It’s summer, and that means barbecues. We love barbecuing for a number of reasons. We enjoy spending time outside; we like that it adds variety to our diet; we are thrilled to keep the heat of cooking out of our kitchens! There are some drawbacks to barbecues, the largest being that sometimes the food can be unhealthy. One source of carbs you might not think about is sauce. Today, we have four delicious low-carb barbecue sauces you can make at home.
While you can buy low-carb barbecue sauces in bottles. But, they are filled with a lot of unpronounceable ingredients. If you want to make your own and know what they are, these are the ticket. All of these recipes contain low-carb sweeteners, but not the long lists of chemicals and fillers. And, with short lists of ingredients, you likely have a lot of what you need already and will use what’s left over for other dishes!
Barbecue means something different depending on where you live in the country. It can spark big fights between the states. The Neuliven Health team is primarily made up of people from the northeast and southern California who don’t have skin in the game. We think it’s all delicious and enjoy it no matter the style!
Despite being from New Jersey, one person on our team dips all her smoked, barbecued and pulled meats in North Carolina-style barbecue sauce! This isn’t a viscous sauce; it’s a liquid. It has a strong vinegar and pepper flavor with just a touch of sweetness. It is perfect for pulled pork. While you will need to boil this sauce, it doesn’t need to be thickened, so it’s a speedy process. A serving has eight calories, 0.68 grams of carbs and 0.1 grams of fiber. Get the recipe.
This sauce tastes like one you could get out of a bottle. The difference is, instead of being filled with thickeners, preservatives, flavorings and extra colors, this one is made in your kitchen. It’s a perfect topper for meat and burgers. You can use it as a mopping sauce. You do have to simmer it to marry the flavors, adding water if you want to keep it thinner. A serving has 18 calories and two grams of carbs. Get the recipe.
If you are from South Carolina, you may think all barbecue sauces should be yellow. This one is so delicious that we can’t argue against you! It’s great on pork and chicken but most likely won’t be a hit with anyone who doesn’t like mustard — the warning is in the color! It is mustard-forward. But, if you are a fan of the yellow condiment and sweet, spicy, tangy sauces, this will be a hit! A serving has 21 calories, three grams of carbs and one gram of fiber. Get the recipe.
If you like bourbon barbecue sauces, this will hit the spot! This recipe does have a lot of ingredients. However, we love that it doesn’t require cooking. If you don’t want to turn on your stove on a hot day, this is perfect. As it doesn’t get cooked, you will still have the alcohol of two ounces of bourbon in the sauce. However, this recipe yields 32 servings, so, per-serving that’s very little. We do understand that that is a turn-off for some people. Someone in the comments said they left it out, and it worked out fine. As written, a serving has 25 calories, three grams of carbs and one gram of fiber. Get the recipe. (https://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/no-cook-low-carb-bourbon-barbecue-sauce-recipe-1943423#/)
You might wonder why we didn’t include a recipe for Alabama white sauce in our list. It’s already a very low-carb — or even carb-free — sauce. It’s not that we don’t think it’s great; it’s just that we don’t need to make any adjustments! Try out these other options to enjoy something with fewer carbs while grilling this summer!
