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Plum BBQ Sauce

Categories Main Course, Sauces

This plum BBQ sauce is a tried and true favorite recipe of mine! Many others have tried and love it too! The plums provide the perfect sweet umami flavor when cooked down to make this sauce a real hit! This sauce is great on any meat or as a spread.

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I created this recipe when I was 16 and have refined it through out the past 20 years.

Here’s how I created this plum BBQ sauce. When I was 16, I got set up on a blind date, it was a group date and we were having dinner at a park. I wanted to impress my date so I made some plum BBQ sauced chicken as our main dish. Everyone loved it!

To my surprise the blind date was actually cute and I wanted to impress him and seem extra mature… so long story short, I lied to my date about my age only to find out we shared the EXACT same birthday, same year and everything! Needless to say, I totally got caught in my lie… awkward… embarrassing… and I never saw him again… So moral of the story: plum BBQ sauce is always a good idea, lying is bad.

plums tray and knife Photo by Mateusz Feliksik on Pexels.com

Can you water bath can this sauce?

Yes this sauce can be canned or frozen for future use. To can this sauce follow instructions for a vinegar based jam, find official guidelines on Ball jar’s website here.

Here is how you make this plum BBQ Sauce: (printable recipe card below)

Makes roughly 7 cups

  • 2 cups chopped plums
  • 1 cup chopped onion.
  • 2 cloves garlic minced
  • 1/4 tsp chili powder
  • 3 cups water
  • 1/4 cup balsamic vinegar
  • Dash or two of hot sauce more if you want it spicier
  • 1 tablespoon molasses
  • 1 cup brown sugar (depends how ripe your plums are mine were still pretty tart)., more or less
  • 1/4 cup Worcestershire sauce
  • 1 tsp salt
  • 1/4 cup soy sauce
  • 1/4 cup ketchup
  • 1/2 tsp garlic powder
  • 1/2 tsp ground black pepper
  • 1 tsp smoked paprika

Instructions

  1. Cook onions and garlic until they start to soften. Add plums and all other ingredients.
  2. Bring to a boil then reduce heat and simmer on low until plums are soft. About 20 minutes.
  3. Use immersion blender and blend until smooth. If you don’t have one, let sauce cool then blend in blender until smooth.

This recipe goes great with chicken, beef or pork.

Here are a few other recipe you may also enjoy:

Pumpkin Seed Romesco Sauce
Date and Balsamic BBQ Sauce
Peach BBQ Sauce

Print Recipe
4.70 from 97 votes

Plum BBQ Sauce

Sweet and savory barbecue sauce
Course: Dinner
Cuisine: Barbecue, Fruit
Keyword: Barbecue Sauce, Plums
Servings: 7 cups

Ingredients

  • 2 cups chopped plums
  • 1 cup chopped onion.
  • 2 cloves garlic minced
  • 1/4 tsp chili powder
  • 3 cups water
  • 1/4 cup balsamic vinegar
  • Dash or two of hot sauce more if you want it spicier
  • 1 tablespoon molasses
  • 1 cup brown sugar (depends how ripe your plums are mine were still pretty tart)., more or less
  • 1/4 cup Worcestershire sauce
  • 1 tsp salt
  • 1/4 cup soy sauce
  • 1/4 cup ketchup
  • 1/2 tsp garlic powder
  • 1/2 tsp ground black pepper
  • 1 tsp smoked paprika

Instructions

  • Cook onions and garlic until they start to soften. Add plums and all other ingredients.
  • Bring to a boil then reduce heat and simmer on low until plums are soft. About 20 minutes.
  • Use immersion blender and blend until smooth. If you don't have one, let sauce cool then blend in blender until smooth.