Easy Chipotle BBQ Sauce Recipe – Can or Freeze

This spicy-sweet chipotle BBQ sauce recipe takes about an hour and a half start-to-finish, including the steps for water-bath canning, though it freezes wonderfully, too. 

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I love having barbecue sauce on hand for both grilling in the summer and roasting in the winter. I think most people do, which is why store-bought sauces are so popular, right?

Since we love things a bit spicy at our house, I’ve created this chipotle bbq sauce recipe for a little heat which is tempered by the slight sweetness (reduced from most bbq sauce recipes!) from honey and brown sugar.

There are a couple reasons why I like to make my own bbq sauce, even when pre-made sauce is inexpensive:

• Number one is obviously that you can control all the ingredients – I know just what’s in it, and much of the time that includes my home-grown, organic tomatoes.
• Store-bought sauces are sweeter than we like.
• Since I control and tailor the ingredients, it tastes better to us.
• It’s still inexpensive to make.
• It’s easy!

I know many of you are thinking, “well, easy for her.” But I’m here to encourage you that if you can mix together ingredients in a pot and cook them, you can make your own sauce – and can it to be shelf-stable, which makes it super easy to grab whenever you want.

Canning really is easy, as I hope to show in this article, and when shelf stable your food is not only convenient for you, but also makes great gifts- on its own or as part of a food basket.

This bbq sauce, for example, could be the star in a gift with a homemade spice rub, some grill tongs, silicone brush, and a good oven mit – a unique and meaningful gift, my favorite kind!

The bbq sauce recipe calls for both fresh tomato sauce and canned tomato paste – though in a pinch you can use canned tomato sauce, too!

When using your own tomatoes, you can use any combo of paste and slicing tomatoes that you have, though the cooking time may be slightly more if using o lot of juicier slicing tomatoes.

Making Tomato Puree From Fresh Tomatoes

To quickly and easily turn tomatoes sauce I prefer an electric sauce maker. Is it required? of course not! But after using one for the first time I just can’t go back to hand cranking or food mills!

When I originally published this recipe, it was part of a giveaway package for Ball’s HarvestPro Sauce Maker which I was provided to test out. I absolutely loved it (and still do – I use it every year for any kind of sauce!), but they sadly discontinued it.

Here are the options for turning fresh tomatoes, skin and all, into sauce:

1. Electric Sauce Maker. Quick, quite, and no mess – my preferred method after using all the different products and techniques. While the one I use isn’t available anymore, I did some research and this one is reasonably priced and has gotten good reviews (both on Amazon and on the Pleasant Hill Grain site).
2. Hand Cranked Sauce Maker. Highlighted in this pizza sauce recipe, it works better than a plain food mill (or peeling and deseeding pounds and pounds of tomatoes), but I found it physically hard and terribly messy.
3. Food Mill. These have never worked well for me (and the better ones aren’t that cheap, either). They don’t turn smoothly and you have to work so hard at getting all the produce through the mill part. Even the classic tripod mill with a pestle like my mom used for applesauce just takes so long to push all the fruit meat through.
4. Peeling, deseeding, and blending. So much time when you need pounds of tomatoes for preserving recipes, even with this easy way to peel tomatoes.

Canned Chipotle BBQ Sauce Recipe

I wanted to make sure to show you the ingredients so you could see how real and simple they are:

• Tomato sauce/puree – from your chosen tomato strainer.
• Tomato paste – see note below.
• Honey – or maple syrup
• Brown sugar
• Canned chipotles – add more or less to vary the spice.
• Apple cider vinegar – preferred for flavor.
• Olive oil
• Onions
• Garlic
• Dry mustard
• Salt and pepper

Note on the amount of tomato paste: You could make your own tomato paste but then you’re looking at hours and hours of cooking which isn’t really that easy. If you really wanted to use less paste, you could double the tomato sauce and lessen the tomato paste by 12 to 18 ounces, cooking it a bit longer to get a thick sauce. I find that using canned tomato paste keeps this sauce quick and easy.

Ready for how easy this is?

1. Sauté the garlic and onions.
2. Add all the other ingredients and cook for a bit.
3. Blend it all into a smooth sauce.
4. Cook a bit more and voila! Barbecue sauce.

This is basically most bbq sauce recipes, by the way – they are pretty simple.

Storage

You can make smaller batches, refrigerate, and use it within a month.

Freeze for longer storage – portion into half-pint or pint jars with at least a 1″ headspace for expansion, add lids, label and freeze for up to a year.

OR you can continue with the following easy canning steps to make it shelf-stable.

Water-Bath Canning Steps

Gather all your equipment while the sauce is simmering the second time (affiliate links included):

• water-bath canner or large stockpot with a rack
• canning jars (5 pts. or 12 1/2-pints or a combo)
• new canning lids, cleaned
• screw bands (can reuse these), cleaned and rust-free
• jar lifter (a must for safely transferring the hot jars)
• canning funnel (I like metal ones, since we’re dealing with hot foods)
• ladle
• plastic spatula or knife
• moist rag or paper towel

I like using a tray next to the stove to fill the jars – it keeps everything contained and is easy to pick up and clean.

1. Clean your jars, fill with hot water and leave to sit in the sink until ready to be filled.
2. Fill the canner 3/4 full with hot water and set on the stove over medium-high heat.

3. One-by-one fill the jars with sauce, leaving a 1/2-inch headspace.
4. Remove any air bubbles by running a plastic spatula around the inside.
5. Attach lids, screwing on just fingertip tight. (Note: In the past you needed to cover the lids with boiling water for a few minutes before using, but that recommendation has been lifted.)
6. Place jar on the rack of the canner and continue to fill and seal remaining jars.
7. Bring canner to a boil over high heat, start the timer and reduce heat to a softer boil (about 7-8 on my electric stove), and monitor the soft, rolling boil for the entire time.

8. Remove the jars using the jar lifter to a towel-lined surface. Let the jars sit, undisturbed, for 12 to 24 hours. Check the seals, refrigerating any that didn’t seal. Label (especially the date) and store for about a year.

(Here’s another canning tutorial, if you’d like more information.)

For those who haven’t canned before, I promise that once the mystery is over, it makes sense and is easy to get into a rhythm.

And seeing your handiwork on shelves in your pantry? It’s a good great thing.

You can visit the Preserving Recipe Index for lots more easy canning recipes!

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4.28 from 11 votes

Easy Canned Chipotle BBQ Sauce Recipe

A spicy-sweet sauce that takes about an hour and a half start-to-finish with all the steps included for water-bath canning.

Prep Time30 minutes mins

Cook Time1 hour hr

Total Time1 hour hr 30 minutes mins

Yield: 6 pints

1x2x3x

Author: Jami Boys

Click for Cook Mode

Ingredients

• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1/2 cup finely chopped onion about 1/2 med. onion
• 3 medium cloves garlic minced
• 1/2 of a 7-ounce can chipotle peppers in adobo sauce *see notes for spice level options
• 1 cup brown sugar
• 1 cup honey or maple syrup, or a combo
• 4 cups 32 ounces plain, fresh tomato sauce**
• 3 12- ounce cans organic tomato paste
• 2 cups apple cider vinegar
• 2 teaspoons dry mustard
• 1 teaspoons kosher or pickling salt
• 1 teaspoons ground black pepper

Instructions

• Saute oil, onion, and garlic in a large, stainless steel stock pot 2-3 minutes.
• Add remaining ingredients and bring to a boil.
• Reduce heat to low and cook 15-20 minutes.
• Blend until smooth with an immersion blender.
• Cook for another 20-25 minutes for flavors to meld and sauce to thicken further, stirring often to prevent sticking. Be careful of spatters – you can partially cover the pot if needed.
• For water-bath canning:***Prepare jars, lids, and canning equipment while sauce is cooking. Remove sauce from heat and ladle into hot, clean jars one at a time with 1/2-inch headspace.
• Remove any air bubbles by running a plastic spatula or knife around the inside of the jars. Wipe rims with a moist towel and attach lids.
• Process both pint and 1/2-pint jars for 20 minutes. Remove to a towel-lined surface and let sit undisturbed for 12-24 hours. Check seals, refrigerating any that didn’t seal, label and store for year to year and a half.

Notes

*For a spicier sauce, you can use the whole can, but it will be very spicy. For a less spicy sauce, use 2-3 chipotle peppers in adobo – you’ll still get the good, smokey flavor with just a hint of spice.

**Or use an equal amount of organic canned tomato sauce.

***TO FREEZE: Let sauce cool a bit and then ladle into freezer-safe storage containers, leaving 1-2 inches headspace for expansion. Label and use within a year.

-High Altitude Adjustment: If processing at an altitude of higher than 1000 feet above sea level you’ll need to adjust the processing time according to this chart. 

-If you have any jars that didn’t seal (which is rare!), store them in the fridge and use first.

Nutrition

Serving: 2tablespoons | Calories: 32kcal | Carbohydrates: 7.1g | Protein: 0.7g | Fat: 0.4g | Saturated Fat: 0.1g | Cholesterol: 0mg | Sodium: 94mg | Fiber: 0.7g | Sugar: 6.1g

Did you make this recipe?Mention @anoregoncottage or tag #anoregoncottage!

This recipe has been updated – it was originally published in 2016.

Disclosure: I received product and/or compensation for this article. As always, the opinions, thoughts, and projects are all mine and I will NEVER promote something I don’t love and think you will find helpful – promise!