This keto BBQ sauce recipe will save your low-carb grilling season and make your BBQ flavors even better all year round. It’s a quick and easy way to make a delicious sauce in just a few minutes!
When it’s summer, you need BBQ sauce for grilling. Whether you’re making chicken, ribs, or burgers, BBQ sauce adds the perfect taste and makes everything taste better.
A great BBQ sauce is thick, tangy, and zesty. But is BBQ sauce keto-friendly? Most store-bought options have too much sugar, making them hard to fit into a keto diet, especially if you love a lot of sauce like I do.
The reason traditional BBQ sauces aren’t considered keto is that they have a lot of added sugar, which is also why they taste so good. But don’t worry! I’ll show you a few smart ways to make homemade keto BBQ sauce. Plus, I’ve found some of the best store-bought brands that are low in carbs and still taste great.
Also try this Honey French Dressing—perfectly tangy and low-carb for your favorite dishes!
Keto BBQ Sauce…
Can you have bbq sauce on keto?
On a keto diet, which usually limits carbs to 20-50 grams per day, you can have BBQ sauce, but you need to be careful. Some people on keto avoid certain ingredients like wheat and specific sweeteners, while others just focus on staying within their carb limit, no matter the ingredient.
In general, most store-bought BBQ sauces are not keto-friendly because they have a lot of sugar, which makes their carb count high. However, you can still enjoy BBQ sauce on keto if you find a low-carb version or make one at home that fits within your carb limit.
Here are some popular bbq sauce brands and their carb counts per serving:
Sweet Baby Ray’s BBQ Sauce – 18 grams of carbs per 2 tbsp
Famous Dave’s Rich & Sassy BBQ Sauce – 14 grams of carbs per 2 tbsp
King’s Hawaiian Sweet Pineapple BBQ Sauce – 15 grams of carbs per 2 tbsp
Kraft Hickory Smoke BBQ Sauce – 13 grams of carbs per 2 tbsp
Best keto BBQ sauce brands
Good news for people on a low-carb diet! There are more and more store-bought, ready-to-eat keto BBQ sauces, and they taste great. Here are some of my favorites:
1. Rays No Sugar Added BBQ Sauce
3 grams net carbs per 2 tbsp
2. G Hughes Sugar Free BBQ Sauce
2 grams net carbs per 2 tbsp
3. Ken Davis Sassy 2 Carb BBQ Sauce
2 grams net carbs per 2 tbsp
How to make your own low-carb BBQ sauce
To make this BBQ sauce, which uses ketchup with no added sugar, you only need these ingredients:
- Low Sugar Ketchup – I like Heinz No Sugar Added Ketchup, but you can use any brand you prefer.
- Worcestershire Sauce – This sauce has fish in it. If you’re allergic to seafood or avoiding soy, you can use coconut aminos instead.
- Liquid Smoke – This gives the classic BBQ flavor and should be easy to find at the store.
- Apple Cider Vinegar
- Brown Swerve
- Garlic Powder
- Salt
- Black Pepper
- Ground Mustard Powder
- Cayenne Powder (optional)
Is no sugar-added ketchup keto?
My personal diet includes foods that are low in carbs, no matter what they are. Some people avoid no sugar-added ketchup because it uses sucralose to make it sweet.
This is not a deal breaker for me, especially because 1 tablespoon of the brand I use only has 1 carb.
Heinz No Sugar Added Ketchup – 1 gram of carbs per 1 tbsp
If low sugar ketchup doesn’t fit in your diet, you can still make a delicious homemade keto bbq sauce.
Nutrition Info
For one serving (2 tbsp) of my keto bbq sauce, you’ll get:
Calories: 29 Calories
Total Carbs: 5.5g Total Carbs
Fiber: 0.05 grams fiber
Sugar Alcohols: 1.5 grams
Net Carbs: 3.93 grams net carbs
Protein: 0.14 grams protein
Fat: 0.04 grams fat
And here’s a breakdown based on ingredients:
| Ingredients | Calories | Total Carbs (g) | Fiber (g) | Sugar Alcohols (g) | Net Carbs (g) | Protein (g) | Fat (g) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2 cups no sugar added ketchup | 320 | 32 | 0 | 0 | 32 | 0 | 0 |
| 1/2 cup worcestershire sauce | 104 | 26.4 | 0 | 0 | 26.4 | 0 | 0 |
| 4 teaspoons liquid smoke | 6.67 | 1.33 | 0 | 0 | 1.33 | 1.33 | 0 |
| 2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar | 6 | 0.2 | 0 | 0 | 0.2 | 0 | 0 |
| 1/4 cup Brown Swerve | 0 | 24 | 0 | 24 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 1 teaspoon garlic powder | 10 | 2.3 | 0.3 | 0 | 2 | 0.5 | 0 |
| 1 teaspoon salt | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 1/2 teaspoon black pepper | 3 | 0.75 | 0.3 | 0 | 0.45 | 0.1 | 0.05 |
| 1/2 teaspoon ground mustard powder | 8 | 0.6 | 0.2 | 0 | 0.4 | 0.4 | 0.5 |
| 1/4 teaspoon cayenne powder | 1.5 | 0.25 | 0.125 | 0 | 0.125 | 0.05 | 0.075 |
| Totals | 459.17 | 87.83 | 0.925 | 24 | 62.905 | 2.38 | 0.625 |
| Total Per Serving (/16) | 28.698125 | 5.489375 | 0.0578125 | 1.5 | 3.9315625 | 0.14875 | 0.0390625 |
