Smoky Chipotle BBQ Sauce
I don’t know about you but I am so over the sickly sweet bottled ‘American’ BBQ sauce. It seems that the average BBQ sauce now competes with soft drinks over sugar content. I’ve developed my smoky chipotle BBQ sauce recipe to keep the sugar rush under control with just a couple of tablespoons of honey and treacle. It’s also finished with some fresh squeezed orange juice. The chipotle chillies in adobo sauce create a background warmth rather than heat. The sauce is best made a few days in advance so the depth of flavour has a chance to develop. And its happy doing just that in the freezer if you want to make it in bulk.
Equipment
- Food processor, blender or Thermomix
Ingredients
- 1 large bulb of garlic (10 large cloves)
- 600 g vine ripened tomatoes (5-6 large)
- 1 cup loosely packed fresh oregano leaves
- ¼ cup chipotle chillies in adobo sauce.
- ¼ cup apple cider vinegar
- 1/3 cup ketchup
- 3 tablespoons honey
- 1 tablespoon treacle
- 1 tablespoon soy sauce
- 2 tablespoons sesame oil
- 2 teaspoons ground cumin
- 1 teaspoon smoked paprika
- 1 large orange (zest and juice)
- 2 teaspoons salt
Instructions
- Preheat oven grill to high, with rack directly below the grill.
- Halve tomatoes and place cut side down on an oiled shallow roasting pan.
- Place directly under grill on high and cook until skins start to blister and burn. Set aside to cool.
- Preheat oven 230°C / 210°C fan forced.
- Drizzle garlic bulb with olive oil on a sheet of aluminium foil, wrap loosely and seal. Bake for 20-30 minutes until cloves are soft. Set aside to cool.
- Zest and juice orange, reserving the juice for the end of the cooking process.
- Wash and dry fresh oregano and pick one cup of leaves.
- Squeeze out roast garlic from cloves into food processor bowl.
- Add remaining ingredients to food processor, except orange juice.
- Process on high until the ingredients are fully broken down and there are no lumps of tomatoes.
- Transfer the sauce to a large pan and cook on medium high heat, stirring as required.
- Reduce sauce by about one-third. It should start to look glossy.
- Add orange juice and cook another minute.
- Remove from heat to cool and store in fridge until required.
Just before you cook with abandon…
Using your Smoker or BBQ. I have provided a method that can be completed in the kitchen. However, it is my routine to cook the tomatoes in my smoker up as high as it goes. If using a smoker or BBQ, I would still use a roasting pan so you don’t lose any of the escaping tomato juice as they cook. I also throw the foil wrapped garlic bulb in at the same time. While the smoker gives an extra smoky depth, you do get a pretty good result from charring the tomatoes under the grill. Both the smoked paprika and chipotle in adobo sauce enhance the smoky flavour.
Thermomix method. This chipotle BBQ sauce recipe is one where the Thermomix shines as a ‘do it all’ appliance. Process the ingredients in the Thermomix (increasing Speed from 5 to 9 over 15 seconds) and then cook at 100°C (Speed 2.5) for 10 minute intervals (leave the measuring cup off the lid). Keep checking as per above method.
Freeze this recipe. This BBQ sauce recipe is great for batch cooking during the BBQ season and keeping in portioned containers in the freezer.
Treacle substitutes. I admit this recipe only calls for a small amount of treacle. If it’s not something you’d ordinarily have in the pantry, it’s fine to swap in molasses, golden syrup, maple syrup, or some dark brown sugar.
Make it Vegan: The BBQ sauce is naturally vegetarian and you can make it Vegan by swapping in maple syrup or another vegan syrup. Then you can use it on any meat alternative you want to BBQ. I can see it slathered over a cauliflower steak and I will definitely be trialling it on my tofu burgers.