Ingredients You’ll Need
Making barbecue sauce from scratch is easy, and you only need a handful of simple ingredients:
- Chipotle Peppers: Include one can of chipotle peppers with adobo sauce. You will love the sweet and spicy combination of smoky peppers and fresh raspberries. Adjust the spice level by reducing the number of chipotle peppers you include. You can also replace the adobo sauce with tomato sauce or ketchup.
- Shallots: Shallots add a slightly sweeter taste than onions, but you can substitute with yellow onions.
- Garlic: Include two fresh garlic cloves.
- Raspberries: Fresh raspberries are in season from summer to early fall. The flavor of the BBQ sauce can vary depending on the ripeness of the raspberries. Try frozen raspberries if you don’t have fresh raspberries (see my tips below on how to use them). You can also use 2-3 tablespoons of raspberry jam or raspberry preserves to add a fruity kick.
- Mustard: Dijon mustard gives the BBQ sauce a creamy, smooth texture.
- Worcestershire Sauce: Balance the sauce with umami-rich Worcestershire sauce.
- Apple Cider Vinegar: Apple cider vinegar is a sweet and tangy addition.
- Honey: Honey complements the natural sweetness of the fresh raspberries.
- Spices: Taste and season with salt and black pepper.
Additions and Substitutions
- Experiment with black raspberries, strawberries, blueberries, or blackberries instead of raspberries.
- Add a dash or two of liquid smoke for a smoky flavor.
- Make homemade chipotle paste with 5-8 dried chipotle chili peppers. Toast the dried peppers in a non-stick pan over medium or high heat. Transfer the peppers to a small bowl of warm water to rehydrate them before adding them to the sauce.
- Use fresh lemon juice, lime juice, white balsamic vinegar, or red wine vinegar instead of apple cider vinegar.
- Replace honey with brown sugar, molasses, maple syrup, agave nectar, or a sugar substitute like monk fruit.
- Thicken the sauce by whisking ¼ teaspoon of xanthan gum into the other ingredients.
Tools Used to Make This Recipe
Use an immersion blender, food processor, or high-speed blender to make chipotle raspberry sauce. However, I highly recommend an immersion blender for the best results.
Use the tall cup provided with the immersion blender, a wide-mouth jar, or one of these meal prep containers to ensure the blender works properly and to avoid a big mess. Transfer the leftover sauce to a large liquid measuring cup and pour it through a fine mesh sieve to strain the raspberry seeds.
How to Make Raspberry Chipotle BBQ Sauce
The full recipe with measurements is in the recipe card below.
Step 1: Warm butter and chipotle peppers in a saucepan over medium heat. Add the shallots, garlic, raspberries and saute until they soften.
Step 2: Whisk in the mustard, apple cider vinegar, Worcestershire sauce, honey, salt, and black pepper. Simmer for 5-10 minutes.
Step 3: Remove the pan from heat, and process the ingredients with an immersion blender or transfer the sauce to a high-speed blender.
Expert Tips
- I always keep frozen raspberries in my freezer for smoothies, and you can use them to make the raspberry chipotle BBQ sauce, but let the berries thaw before using them.
- Pour the BBQ sauce through a fine mesh strainer for a smooth sauce, discarding the raspberry seeds (and dried chili bits if making homemade chipotle paste).
- Once the sauce cools, transfer it to the fridge to speed up the thickening process.
If you enjoy the versatile sauce, pair it with one of these tasty BBQ recipes!
Serving Suggestions
Barbecue sauce is in heavy rotation, especially in the summer when it’s grill season. Pair the tangy raspberry chipotle BBQ sauce with beef ribs, baked beans with hamburger, crispy baked chicken wings, grilled chicken breasts, and pork chops.
Use it as a finishing sauce for roasted pork tenderloin, Instant Pot meatballs, baby back ribs, brisket, and pork ribs. Toss pulled pork, chicken, and beef with the sauce to make BBQ sandwiches or sliders.
It’s an ideal dipping sauce for hush puppies, chicken sausages, sweet potato fries, chicken nuggets, and tater tots. Plus, you can spread it onto English muffins or bagels with cream cheese.
What to do with the Leftovers
- Refrigerate: Store the remaining sauce in an airtight container or glass jar. Raspberry chipotle BBQ sauce stays fresh for one week.
- Freeze: Let the sauce cool and transfer it to freezer-safe bags. Raspberry BBQ sauce freezes for 2-3 months.
More Sauce Recipes:
Raspberry Chipotle BBQ Sauce
- 1 tablespoon butter
- 1 can (7 ounce) chipotle peppers, roughly chopped
- 2 small shallots, roughly chopped
- 2 garlic cloves, roughly chopped
- ½ cup raspberries, mashed
- ¼ cup Dijon mustard
- 3 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
- 1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
- ⅓ cup honey
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon coarse black pepper
- Warm butter and chipotle peppers in a saucepan over medium heat. Add the shallots, garlic, raspberries and saute until they soften.
- Whisk in the mustard, apple cider vinegar, Worcestershire sauce, honey, salt, and black pepper. Simmer for 5-10 minutes.
- Remove the pan from heat, and process the ingredients with an immersion blender or transfer the sauce to a high-speed blender.
- Optional: Pour the dressing through a fine mesh strainer into an airtight container, discarding the raspberry seeds.
- I always keep frozen raspberries in my freezer for smoothies, and you can use them to make the raspberry chipotle BBQ sauce, but let the berries thaw before using them.
- Pour the BBQ sauce through a fine mesh strainer for a smooth sauce, discarding the raspberry seeds (and dried chili bits if making homemade chipotle paste).
- Once the sauce cools, transfer it to the fridge to speed up the thickening process.
- The nutritional information shown is an estimate provided by an online nutrition calculator. It should not be considered a substitute for professional advice.