Wowsie, sometimes I really miss BBQ—you know the sweet, yet spicy/tangy, taste of BBQ ribs from Outback or pulled pork from a street vendor at the fair? And when I start feeling that way, I know that it is time to pull out my Sugar-Free Sweet and Spicy BBQ Sauce and make something yummy!

And in grilling season, this is just the perfect dish—without any of the guilt or sluggishness associated with sugar-laden BBQ sauces (okay, and that sweet bread AND bloomin’ onion AND homemade croutons AND…you get the idea!).

This recipe might look like it has a lot of steps, but take heart:

(1) You can omit the marinating if desired (especially if using bone-in chicken with skin and/or dark meat);

(2) If you have the BBQ Sauce Base in your pantry, making the BBQ sauce is really not any harder than mixing up any other one-bowl-one-whisk concoction. (So make that base!);

(3) You might not feel the need to pre-cook your chicken like I do. I get nervous about getting chicken done on the grill without precooking. That is a personal choice.

So…many steps or few—this chicken is worth the extra time to make amazing grilled BBQ chicken!

Grilled BBQ Chicken {Sugar-Free}

• Sugar-Free Sweet and Spicy BBQ Sauce (two times if you like things really saucy and you are going to marinate your chicken)
• 15 lbs mixed chicken pieces, bone in/skin on
• Monterey Marinade one time (if you want to marinate your chicken that day; if you are using skinless chicken rather than the skin on listed above, I recommend marinating)

Note: This can also be made in the oven. I would recommend baking it a hot oven then broiling at the end to get the BBQ sauce cooked into the skin just so!

Make BBQ sauce as directed here two times for fifteen pounds of saucy chicken.

Marinating and pre/cooking in the crock pot makes it super easy!

Optional: Save out one cup of the BBQ sauce and make Monterey Marinade if you will be marinating your chicken for a few hours ahead of time.

Optional: Make Monterey Marinade one time.

Optional: Place your chicken in a large bowl or huge crock pot insert and pour marinade over all. Let sit in fridge for an hour or more to marinate. (Do not marinate out on counter—even if your chicken is frozen as some will defrost sooner than others and you risk spoilage of the early-defrosted chicken.)

Optional: Place crock pot in the base and cook until internal temperature reaches 120 degrees or so. (For my super-hot crock pot, this is two hours on high followed by two hours on low.)

Note: I always start any chicken in the crock pot on high for an hour or two (even chicken I am shredding for casseroles, etc.,). I feel it is safer than having chicken in a warm environment for too long (rather than in a “cooking state,” which it gets into more quickly on high for an hour.

Optional: If you want to precook in the oven, that is another option, making sure it reaches the internal temperature listed.
Transfer chicken to grill and use a brush to slather the BBQ sauce over both sides of the chicken.
Cook on medium heat for twenty to forty minutes, depending on your grill and how precooked your meat was (longer if you did not precook!).
Turn frequently and sauce often. Chicken is done when it reaches an internal temperature of 165 degrees. (I always use a meat thermometer for chicken—and I have been known to get my married kids meat thermometers every year for Christmas…you know, in case they lost last year’s!)

Recipe Labels and Variations

Low Carb (LC): Carbs are minimal (just from the tomato paste and a tiny bit from the broth and the molasses).

Family-Friendly Low Carb (FFLC): This does not taste the least bit sugar free or low carb! My “this is sugar-free, isn’t it, Mom?” adult kids all really enjoy it! And there is something wonderful about skin-on BBQ chicken—the way the BBQ sauce sticks to the skin. The way the skin crisps up on the grill. Yeah, this is yummy stuff!

Store-Bought-Stella (SBS):  Very homemade—but very worth it! Of course, SBS may also purchase store-bought sugar-free bbq sauce and use that in place of my homemade version. Just be sure you try it ahead of time as the store bought ones vary greatly in how “sugar-free” they taste!

Homemade Hannah (HH): Go on, Hannah, you know you want to do all the steps! 🙂
Freezer Cooking (FC): This chicken can be flash frozen after it is grilled and then dropped into zip-lock bags for one or two serving use. To flash-freeze, just place the finished chicken pieces on cookie sheets (I would line with parchment…always parchment!) and slide into the freezer. Leave there uncovered until chicken is frozen solid. Then remove and place in freezer bags or containers. To use, you would just defrost in a dish (if you defrost in the bag, all of your sauce will come off on the bag as it defrosts!) in the fridge, heat in the microwave or oven, and enjoy!

Oldie Goldie Family Recipes (OG): This “pre-cooking in a BBQ-based marinade” is how I have always fixed my BBQ chicken! Love that flavor infusion!

Trim Healthy Mama (THM): As it is written, this recipe is an S with the skin on the chicken (and the combination of dark meat and white meat) and with the oil in the marinade. To make this an E, you would need to be sure you do not marinate in oil (broth and BBQ base only) and you would need to use boneless, skinless breasts. I highly recommend marinating if you are using chicken without skin and/or white meat only.

Cycle Cooking (CYC): I don’t usually do BBQ chicken in my cycle cooking as grilling takes longer than a cycle cooking day allots!

Sugar Free (SF): Sugar-free and amazingly yummy!

Gluten Free (GF):  Be sure all of your products are gluten-free, and you will be great!

Low Carb Mixes (LCM): This uses my BBQ Sauce Base mix! Love my “Low Carb Mixes and Fast Fixes”!

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Sugar-Free Sweet and Spicy BBQ Sauce

One of the primary uses for my BBQ Sauce Mix is definitely to make BBQ sauce! I love sweet BBQ—but I also love foods with a little zip. This sauce give me both!

Click for recipe!

I like the sweetness just as it is, but you might like a little more or a little less bulk sweetener. Also, I like the spice as is, but you might want to adjust your base (i.e. omit the chili powder) or lessen the liquid smoke if you feel it is too spicy for your family.

Generally speaking, this sauce can be slathered on fifteen to twenty pounds of chicken (as given below—totaling three cups or so). It keeps in the fridge for a couple of weeks, so even if I do not need all of it at the time, I go ahead and make the three cups and store the leftovers in a canning jar in the fridge. (I can always BBQ a few breasts or a pound of shrimp for my husband and me when the kids are all gone some evening!)

Soon I will give my Monterey Marinade that I like to use to marinade things I will be BBQ’ing. That marinade uses one cup of this sauce, so I like to keep a little in the fridge for that marinade as well.

 Ingredients:

• ½ cup BBQ Sauce Mix
• ½ cup bulk sugar substitute (Splenda, erythritol, or xylitol—use a granulated one that measures cup-for-cup in place of sugar)
• 4 ounces tomato paste
• 1/2 cup apple cider vinegar
• 1 teaspoon blackstrap molasses
• 2 Tablespoons liquid smoke
• 1 to 1 ½ cup broth (I use beef or pork when making bbq for those meats and chicken broth when making bbq for chicken)
• 1 to 2 tsp Worcestershire sauce

1.    Mix all ingredients except broth until smooth.

2.    Whisk in broth as needed to get the thickness desired. (Keep in mind that if you are not using it immediately or you are refrigerating it for future use, it will thicken. You can wait and add more broth when you reheat and whisk again if desired.)
3.    Store or use immediately.

4.    Just before using, re-whisk and heat in micro for 2 to 3 minutes.

5.    Makes just under 3 to 3 ½ cups of BBQ sauce (depending on how much broth you use and how thick you like your BBQ sauce).

Recipe Labels and Variations

Low Carb (LC): Carbs are minimal (just from the tomato paste and a tiny bit from the broth and the molasses).

Family-Friendly Low Carb (FFLC): This does not taste the least bit sugar free or low carb! My “this is sugar-free, isn’t it, Mom?” adult kids all really enjoy it! Regular BBQ sauce is so sugar-laden. It is like eating a candy bar every time you use a few tablespoons! This is tasty without the sugar coma!

Store-Bought-Stella (SBS):  Very homemade—but very worth it!

Homemade Hannah (HH): Sweet and spicy HOMEMADE BBQ sauce…you gals will love it! Optional: If you do not want to use liquid smoke, you may omit it altogether. Some HH’s do not like to use such a processed condiment. (I love the smoky taste that it adds!)

Freezer Cooking (FC): I have made BBQ meatballs and BBQ chicken breasts ahead of time and froze them. They were still amazing!

Oldie Goldie Family Recipes (OG): Not my original BBQ sauce from years ago—but better because it isn’t like eating candy! 🙂

Trim Healthy Mama (THM): This BBQ sauce can be used in all three settings, depending on what you put it on! Put it on chicken with skin for a yummy S meal. Put it on turkey meatballs or pulled pork for an E meal. Or put it on skinless, boneless chicken breasts for a FP!

Cycle Cooking (CYC): I make my seasoning mixes all at one time to rotate them in to my cycle cooking!

Sugar Free (SF): Sugar-free and amazingly yummy!

Gluten Free (GF):  Be sure all of your products are gluten-free, and you will be great!

Low Carb Mixes (LCM): This uses my BBQ Sauce Base mix! Love my “Low Carb Mixes and Fast Fixes”!

DISCLOSURE: I am an affiliate for these products that I recommend. If you purchase these items through my links, I will earn a commission, but you will not pay more when buying a product through my link. 🙂

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     BBQ Sauce Base

• 4 Tablespoons dry minced onion (D ½ cup; Tr ¾ cup)
• 1 TBSP garlic powder (D 2 TBSP; Tr 3 TBSP)
• ½ to 1 TBSP chili powder (D 1 to 2 TBSP; Tr 1 ½ to 3 TBSP)
• 2 teaspoon ground mustard powder (D 4 tsp; Tr 2 TBSP)
• 2 teaspoon paprika (D 4 tsp; Tr 2 TBSP)
• 2 bay leaf crumbled (or use powdered/ground bay leaf) (D 4; Tr 6)
• 2 teaspoon salt (D 4 tsp; Tr 2 TBSP)
• 1 teaspoon pepper (D 2 tsp; Tr 1 TBSP)

1.     Combine all ingredients and store in air tight container.

2.    Use as desired in recipes on Character Ink blog that call for BBQ Base. (Recipes for Sugar-Free BBQ Sauce Recipe and Grilled BBQ Chicken {Sugar-Free} coming soon!)

3.    Also may be used by the teaspoonful (or more!) in recipes in which an onion-y, somewhat spicy flavored is desired (since there is no sweetener in the BBQ Base itself.)

4.    Recipe may be doubled (D) or tripled (Tr) or quadrupled—sorry, do your own math on the latter! I use this often enough in various things to go ahead and make it five or six times when I make it. It isn’t just a bbq sauce mix to me but a handy somewhat spicy seasoning mix! Gives things that Tex-Mex flavor!

Use this BBQ Sauce Base to make my yummy Sugar-Free BBQ Sauce!

Recipe Labels and Variations

Low Carb (LC): This is a very low carb seasoning mix. The small amount of minced onion is really the only thing with measurable carbs—and I don’t even count that. (And the sauce that is made from this is also very low carb!)

Family-Friendly Low Carb (FFLC): I use this in so many cooking applications. I used to have this seasoning called 33rd & Galena (from Penzeys Spices, which are great!). With this, I don’ t need that seasoning any more. Handy to have for all cooking—not just low carb.

Store-Bought-Stella (SBS):  The whole mix process is pretty homemade, which might make some SBS’s think that my ideas and recipes are not really for them. However, the very nature of a homemade mix is to make things faster and easier. If you are a Stella who is a Homemade Hannah-Wannabe, then start making mixes as they are the best of both worlds—the homemade world and the quick and efficient world! 🙂

Homemade Hannah (HH): Any Homemade Hannah who wants to be more efficient in her kitchen and desires to have a cool cupboard full of mixes (see picture here!) will love this mix! The bbq sauce is homemade, sugar-free, and out of this world sweet yet spicy!

Freezer Cooking (FC): I don’t recommend freezing seasoning mixes like I do flour and baking mixes.  I use them too fast to need to freeze them any way!

Oldie Goldie Family Recipes (OG): This is not my original, sugar-laden bbq sauce recipe base from days gone by. But I feel better using less or no sugar nowadays!

Trim Healthy Mama (THM): The BBQ Sauce Base as it is given above may be used in an S, E, or FP setting since it has little carbs and no fat. Sprinkle it on anything you want to give a Tex-Mex flavor to!

Cycle Cooking (CYC): I love to make all of my seasoning mixes at one time since I have so many spices out already. Then another day I will make my sweet mixes and another my croutons, etc. This is in addition to my beloved “shredded chicken cycle,” “crumbled ground beef cycle,” etc.

Sugar Free (SF): This base is sugar-free—and so is the amazing bbq sauce recipe that uses this base.

Gluten Free (GF):  I am not a gluten-free cook, but I understand that if you put gluten-free products together (i.e. all of your spices are gluten-free), your mix will be gluten-free, so go for it!

Low Carb Mixes (LCM): This is not specifically a low carb mix. (I would have loved to have had created this years ago before I began low carb cooking!) But I call it a LCM because the dishes that use this base (coming soon—Sugar-Free BBQ Sauce Mix, Grilled BBQ Barbecue Chicken {Sugar-Free}, Monterey Marinade, Philly Cheesesteak Casserole, Crock Pot Beef Fajitas, and more!) are all low carb (and sugar-free and nearly always grain-free!).

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