This Homemade Blueberry BBQ Sauce whips up in no time at all and is absolutely delicious!
This is a version of a blueberry sauce that we served at the BBQ restaurant that I owned. It was a customer favorite, for sure! I decided to recreate it for a ham that I recently made. I know that sounds odd, but it worked really well as a glaze for the ham, as long as you don't mind a purple-tinted ham!
At the restaurant, we served our Homemade Blueberry BBQ sauce with our brisket and everyone went crazy over it. It was fantastic on our smoked wings too! Believe it or not, it's even great on a cracker with cream cheese!
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The Homemade Blueberry Sauce recipe is simple and you can make it anytime of the year by using frozen blueberries. I used my Ninja Foodi Hot Cold blender to whip this up, but you could cook it for a few minutes in the Ninja Foodi or on the stove and then use a food processor another blender to blend it smooth.
Can I use Fresh Blueberries in this Homemade Blueberry Sauce?
I'm sure you can! I haven't tested the recipe with fresh blueberries because they are out of season right now, but here are my suggestions for using fresh blueberries.
Combine all the ingredients as listed in the jar of the (affiliate link)Ninja Foodi Hot Cold Blender and cook on high for 30 minutes or select the Dip function. This should allow the blueberries to soften and give off their juices. Then, cancel the cook time and select the smoothie function to blend up the sauce.
If using the stove or the Ninja Foodi, you will need to stir frequently and cook on a low to medium heat to prevent scorching. Transfer sauce to a food processor or blender to blend until smooth.
What Can I Serve this Homemade Blueberry BBQ Sauce with?
It's good on so many things... where to start?
Probably my all time favorite way to serve this sauce is with smoked chicken wings that are then fried. This was a speciality of ours in the BBQ restaurant and, if you have a smoker and an Air Fryer or Deep Fryer, you can certainly make them at home. It's been a really long time, but I think we smoked our fresh wings for about an hour and then flash fried them. Coated them in this delicious BBQ sauce and they were incredible!
If you don't have a smoker and a deep fryer, no worries! The Ninja Foodi PC & AC can get the job done, minus the smoke flavor. Simply follow this recipe for my Asian Sticky Wings, but skip the sauce and instead use the Blueberry BBQ sauce. You will be amazed. I promise!
It also tops a pulled pork sandwich very nicely! You can use this recipe for Asian Pulled Pork and skip the Asian flavors by using beer, water, or chicken stock for the thin liquid.
I also used this BBQ sauce as a glaze for ham. It was pretty tasty, but, be warned, you will be eating purple tinted ham. That might be kind of cool at Easter!
If you follow along in all my cooking experiments, you already know that I tested out 6 different hams in the Ninja Foodi PC & AC and, let's just say, I had a lot of ham to use up. So, I got a little creative and made a grilled cheese with brie and ham. I used this Homemade Blueberry BBQ sauce to spread on the inside of the bread and it was so good, I'm writing up a recipe for it!
Basically, you can use this BBQ sauce in place of a glaze on Salmon (YUM!) or Tuna. Chicken would also be a good choice. Get creative and let me know how used your Homemade Blueberry BBQ sauce!
Steps for Making Blueberry BBQ Sauce in the NF Hot Cold Blender
Gather all your ingredients and measure out the spices. This helps prevent errors and wondering if you added an ingredient yet. Put the ingredients into the jar of the Ninja Foodi Hot Cold blender in the order they are listed. This is important because you want your thinner liquid on the bottom for better heat transfer. Put the lid on (make sure the center cover is in as well) and lock into place.
Select the cook function on high. Cook for 5 minutes, then stir the ingredients around to get better heat distribution. Repeat this 3 times, for a total of 15 minutes of cook time. Then, cancel the cook function by pressing "cook" and select the "smoothie" function. The best tool I have found to stir inside the blender is this (affiliate link)Skinny Scraper from Pampered Chef! If you don't have one and you have the NF Hot Cold Blender, you NEED one... or three! I love them!
Allow to cool for a few minutes to thicken. Serve & Enjoy!
Homemade Blueberry BBQ Sauce
Equipment
Ingredients
- ½ cup apple cider vinegar
- 2 teaspoon lemon juice
- ½ cup brown sugar
- 2 teaspoon black pepper
- 2 teaspoon chili powder
- ½ teaspoon sea salt
- ¼ teaspoon all spice
- ¼ teaspoon cinnamon
- ⅛ teaspoon chipotle
- 2 cups frozen blueberries
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Instructions
- Add all the ingredients in the order they are listed into the Ninja Foodi Hot & Cold Blender. Select the cook mode on high an cook for 5 minutes.
- Move the liquid and solids around with a long spatula and continue to cook for another 5 minutes. Move the liquid around again and cook another 5 minutes.
- Cancel the cook mode and select the smoothie function. Allow to cool slightly so it thickens up. Serve and enjoy!
Notes
Nutrition
ABOUT THE RECIPE AUTHOR, LOUISE LONG
Louise is a full-time recipe creator and food blogger @ The Salted Pepper. She has over 30 years of experience with cooking and recipe development. She owned a restaurant for several years and was a full-time RN until retiring to blog full-time.
Louise has several very active Facebook groups that help people with the basics of cooking and getting the most out of the Ninja Foodi.
Ninja Foodi Fresh & Healthy Meals
Seeing the need for easy, delicious, and high quality recipes, she is focusing all of her efforts creating recipes specifically for the Ninja Foodi. Her recipes are easy for the home cook to follow and provide step-by-step instructions.
Louise is also a YouTube creator and you can find most of her recipes in video format on The Salted Pepper YouTube channel.
She is very responsive to messages and eager to help in any way she can.
Lisa Garland
How long is this good in the fridge?
Louise
It lasts a really long time in an airtight container. Definitely weeks, maybe longer. The sugar and acids help to preserve it.
Dixie
This is such a versatile and easy recipe! We literally put it on everything! From ribs, etc. to burgers and today waffles!
Dixie
Such a great addition! I make it keto friendly by replacing sugar with swerve. We use this on everything. From ribs to hamburgers and even pancakes! (Keto of course).
It stores well, it freezes well, and tastes great!
Dawn Dickinson
Hi Louise can you make this ahead of time and store it? If so what do you suggest?
Sylvana
Hi Louise, I don’t have the Foodi hot & cold blender. Could I make this on the stove to cook, and then transfer to my Nutri Ninja to blend?
Louise
Yes, absolutely.