Candied Jalapeño BBQ Sauce

Candied jalapeños (a.k.a. cowboy candy) are a spicy food secret weapon. They are so unassuming in looks, just glistening jalapeño pepper slices, but their sweet and spicy quotient is off the charts. In fact, they make for one amazing secret ingredient in BBQ sauce. This candied jalapeño BBQ sauce layers in that sweet heat with the earthy sweetness of molasses and the fresh tang of apple.

Flavor notes

What are candied jalapeños, exactly? Jalapeño rings simmered in a sugar and cider vinegar syrup, often with mustard seed, turmeric and garlic, so you get the pepper’s heat and the syrup’s sweetness in the same bite. Some of that syrup goes into the pot along with the peppers.

For any candied jalapeño BBQ sauce recipe, you can pick up cowboy candy online pretty easily. But if you want them from scratch, check out our homemade cowboy candy recipe as well. It’s pretty simple to make, and it’s an excellent way to use up all those extra jalapeños you may have sitting around at season’s end.

Where does all that apple come in? It arrives in three forms. Chopped red apples cook down with the brown sugar first. Then apple cider and cider vinegar go in, so the fruit and the tang build on each other, while molasses adds a darker, earthy sweetness underneath.

A full cup of yellow mustard is a lot for a tomato-based sauce, and you’ll taste it, since it sharpens all that sweetness and gives the sauce a tangy edge. If you like where that’s headed, our spicy mustard BBQ sauce goes all the way.

Two steps matter most. Let the sauce cool for about 20 minutes before blending, since blending hot liquid can force the lid off, and work in batches. Then judge the thickness on the thin side, because it keeps thickening as it cools and chills.

Adaptation ideas

But truly, any BBQ sauce can be made better (and hotter) with the inclusion of cowboy candy. Chop them up or mash them down and try them added to your favorite sauce. For this one, a few easy changes:

• Hotter: Add another half cup of candied jalapeños, or swap the fresh jalapeño for a serrano.
• Warmer spice: Make it with our extra-spiced cowboy candy, which adds allspice and cloves to the syrup.
• Milder: Seed the fresh jalapeño or leave it out, and don’t add quite as much of the candied jalapeño syrup.
• Chunkier: Blend the sauce smooth, then fold a few spoonfuls of chopped candied jalapeños back in so you get sweet-hot bites.
• Smaller batch: Halve every ingredient. The cooking steps stay the same, though the sauce may thicken a little sooner.
• Smokier: Stir a teaspoon of smoked paprika in with the garlic powder, or blend in a chipotle in adobo.

Serving ideas

Try it as a marinade, as a pulled pork sauce, or simply as a dipper. A few ways to use a batch:

• Pulled pork: Toss shredded pork with enough sauce to coat, then pass more at the table with buns and slaw.
• Ribs and chicken: Glaze them only near the end of grilling, since all that sugar burns over direct heat.
• As a marinade: Pour off the portion you plan to serve before the rest goes anywhere near raw meat.
• As a dipper: It’s good with fries, onion rings, chicken tenders and grilled sausages.
• On burgers: Spread a spoonful on the bun, and add a few candied jalapeño slices on top for extra sweet heat.
• More cowboy candy: Our guide to cowboy candy uses covers what else to do with an open jar.

Storage notes

After it cools, pour it into jars, seal them and refrigerate, and it’ll keep for about a week. Want the best flavor? Give it a few hours in the fridge before serving, since the flavors meld as it chills.

Made more than you can use? Freeze some. Small containers or freezer bags work well for this, and you can thaw just what you need overnight in the fridge whenever a grill night comes around. When you baste, use a separate bowl, and throw out whatever is left in it once the brush has touched raw meat.

Like this recipe? You’ll love these too:

• Blueberry Chipotle BBQ Sauce: This recipe delivers a delicious smoky and earthy berry sweetness.
• Hoisin BBQ Sauce: A nice exotic, sweet flavor here, and a total twist for summer BBQ.
• Cherry Habanero BBQ Sauce: A step up in heat, and those cherries provide plenty of sweet pop.

PepperScale Ebook 50 Spicy Sauces & Salsas

50 quick, bold sauces and salsas: classic salsas and fun twists, BBQ sauces with a kick, and dippers with bang. Simple to make, big on flavor.

$4.99 Get the ebook

Wicked Wednesday subscribers save 15% — join free.

Candied Jalapeño BBQ Sauce

A sweet and tangy BBQ sauce made with candied jalapeños, apples, molasses and yellow mustard.

4.19 from 16 votes

Print Recipe Save RecipeSaved!

Prep Time 15 minutes mins

Cook Time 30 minutes mins

Resting Time 2 hours hrs

Total Time 2 hours hrs 45 minutes mins

Course Sauce

Cuisine American

Servings 32 servings

Calories 71 kcal

Ingredients

 

US CustomaryMetric

 

1x2x3x

• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1/2 cup green bell pepper chopped (approximately 1/2 of medium-sized pepper)
• 1 onion chopped (small-sized)
• 1 jalapeño pepper chopped
• 3 red apples cored and chopped (peel optional)
• 2 1/2 cups apple cider
• 2 cups tomato puree
• 1 cup apple cider vinegar
• 1 cup candied jalapeños include some sauce
• 1 cup brown sugar
• 1 cup water
• 1 cup yellow mustard
• 1/4 cup molasses
• 1/3 cup Worcestershire sauce
• 1 tablespoon garlic powder
• 1 tablespoon black pepper
• 1 1/2 teaspoon salt

Instructions

 

• In a high-sided saucepan over medium heat, warm the olive oil and saute the onion and bell pepper for 2 minutes. Add the raw jalapeño pepper and continue to saute, stirring often, for another 2 minutes.
• Add the apple and brown sugar to the saucepan and continue to saute, stirring often, until the apple is softened (approximately 3 to 5 minutes).
• Add the apple cider, apple cider vinegar, tomato puree, candied jalapeños, water, mustard, molasses, Worcestershire sauce, garlic powder, salt, and pepper. Stir to combine. Bring the sauce to a simmer and cook, stirring often, until it slightly thickens (remember it will get thicker with sitting, so judge accordingly).
• Remove the sauce from the heat and allow it to sit for 20 minutes or until room temperature.
• Transfer the sauce to a blender and blend until smooth. Work in batches, filling the blender no more than halfway, and hold the lid down with a folded towel.
• Use immediately, or for best flavor allow the sauce to chill in the refrigerator for 2 to 3 hours, allowing the flavors to meld.

Notes

If the sauce is too thin after blending, you can add it back to the pot and bring it to a simmer to reduce the amount of liquid in the sauce. Remember, it will become thicker, particularly if it’s allowed to chill while setting.

Please see our recipe for homemade candied jalapeños (a.k.a. cowboy candy).

Store the cooled sauce in sealed jars in the refrigerator for up to about a week, or freeze it in small containers.

Nutrition

Calories: 71kcalCarbohydrates: 17gProtein: 1gFat: 1gSaturated Fat: 1gSodium: 306mgPotassium: 218mgFiber: 1gSugar: 14gVitamin A: 185IUVitamin C: 6.3mgCalcium: 27mgIron: 0.9mg

Keyword Jalapeno Pepper

Did you make this?Mention @PepperScale or tag #PepperScale so we can see what you made!