This delicious raspberry-chipotle barbecue sauce recipe is a quick and easy way to prepare a flavorful, fruit-based barbecue sauce with a kick of heat.
Raspberry-chipotle barbecue sauce works well on pork, chicken, beef chuck roast, venison, and duck breast. You can even serve this homemade BBQ sauce with chicken tenders or french fries for dipping!
What are Chipotle Peppers?
Chipotle peppers are ripened jalapeno peppers smoked and used in a variety of Mexican and Tex-Mex dishes. You can find these dried peppers sold whole, pulverized, and sold in powder form or steeped in a flavorful adobo sauce. For this barbecue sauce recipe, we will be using chipotles in adobo sauce. It adds earthiness with a kick of heat.
Ingredients
- Ketchup
- Raspberry preserves
- Apple cider vinegar
- Chipotle pepper in adobo, plus adobo sauce
- Unsalted butter
- Molasses
- Garlic
Making Raspberry-Chipotle Barbecue Sauce
- Saute the minced garlic in melted butter for 20-30 seconds. Add ketchup, raspberry preserves, and cider vinegar. Simmer over medium heat for 2-3 minutes, stirring often.
- Add chipotle pepper, adobo, and molasses to the saucepan, reduce heat to low, and simmer for 5 minutes.
- Two options for using this sauce: Use it as is, or after 10 minutes of cooling, transfer the barbecue sauce to a blender, and blend it until smooth.
Tip: If you are sensitive to fruit seeds, I recommend working the raspberry preserves or jam through a fine sieve with a spoon. This way, the seeds will stay in the sieve, and you’ll end up with the flavorful jam portion for your sauce.
How to use it
Apply the raspberry-chipotle barbecue sauce to low and slow pork ribs during the last 20 minutes of cooking time. Sauce your chicken thighs and legs during the last 30 minutes of cooking time.
If you are making smoked chuck roast, I recommend shredding or slicing the meat and topping it with this barbecue sauce. It also makes an excellent addition to pulled pork, brisket, and chuck roast sandwiches!
Storing your raspberry-chipotle barbecue sauce
Store this BBQ sauce in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 1 week after initial preparation. You can also store this sauce in a vacuum-sealed bag and freeze it for up to 3 months.
Raspberry-Chipotle Barbecue Sauce
Ingredients
- 11/2 cups ketchup
- 3/4 cup raspberry preserves
- 1/3 cup cider vinegar
- 1 chipotle pepper in adobo (minced)
- 2 tablespoons adobo sauce
- 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
- 1 tablespoon molasses
- 1-2 cloves garlic (minced)
Instructions
- In medium saucepan, melt butter. Add garlic and cook for 20-30 seconds, or until it becomes fragrant. Add ketchup, raspberry preserves, and vinegar. Simmer over medium heat for 2-3 minutes, stirring often.
- Add remaining ingredients to saucepan, reduce heat to low and simmer for an additional 5 minutes.
- Once sauce has cooked, remove from heat and cool for 10 minutes before using. If using as a table sauce, let sauce cool for 20-30 minutes before serving.
- Store unused sauce in an air tight container in the refrigerator for 1 week after preparation. Warm before using.
