Gluten-Free Barbecue Sauce and Ketchup

The typical Heinz ketchup you buy in stores is made from tomato concentrate, white vinegar

and not one but two kinds of corn sweetener- the high fructose variety and the regular corn syrup variety. They do also have an organic variety but as we know, organic doesn't always mean healthy and in this version, they simply swap the GMO corn sweeteners for organic sugar.

Heinz also has a reduced sugar option, that throws the sugar right out the door and replaces it with artificial sweetener in the form of sucralose. Yep. Or my personal favourite, the no salt ketchup that instead contains something they call "ALSOSALT®" which is a salt substitute made of stuff you are better off scrubbing your floor with- potassium chloride and L-lysine monohydrochloride.

Our favourite organic brands from the health food store are typically not that much better- often replacing the sugar with agave.

The point is- it is so easy to make yourself, which invites you to put as much, or as little sweetener, salt and vinegar in as you like.

If you are ready to make your own, here is my world famous ketchup recipe.

Tomato Ketchup

Rating

Prep time:  10 Minutes

Cook time:  25 Minutes

Total time:  35 Minutes

A homemade ketchup recipe, without the sugar and agave that's often added to ketchup you might find on a grocery store shelf.

Ingredients

• 10 cups tomatoes (Roma preferred), chopped and seeded
• 2 large onions, chopped
• 3 large tart apples, cored and chopped
• 5 whole cloves
• 5 whole black peppercorns
• 5 pieces of whole or pinches of ground all spice
• 1 Tbs sea salt
• 1 cup apple cider vinegar
• 4 Tbs Sucanat (raw unprocessed sugar- if you don’t have any, I suppose you could use regular sugar)
• 2 sprigs fresh sage (or 1 Tbs dry)
• 1 sprig fresh rosemary (or ½ Tbs dry)
• 1 tsp cayenne pepper (optional)

Make It Like So

1. Measure out all the spices (accept sage and rosemary) and tie them up in a little square of gauze, cheesecloth, or light cotton fabric (good use for an old but clean t-shirt) with a thread to form a little bag.
2. Process tomatoes, onions and apples in a food processor or blender. As this is a large recipe, you have to do this in batches.
3. Pour processed ingredients along with the spice bag into a pot. Simmer until volume is reduced into one half
4. Chop the sage and rosemary and to the pot.
5. Add salt, vinegar, sucanat and cayenne powder and bring to a boil again.
6. Turn off the heat and pour hot ketchup into jars. If using sterilized jars, seal immediately. Otherwise let cool and then cover and store in fridge or freezer.

Gluten-Free Barbecue Sauce

Rating 

Prep time:  15 Minutes

Cook time:  30 Minutes

Total time:  45 Minutes

Love a good BBQ sauce without the additional preservatives or refined sugar? Whip up a batch of this Gluten-Free Barbecue sauce and you'll never look back.

Ingredients

• 3 tsp olive oil
• ½ large onion, diced
• 2 garlic cloves minced
• 1 500ml jar tomato sauce
• 1 tbsp or more sambal olek or organic hot sauce (I use this one occasionally)
• ¼ cup cider vinegar
• ¼ cup organic dijon or honey mustard
• ¼ cup maple syrup (or honey)
• ¼ cup blackstrap molasses
• ½ tsp sea salt or more to taste

Make It Like So

1. Heat olive oil in a medium sauce pot over medium heat and then add the onions. Sauté until translucent, about 5 minutes. Add the garlic and saute for another two minutes.
2. Add in the remaining ingredients and stir until combined. Reduce the heat to a low simmer and let it gurgle with love for 25-30 minutes, stirring often.
3. Taste test your sauce and decide if you want more heat or sweetness to it.
4. Remove from the heat and let sit to cool.
5. Run the whole mix through your food processor or blender and mix until smooth. Transfer to jars, allow to cool completely, seal and store in fridge or freezer.

http://www.meghantelpner.com/blog/barbecue-sauce-and-ketchup/