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 dessert sauce, cherry crisp, fruit leather, and baking Cherry Almond Streusel Cake.
What are some of your favorite ways to use cherries? Share with us by leaving a comment below!
With still more cherries left I wanted to try something savory. How about a cherry barbecue sauce? It sound great to me so I got to work experimenting with small quantities to get the ingredients and ratios right.
The end result: 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!)
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: Alternatively, at this point you can place everything in a slow cooker and cook on LOW for 3-4 hours. 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. Wait at least 3 days before using to allow the flavors to meld. Will keep in the fridge for up to a month.
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!
- 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)
- ¼ 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
- ½ teaspoon garlic powder
- 2 teaspoons kosher salt
- 1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- ½ teaspoon smoked paprika
- 1-2 teaspoons liquid smoke (optional)
- 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 jars leaving ¼ 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.
This looks phenomenal! I love using fruit in savory dishes too and recently made a peach barbecue sauce that turned out amazing. I actually have cherries in my fridge right now and I’ve been wondering what to make. Cherry Barbecue Sauce it is!
75 pounds?!?!? Oh my starzies. Would that even fit in the fridge?!? I love the sound and look of this bbq sauce. I bet it would be sooooooooo good on a yummy burger!
75 POUNDS of cherries? Oh my WORD, that’s insane! And this barbecue sauce? Equally insane! Loving the tart-sweet cherry addition!
I am a sucker for a sweet and spicy sauce. I’ve never thought of using cherries in a BBQ sauce! So creative!
I love making cherry fruit leather with my cherries! But this looks like such a creative recipe. Can’t wait to try it!
I just love fruit in my BBQ sauces! And I love that this can be canned. 🙂
I could probably use this sauce for a multiple of recipes. I love cherries and now that they are in season it is perfect!
Yum! Love the idea of combinging BBQ and cherry! So good!
What a robust sauce! Cherries in any for are great! This sauce sounds delicious!
Canning cherries one of my favorites, maraschino, pie filling, brandied. Wish we could get them by the 25 pound box, must be a lot cheaper. I do a chocolate cherry barbeque sauce, but this one looks good. Those cherries look wonderful by the way.
Made this Wednesday and let it sit for 3 days. Just tried it – LOVE IT!! Will make a double batch next for canning.
Fantastic, Natalie, thank you!
I looove summery cherry recipes! Can’t believe you were able to go through 75 pounds … but I totally would everything you’re mentioned making! I love the idea of using cherries in a savory sauce – I bet they add such a unique zing!
Such a detailed post again, lovely! We have a huge cherry tree and most years more cherries than the entire neighborhood can eat. My favorite way of using them in large quantities is to make cherry butter or can them. However, this year there is not one cherry in the tree, this happens every 3-4 years or so… I will pin this delicious sauce for next year.
Cherry butter, now why didn’t I think of that?? I make apple butter, pear butter, peach butter and plum butter…I’ve got to add some cherry to the mix! Thanks for the idea, Adina! 🙂
I love a sweet bbq sauce! This looks amazing!
This bbq sauce looks amazing. Thanks for sharing this recipe.
I live in the sub-tropics and cherries aren’t one of our crops….sadly. I love cherries. Oh that my Mother-in-law was still alive and we were at her place in Germany. She had two large cherry trees in her backyard and they were the most delicious cherries I have ever tasted. I can’t even recall seeing frozen cherries in the supermarkets….must check that out. Even when the cherries are in season around Christmas time they are expensive as they come up from the southern parts of Australia. Maybe I could make a little bit one time. It sounds so good…..
Hi Suzanne, there are a number of other fruits I think would substitute very nicely in this – apricots, peaches, plums, blackberries, etc. In fact, I think I’m going to have to give some of those a try myself! 🙂
Really? hummmm, well, now you have me thinking. Plums are cheap enough when in season. Blackberries, apricots and peaches are still quite expensive even when in season but I’ll have to give it a go with plums. It would be great with all our summer BBQs. Thanks Kimberly
I think plums would be a terrific choice, Suzanne. They pair well with savory ingredients. We have plum trees in our garden and one of the things I use them for is to make Asian plum sauce and it’s delicious. I’ll be posting that recipe this summer as well. Happy cooking and BBQ-ing! 🙂
I’m craving this right now! Got some ribs that this would be amazing on!