Apple Jalapeno BBQ Sauce
On June 07, 2022 (Updated May 10, 2024)
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This amazing apple jalapeno BBQ sauce is sure to tingle your taste buds. It’s the perfect blend of savory and sweet with a kiss of heat! Try it on ribs, chicken, and more for an awesome BBQ meal.
Homemade Apple Jalapeno BBQ Sauce
This apple jalapeno BBQ sauce takes a traditional ketchup-based BBQ sauce and adds apple and jalapenos for a twist on classic BBQ flavors. I created this sauce on a whim after craving something a little different on my ribs than the typical Kansas-City style BBQ sauce.
This sauce is the perfect combination of sweet, savory, and spicy, and when slathered all over Apple Jalapeno Smoked Ribs, the results are absolutely incredible. It’s also simply amazing on top of Simple Smoked Pulled Pork, drizzled on BBQ Chicken Nachos, and brushed on a Smoked BBQ Fatty. This sauce is good on everything!
Ingredients for Apple Jalapeno BBQ Sauce
I absolutely love making my own BBQ sauce from scratch and have developed a pretty awesome formula for crafting perfectly balanced sauces.
When making a homemade BBQ sauce, your best bet is to remember these 4 key elements: fresh ingredients, store-bought ingredients, sweetness, and acidity. For every one of my favorite sauces, I combine fresh ingredients (in this recipe, it’s the jalapenos), store-bought ingredients (ketchup as the base), sweetness (apple juice), and acidity (apple cider vinegar).
Here’s what you need to make this sauce. Full ingredient amounts are in the recipe card below.
- Ketchup
- Apple juice
- Apple cider vinegar
- Brown sugar
- Molasses
- Black pepper
- Garlic powder
- Onion powder
- Celery salt
- Ground coriander
- Jalapeno
How to Make Apple Jalapeno BBQ Sauce
Homemade BBQ sauce is one of the easiest things you’ll ever make. All you need is a stove and saucepan! Here’s how to make apple jalapeno BBQ sauce.
- Make the sauce. Combine all ingredients for this sauce in a medium saucepan. Cook over medium heat until the sauce comes to a boil. Reduce the heat and simmer for 25 minutes. The sauce should thicken to a classic BBQ sauce consistency.
- Chill. Remove the sauce from the heat and allow it to cool. Transfer to a lidded jar and refrigerate overnight. While you can use this sauce immediately, the flavors are more robust if allowed to chill for 12-24 hours before using.
- Use or store. Once the sauce has had time to chill and rest, use it on your favorite recipes. Any unused sauce can be stored in a sealed glass container in the refrigerator for up to 2 weeks.
Tips for Making Apple Jalapeno BBQ Sauce
- Adjust the spice level. If you like it spicy, you can dice the whole jalapeno (seeds and everything) and if you like it milder, remove the seeds and white ribs inside the pepper before dicing.
- Make in advance. If you are making the sauce the same day, it will totally work fine. Waiting overnight is recommended to fully enhance the flavors, but I get that sometimes it doesn’t work out. If you can plan ahead, make this sauce a day or two before you plan on using it and store it in the fridge until it’s go-time.
- Buy it premade. If you are interested in saving time making this sauce, you can purchase a bottle from the Hey Grill Hey Store! It’s the same awesome sauce packaged and delivered straight to your door!
More BBQ Sauce Recipes
If you like this Apple Jalapeno BBQ Sauce recipe, be sure to check out these other homemade BBQ sauce recipes that I can’t get enough of!
Apple Jalapeno BBQ Sauce Recipe
Follow the recipe, and let’s make some really good food! Hey Grill Hey is here to help you make better BBQ, feed the people you love, and become a BBQ hero. Head on over to Instagram, Facebook, and YouTube! for more behind-the-scenes action!
This post was originally published in October 2017. We recently updated it with more information and helpful tips. The recipe remains the same.
Apple Jalapeno BBQ Sauce
Ingredients
- 1 ½ cups ketchup
- 1 cup apple juice
- ⅓ cup apple cider vinegar
- ¼ cup brown sugar
- 2 tablespoons molasses
- 1 tablespoon black pepper
- 1 tablespoon garlic powder
- 1 tablespoon onion powder
- 1 teaspoon celery salt
- 1 teaspoon ground coriander
- 1 medium jalapeños finely diced (seeds removed if you want mild sauce)
Instructions
- Make the sauce. In a medium saucepan, combine all ingredients and whisk to combine. Cook over medium heat until the mixture comes to a boil, then reduce the heat and simmer for 25 minutes.
- Use or store. Remove the sauce from the heat and allow it to cool. Transfer the sauce to a lidded jar and chill in the refrigerator overnight before using. This sauce will last 2 weeks in the fridge if stored in an airtight container.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Wow! These ribs are easily some of the best I have ever made thanks to this sauce!!! I used an electric smoker and transfered to the oven at the half way point (3 ish hours later) also, I injected the meat with apple juice and it kept things reaaaly tender and full of a nice apple flavour. I used hickory pellets… Because that was all I had at the moment but the hickory flavour complemented the apple/jalapeno sauce and sweet spice mix quite well. I added 2 tbl spoons of tomato paste to the sauce to make it slightly thicker but all in all the sauce is the key to the ribs.
Wow!! Thanks so much for the review!! I am so tickled that these turned out so good for you!!
Honestly, I made this and it tasted like canned spaghettios due to your ketchup ratio. I’d suggest not that, at all, and use paste.
As for the jalapeños in it.. don’t get it. Should deff roast and then purée. Raw items just float to the bottom and don’t gradually go through. Especially how you were calling this ‘Apple jalapeño’… roast both (actually apples) then put in. Positive critisim.
Thanks for your feedback. If you decide to make this with roasted apples and jalapenos and tomato paste, you should come leave another comment and let me know how it turned out! I get that some people don’t like ketchup based sauces, but it definitely works for me!
Can you substitute apple cider for apple juice?
Absolutely!!
Can you sub tomato sauce for the ketchup?
You can try it! You’ll be missing a lot in terms of sweetness and thickness, so you’ll likely need to make some adjustments in the amount of sugar and cook time. The results won’t be quite the same, but it could work! If you try it, come back and let me know if it worked out!
Hello Suzie – I usually use granulated garlic and granulated onion. Would using the granulated verse powder form change the recipe? Any drawbacks you can think of?
Thanks!
It should be a simple swap, I can’t imagine any real drawbacks or issues! Enjoy.
Hi Susie – I have an over abundance of jalapenos from my garden and for some reason my wife and I thought it was a good idea to buy 4 bushels, yes bushels, of apples from our local orchard. With that said, this apple jalapeno BBQ sauce not only sounds great but will help me use some of these goodies. Not one to just make a small batch of something (just made 6 quarts of apple butter -yum) I was wondering if this recipe is suitable for canning. Have you tried? Have your tried freezing it? Your thoughts as well as this recipe are greatly appreciated.
Canning is a tricky one because you’ve got to get the correct amount of acid to prevent spoilage. I haven’t tested it enough to recommend a safe way to can. However, it freezes beautifully. I typically freeze in s quart size freezer bags (double bagged). In the deep freezer they will last over 6 months.
Awesome!! Thank you for your time, Susie 🙂
Do you use the dark brown sugar for the BBQ sauce or does it really matter?
I do use dark brown sugar, just because that’s what I prefer, but you can use what you have on hand.
This sauce is amazing! Thank you for coming up with it and thank you for sharing it!
Its better to leave it over night as the sauce will thicken the colder it gets. The first time I used it hot off the stove it was too watery… The second time I rushed the boiling process… And as they say, 3rd time is a charm because that shizzzle was perfect. I bbq every week for a group of 15 friends and the chicken doesnt last 2 mins off the grill… Makes me feel good that my friends eat my food right off the grill.
Yay Raymond! I’m so glad it finally turned out how you wanted it. That resting over night phase can be a tough one, but it really does help!
What’s the minimum time it has to refrigerate before using? And is there a reason for this? This is my second time making and it’s amazing. Thanks!
Hey Andrew! The only reason for the refrigeration time is the sauce actually gets better as it sits overnight. All the flavors marry together. It’s not required though, you can use it right after you make it!
I made the sauce and used it hot off the stove after it simmered for 5 hours and it was spectacular!
Why would this last in the fridge for only 2 weeks? The jalapenos?
Yep, introducing the jalapeños can cause it to spoil. Honestly, I have personally used it after two weeks but I would hate to have it go bad after that time and somebody get sick. Better safe than sorry.
If you’d like this to last longer in the refrigerator, consider using jalapeño powder (make your own with a dehydrator and a blender/spice grinder) in place of the fresh jalapeño. Great recipe!