Homemade Pineapple BBQ Sauce is a quick and easy condiment you can whip up for your next BBQ party! This one is secretly refined sugar free and made from 100% natural ingredients so you can stick to your healthy eating goals even during the lazy summer months. Everybody will ask for this recipe – better plan on making a double batch!
Making your own BBQ sauce is a great way to impress your family and friends at picnics and grilling events all season long. You won’t believe how simple it is to make, and this one is full of tropical pineapple flavors, too!
I don’t know about you, but I’m pretty much obsessed with barbecue sauce. Always have been!
I have very early memories (and by early memories I mean when I was about fifteen) of buying large (and expensive) bottles of Stubb’s BBQ sauce from my allowance and basically eating it with a spoon.
#noshame (OK, maybe a little shame…)
But lately I’ve been even more obsessed with homemade BBQ sauce, and I’m planning to smother all my fave recipes using BBQ sauce in it (Crockpot BBQ Meatballs, anyone?)
Today I’m sharing one of my favefavefave BBQ sauce recipes I’ve been experimenting with lately, and it’s PINEAPPLE BBQ sauce ??❤ These are happy cries, fyi. This and my meatball recipe. My heart is melting.
I capital L Love pineapple and BBQ sauce together. Gimme allll the Pineapple BBQ Crockpot Baked Beans, Pineapple BBQ Pork Chops, Hawaiian BBQ Chicken Tacos… DO I REALLY NEED TO GO ON??
I’ve been looking forward to tropical-inspired food all winter long, but this year I wanted to go one step further and make my own BBQ sauce. And I fell head over heels for it!
Why I love making my own Pineapple BBQ Sauce:
- It’s easy! All you have to do is whisk a few ingredients together and bring them to a boil. Then simmer for a couple of minutes and your work is done. What!
- You know what’s in it. This is probably the biggest thing for me. I’m making mine naturally sweetened with honey and pineapple juice and there is zero bottled ketchup in it. I mean, Mother of the Year award, or what?
- You can customize it. Sometimes you’ll want a BBQ sauce that’s on the thin side, maybe if you’re making meatballs over rice. Sometimes you’ll want a really thick barbecue sauce, say to go with a burger. Maybe you like it spice and I like it sweet. YOU CAN DO ALL OF THIS. If you make your own. Winning.
I’m adding fresh pineapple chunks to mine here because I was using it on some homemade meatballs, but if you want to keep the sauce for a longer time, just leave them out. It will still be delicious, and without the fresh pineapple, it easily keeps in the fridge in a jar with a tight-fitting lid for a week.
This is a very straight-forward recipe, and once you’ve made it you’ll ask yourself why you ever bought BBQ sauce in the first place.
Let me just give you few quick tips on how to make your Pineapple BBQ Sauce foolproof!
How To Make Pineapple BBQ Sauce:
- Whisk all ingredients except for the pineapple chunks together. This is one of the most important steps of this recipes, because you absolutely must make sure there are no lumps of cornstarch left here.
- Add the pineapple chunks (if using) and stir well.
- Place in a medium saucepan and bring to a boil, whisking constantly. It’s very important you keep whisking, so you don’t end up with a lumpy sauce.
- Simmer until the sauce is as thick as you want it to be.
- If it is TOO thick, you can always add more pineapple juice. If it’s too thin, whisk a little cornstarch into cold pineapple juice, then whisk that into the sauce. NEVER add the dry cornstarch directly into hot liquids.
Once it’s ready, transfer it to a clean jar while hot. Leave to cool before storing in the fridge. It will keep for about 2 days if you’re using fresh pineapple and a week if you’re making it without the pineapple.
I wish my 15 year old self would have known have to make this. But then again my mom would probably have lost her mind about all the sticky honey and pineapple juice everywhere… Messy cook alert right here.
Also, I may or may not be eating my homemade bbq sauce with a spoon right now. Oops.
Get the recipe for Pineapple BBQ Sauce:
Printable recipe
Pineapple BBQ Sauce
Recipe details
Ingredients
- 1 cup pineapple juice
- 4 tablespoons low sodium soy sauce
- 4 tablespoons tomato paste
- 2 tablespoons cornstarch
- 1 tablespoon molasses NOT blackstrap, they're too bitter
- 2 tablespoons honey
- 1 tablespoon sesame oil
- 1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
- 1 teaspoon ground ginger
- 1 teaspoon dried garlic powder
- 1 cup finely diced pineapple OR canned crushed pineapple optional
Instructions
- Whisk all ingredients together in a small saucepan (off the heat!) until smooth and no more lumps of cornstarch are visible. Stir in the pineapple chunks, if using.
- Bring to a boil, whisking constantly. Then lower the heat to a simmer and cook, stirring, until the sauce has thickened to your liking.
- If the sauce is too thick, add a little more pineapple juice. If the sauce is too thin whisk a little cornstarch into cold pineapple juice, then whisk this into the sauce and simmer until thickened enough. Do NOT add dry cornstarch directly into the hot sauce!
- Pour into a clean jar while hot and allow to cool before closing with a tight-fitting lid and storing in the fridge.
Donna says
I think the recipe would be simpler if the cornstarch was added to the Pineapple Juice and whisked straight away. Then whisk all ingredients. Will eliminate the cornstarch lumps that would occur.
Nora says
Donna, this recipe is absolutely on my list for an overhaul… I just haven’t gotten to it yet. But yes, absolutely fantastic suggestion, I will make a note and try it your way once I get to re-testing this. Thanks for your comment, I appreciate it!
Elaine says
Loved it but added more garlic and vinegar
Ruth says
If there is no molasses what can I use?
Nora says
Hi Ruth, you can use honey! Preferably a dark one, but if there’s only c lear honey that’s fine, too. OR maple syrup, that works really well, too.