
How much does this make?
Mary Lou Shenot says
I have not tried the recipe yet. Can tart cherries be used?
Kimberly @ The Daring Gourmet says
Hi Mary Lou, yes they can!
Meemaw says
What size jars are you processing for 15 minutes? And how much does this recipe make? Canāt wait to try it!
Kimberly @ The Daring Gourmet says
Hi Meemaw, I use both half pint and pint sized jars – processing time is the same for both.