Espresso Infused Sugar-Free BBQ Sauce

I love good BBQ, and I love healthy and lightened up versions of good BBQ. I've been making a refined sugar free version of BBQ sauce for a few years now. I recently ran out, so it was time to brew up another batch for the pantry. What I love about this recipe of mine, is that I can make this completely to my liking. Mixing up spices, sweetening the whole batch with organic honey. Making this very healthy, yet still complex with flavor.



Caramelizing the sweet red peppers, onions, garlic and chili flakes.



Adding dry mustard, Chinese 5-spice, smoked paprika, lots of espresso, bay leaves and a myriad of other spices.



Incorporating the organic tomato paste.



Adding soy sauce, liquid smoke, Tabasco and a small amount of unsulfured molasses.



After the cook down, all purred with my immersion blender, and a second cook down to get this all to ketchup consistency.



Water bath processing the first seven pints.



Post processing, cooling and ensuring the lids seal.



Holly's beautiful custom designed labels for all my canning projects. She always puts a nice touch on everything with her savvy design sense.

This batch yielded 9 pints of BBQ sauce. I water bath processed 7 pints for long term storage, and put two in the fridge. Looking forward to making some pulled pork sandwiches this weekend, with some healthy southern sides.