Sugar free BBQ Sauce made with Diet Coke

I love making my own ketchup  because even if not sugar free, the 'fresher' taste of homemade sauces is just no comparison to store bought versions. Another sauce I've made from scratch for years (even before ever going sugar free) is bbq sauce. I started to make it in high school when I would throw together a side dish of baked beans during summer dinners. From there I moved on to using it on shredded pork, beef, chicken and more.

After starting to use sugar free ketchup about 10 years ago, it was only natural to use sugar free bbq sauce as well.  Most of the time  I don't use a 'recipe' for the bbq sauce, and just throw it together at the last minute using the sugar free ketchup on hand.   But this is a good guide to start with and you can play with it to make it your own by adding or substituting options like Chipotle, jalapeno's, using sugar free sweeteners and water or coffee for the liquid instead of a soda, etc.


Sugar Free BBQ Sauce


1/4 c onion, chopped fine
1 clove garlic, minced1/4 c bacon, cooked and crumbled
1 - 6 oz. can tomato paste (check for sugar counts and buy no or lowest count)
1 can (12 oz) Diet Coke (or use water or coffee and add Ideal Brown Sugar Style Sweeteneror other sweetener to taste)
1/3 c sugar-free ketchup
1T yellow mustard
1 t worcestershire sauce
optional:  Chipotle flavoring, jalapeno's, vinegar, dashes of hot sauces, hickory smoke flavoring, etc.


In a saucepan on the stove over medium high heat, cook the onion in a bit of water or oil until translucent and soft.  Add the rest of the ingredients, whisk or simmer 15 minutes or so.  Let cool and use on beef, pork, chicken, etc.  I store mine in a large Mason Jar.

*Edited when I realized blogger had ate part of this recipe in editing (!?) and even added a line from a different recipe.