Name: Hickory Smoke BBQ Sauce
Prep time: 20 min
Cook time: 105 min
Total time: 125 min
Yield: 1 pint
Ingredients: 1 ½ red onions (peeled and roughly chopped); 1 tablespoon olive oil; 2 garlic cloves (peeled and sliced); ½ fresh red chili (deseeded and finely chopped (I used a Fresno chili)); 1 bunch fresh basil (leaves picked (about 1 tablespoon leaves), stalks chopped, divided use); 1 teaspoon onion seeds; Sea salt; 1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper; 1 pound Roma tomatoes (halved); 1 pound canned crushed tomatoes; 1 tablespoon soy sauce; 2 teaspoons hickory smoke flavor liquid smoke (divided use); 1 bay leaf; 2 tablespoons pure maple syrup; 1 teaspoon smoked paprika; 1 ½ cups of cold water; ½ cup red wine vinegar; 1/3 cup brown sugar

Hickory Smoke BBQ Sauce

Homemade Hickory Smoke BBQ Sauce from a whole mess o’ veggies and spices, cooked down to thick shiny perfection.

Serve this vegan BBQ sauce on any grilled foods, steak, brisket, pork. Serve it on pulled pork or chicken sandwiches. Dip French Fries or Onions Rings into it. I love a little BBQ sauce on my corn on the cob. And, there’s nothing like a freshly grilled burger with Homemade Hickory Smoke BBQ Sauce!

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Turning ketchup into BBQ sauce

A few years ago I had a ketchup tasting party where I made 5 different ketchups, and we tasted them and made notes about their flavors. One of the ones that we tasted was reviewed as being more BBQ sauce than ketchup. So, I finally decided, after all these years, to go back and rework the recipe into a really good Hickory Smoke BBQ Sauce.

This isn’t the fastest recipe in the world, but it is super yummy, full of complex and well-balanced flavors, good for you, and super healthy with lots of veggies. And, oh my gosh does this sauce smell terrific! Smokey and good! Yum!

The other thing I like about making my own BBQ sauce is that I know what went into it. There are no fillers in my BBQ sauce. There’s no thickeners. No HFCS. This sauce isn’t overly sweet or too vinegary.

The photo above: That’s pulled pork that I cooked in the crock pot (slow cooker) for my husband. I don’t have a recipe up on the blog yet, but it’s similar to this recipe for Smokehouse style slow cooker beef recipe. Oh, and you see that great serving bottle that I put the BBQ sauce in? That came from the fine folks at SKS Bottle & Packaging. Where they have almost every bottle you could ever want! Take a look at their fun stuff here.

Liquid Smoke

This is the brand and flavor of liquid smoke that we use. It’s what my grocery store carries. It tastes great. I’m sure that just about any brand will be good.

Have you ever seen how they make liquid smoke? It’s pretty interesting. It really is made from smoke. Wood chips or sawdust from hardwoods such as hickory or mesquite are burned, and the smoke is collected in condensers. The resulting liquid is concentrated down for a stronger flavor. So the flavor really is the same as what you get from a smoker. Want to watch a video and learn more, check it out here.

Onion Seeds

I grow onions in my garden, so I’m gifted with onion seeds all the time. All I have to do is harvest them. I’ve shared how I Grow Green Onions, here.

If you don’t have this same luxury, you can buy them on Amazon.

If you don’t want to buy any, there are some substitutes available. Keep in mind, the flavors will change as you change ingredients, but these will get you close.

Onion seeds are similar to black cumin, kalonji, black caraway, Nigella seeds, dill seeds, parsley seeds, or coriander seeds.

Recipe notes

If you want to can this Hickory Smoke BBQ Sauce, spoon the ketchup through a sterilized funnel into sterilized bottles, then seal tightly in a water bath, and place in a cool dark place or the refrigerator until needed – it should keep for 6 months.

I don’t actually go through the canning process, but if you would like to do so, please follow the instructions from the USDA’s National Center for Home Food Preservation, the official site from the makers of Ball jars, or National Center for Home Food Preservation website.