This sauce is taken from Wholesome Yum, a widely followed keto and low-carb recipe site run by cookbook author Maya Krampf — see the Sugar Free BBQ Sauce (Sweet & Smoky) recipe on wholesomeyum.com. It’s built to replace the bottled stuff, which almost always leans on sugar or corn syrup for its sweetness, with a stovetop sauce sweetened by a keto-friendly substitute instead.
The base is nothing exotic: tomato paste, vinegar, a hit of liquid smoke, and a short list of spices, simmered down until it thickens. What sets it apart from a regular homemade barbecue sauce is the sweetener — Wholesome Yum uses a powdered monk fruit and allulose blend rather than sugar, brown sugar, or honey.
Ingredients
- 2 1/2 (6 oz) cans tomato paste
- 1/2 cup apple cider vinegar
- 1/4 cup Besti Powdered Monk Fruit Allulose Blend (to taste)
- 2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
- 1 tablespoon liquid hickory smoke
- 2 teaspoons smoked paprika
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1/2 teaspoon onion powder
- 1/2 teaspoon sea salt
- 1/4 teaspoon chili powder
- 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper (or more, to taste)
- about 1 1/2 cups water
Method
- Whisk the tomato paste, vinegar, powdered sweetener, Worcestershire sauce, liquid smoke, and spices together in a medium saucepan, adding the water last. Start with about a cup, then whisk in more gradually until the mixture is slightly thinner than a finished barbecue sauce — Wholesome Yum notes it takes roughly 1 1/2 cups depending on how thick the tomato paste is.
- Bring the mixture to a gentle boil over medium-high heat, then reduce to medium-low and simmer, stirring frequently, for about 20 minutes, or until it has thickened.
- Taste and adjust — more sweetener if you want it sweeter, more cayenne if you want it hotter. If it’s thicker than you’d like, stir in extra water a tablespoon at a time.
Why No Added Sugar
Every sweetness cue here comes from the powdered monk fruit and allulose blend, not sugar, honey, or brown sugar. Wholesome Yum specifically recommends a powdered form over granular sweeteners because it dissolves fully instead of leaving the sauce gritty or crystallizing once it’s chilled in the fridge. The one caveat the source itself flags: Worcestershire sauce typically contains a small amount of sugar, though at roughly 1/20 tablespoon per serving in this recipe, the source describes it as trivial — and offers swapping in a dash of blackstrap molasses and water, or omitting it, for anyone who wants to avoid it entirely.
What the Recipe Publishes on Carbs
Wholesome Yum’s nutrition figures for this sauce list 20 calories and 3.5 g net carbs per serving, with 4.5 g total carbohydrate and 1 g fiber. Those numbers are exactly as the source publishes them for the recipe above; nothing here has been recalculated or estimated independently.
Using It on the Grill
Because the sauce reduces to a spoonable, glaze-like consistency rather than a thin marinade, it works the way a classic bottled barbecue sauce would — brushed onto chicken, ribs, or pulled pork in the last few minutes of cooking so it doesn’t scorch, or served on the side as a dip. Wholesome Yum’s variations section also suggests swapping in half a batch of a brown-sugar-style version of the same sweetener for a deeper caramel note, or its own sugar-free honey for what the developer calls her favorite version of the sauce. The recipe also scales easily — Wholesome Yum’s card is written for 20 servings, so it’s meant to be made as a batch rather than a single-meal portion.
Storage
Wholesome Yum recommends keeping the sauce in the fridge, where the developer has told readers in the comments that it keeps well for about two weeks. For longer storage, the source says it can be frozen for 3-6 months, either as a whole batch thawed overnight in the fridge, or portioned into an ice-cube-style tray so individual servings can be popped out and thawed in the microwave as needed. If you’d rather skip the stovetop step entirely, the source also notes this can be made as a no-cook sauce by mixing the ingredients cold and using less water — though it says the simmered version develops noticeably more flavor.
A Note on This Being a Recipe Style, Not a Health Claim
This is simply a lower-carbohydrate way to make barbecue sauce without added sugar — it isn’t medical or nutrition advice, and individual dietary needs vary, so check with a qualified professional before changing how you eat.
Keep reading
- Keto Coleslaw: Wholesome Yum’s Sugar-Free Recipe
- Grilled Keto Cauliflower Steaks: Wholesome Yum’s Recipe
- Keto Bacon Cheeseburger Wraps: Diet Doctor’s Recipe
- Instant Dairy-Free BBQ Sauce: Alisa Fleming’s Recipe