USDA MEDIAN BERRY · 12.7 mm · 1.5 gFREE · NO SIGN-UP
RecipesArticlesMethodologyAbout
Home / Recipes / Preserves
Preserves

Blueberry BBQ Sauce

Prep10 min
Cook30 min
Total40 min
YieldAbout 2 cups
DifficultyEasy

Ingredients

  • 3 cupsfresh blueberries≈ 297 median blueberries
  • 1/2 cupketchup
  • 1/3 cuplight brown sugar, packed
  • 1/4 cupapple cider vinegar
  • 2 tbspWorcestershire sauce
  • 1 tbspDijon mustard
  • 2 tspsmoked paprika
  • 1 tspgarlic powder
  • 1/2 tsponion powder
  • 1/2 tspfine salt
  • 1/4 tspcayenne pepper (optional)

Steps

  1. Combine every ingredient in a saucepan over medium heat.
  2. Bring to a simmer, then reduce heat to low and cook 25–30 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the berries have collapsed and the sauce has darkened and thickened.
  3. Purée with an immersion blender until smooth, or leave it rustic if you prefer texture.
  4. Taste and adjust: more vinegar for brightness, more brown sugar for sweetness, more cayenne for heat.
  5. Cool and refrigerate up to 2 weeks. Excellent on pork, chicken, and burgers.

Notes

  • The blueberries replace most of the sugar you would find in a bottled sauce — expect a sharper, fruitier finish.
  • It thickens noticeably in the fridge. Pull it off the heat looser than you think you want.
Scale this recipe

Making a different-sized batch? Run the numbers through the Jam Yield calculator.

Open Calculator →
A 100-gram serving of blueberries contains roughly 160 mg of anthocyaninsLaid end-to-end at 12.7 mm apiece, it would take about 30 billion berries to reach the MoonThe world's largest blueberry weighed 16.2 grams — a Guinness record set in Australia in 2020Wild lowbush blueberries are about 40% smaller than cultivated highbush onesThe United States and Canada together produce roughly half of the world's cultivated blueberriesA 100-gram serving of blueberries contains roughly 160 mg of anthocyaninsLaid end-to-end at 12.7 mm apiece, it would take about 30 billion berries to reach the MoonThe world's largest blueberry weighed 16.2 grams — a Guinness record set in Australia in 2020Wild lowbush blueberries are about 40% smaller than cultivated highbush onesThe United States and Canada together produce roughly half of the world's cultivated blueberries