Mustard BBQ sauce is my favorite low carb BBQ sauce recipe! It’s simple to throw together and it is positively delicious served over pulled pork or grilled chicken. A little sweet, a little tangy, and so easy!
My husband bought me a smoker for my birthday a couple years ago.
Partially because I clearly enjoy cooking and trying out new things, but partially because the man is downright obsessed with pulled pork.
He piles low carb pulled pork on his plate, tops it off with some keto coleslaw, and goes to town .
We’ve always purchased the low carb bbq sauce in a bottle from the local grocery store and it’s pretty good, but I knew I could do better at home and that’s exactly what I did.
I’m still perfecting my traditional sugar free bbq sauce, but this mustard bbq sauce? Nailed it!
Mustard Based BBQ Sauce:
If you’ve never had a mustard BBQ sauce before, you’re in for a treat!
Traditionally, barbecue sauce starts with ketchup or tomatoes and a whole lot of sugar. Tomatoes are already fairly carb-y and then adding all that sugar just makes traditional BBQ sauce totally not low carb friendly.
Starting with mustard solves that problem nicely and makes for a really unique, boldly flavored, tangy, semi-sweet sauce. The flavors all just explode in your mouth!
Word of warning: If you don’t like mustard, you will probably hate this sauce. Just throwing that out there, because I know I’ll get emails asking if you can ‘taste the mustard.’ You can definitely taste the mustard. 😉
This sauce has a tangy, vibrant flavor that pairs really well with pulled pork. Plus, it’s beyond easy – just toss in a sauce pan, stir, and cook. It’s easy to adjust the sweetness, heat, and tang for this recipe too, which makes it a favorite with readers.
Ingredient Notes:
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Yellow Mustard – We’re using a bottle of traditional, American-style yellow mustard. The kind you’d put on a hot dog.
Apple Cider Vinegar – Vinegar will add that perfect tangy taste to the sauce!
Sweetener – For this low carb barbecue sauce, I’m using my favorite brown sugar substitute: Lakanto Monkfruit Sweetener. To me, it tastes just as good as brown sugar! No weird aftertaste or cooling effect and 0 net carbs.
Molasses – Just about any good BBQ sauce has some molasses in it. It really adds a lot of flavor! Just be sure to use regular molasses and not the blackstrap molasses.
Cayenne Pepper – This will add a little heat to the sauce! If you want to increase the spiciness, just add more!
We use Thrive Market for a lot of our specialty ingredients and keto snacks or products. Their prices tend to be cheaper than the local stores and I love that you can so easily sort products by diet.
Like Costco, this is a membership site, but we find that it’s more than worth it based on the amount we save over the regular grocery store.
They have monthly or yearly plans. Check it out here.
How To:
- Mix – This is a mustard based BBQ sauce, so we’ll start with an entire cup of yellow mustard. I’m just using ballpark style American yellow mustard. You’ll also add in some chicken stock (or the liquid from cooking a pulled pork), apple cider vinegar, your favorite sugar substitute, a spoonful of molasses, Worcestershire sauce, and the seasonings. Basically just fill up a pot on the stove with all the ingredients. Simple!
- Heat – Bring your pot of ingredients to a boil, reduce to a simmer, and cook for about 5-10 minutes. You want the sauce to reduce a bit and thicken up. Give it a taste and add more salt, pepper, or cayenne, depending on your preferences. That’s all there is to it! The sauce may thicken a little more as it cools. All that’s left to do is pour it over something tasty like pulled pork!
This is delicious!! Thank you. I am not even sure what I will serve it with yet, but I love mustard and made it as soon as I saw the recipe. – Joan
FAQs:
Generally most brands of mustard are going to be low carb, but some will sneak in sweeteners so just check the label if you aren’t sure. Otherwise, use your favorite brand.
Yes! It is a mustard based sauce, so if you don’t like mustard this probably isn’t for you. There are definitely some other great flavors in it though that come from the vinegar, molasses, Worcestershire, and seasonings.
Yep, it’ll store well in a sealed mason jar in the refrigerator for up to a week! We have not tried canning this recipe and don’t know if it would be safe to do so.
MORE BBQ FAVORITES!
Keto Ribs: These slow cooker keto ribs are easy to make with a simple dry rub and they come out perfectly tender and juicy!
Air Fryer Chicken Breast: Try out this awesome, easy air fryer recipe! It’s low carb and you can pour all the mustard BBQ sauce on it that you want!
BBQ Chicken Wings: My slow cooker chicken wings recipe is beyond easy and the 2 ingredient keto BBQ sauce is going to leave you drooling!
Low Carb Pulled Pork: We can’t get enough of slow cooked pulled pork, and it’s just what this mustard BBQ sauce recipe needs!
MORE LOW CARB FAVORITES!
Fathead Pizza: This is a staple in our house – the crust is perfect with any toppings, but it’s extra good for BLT pizza!
Low Carb Crackers: Sometimes you just need something crunchy to munch on!
Cauliflower Salad: You won’t even miss the pasta, promise.
Keto Ranch Dressing: Another staple that we always have in the fridge!
Mustard BBQ Sauce
Ingredients
- 1 cup yellow mustard
- 1/2 cup chicken or beef stock or 1/2 cup cooking liquid from pork or beef roast
- 1/2 cup apple cider vinegar
- 1/4 cup brown sugar subtitute
- 1 tablespoon molasses not blackstrap
- 1/4 cup Worcestershire sauce
- 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper more or less, to taste
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1 teaspoon freshly ground pepper
Instructions
- Add all ingredients to a 2-quart saucepan over medium-high heat and whisk to combine.
- Bring liquid to a light boil, then immediately reduce heat to medium-low and simmer for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally to reduce liquid by one-fourth, or until desired consistency is reached.
- Taste for seasoning and add more salt, pepper, or cayenne as desired.
- Store unused sauce in a mason jar or other tightly sealed container for up to one week.
Imagene says
Is it possible to can this recipe? I love Carolina BBQ
Karly Campbell says
I don’t have any experience with canning, so I’m not sure what you’d need to do to can this safely.
Kelly Roberts says
I’m in South Carolina, so “mustard based bbq sauce” is just bbq sauce to me, and your recipe is fantastic! Thank you, thank you, thank you! I have made it about 20 times in the past year, and tonight my SO asked me where if I came up with it myself. I told him about your blog and he suggested that I thank you, making me realize a “thank you” to you is way over due! Thank you, sincerely. Your blog has been a blessing to me and my family.
Karly Campbell says
Thanks for the sweet comment, Kelly! I’m so glad you enjoy the recipe and have found the website helpful! 🙂
Jerry Kendrick says
The nutrition card says 16 servings. The serving size says 1. 1 what, oz, gram, tsp, tbsp? If I eat the whole thing, I’ll eat 238 calories and 32 net carbs!
Please clarify.
Thanks.
Karly Campbell says
Each serving should be about 2 tablespoons, but it’ll depend on how much you reduce the sauce.
Jerry Kendrick says
Thanks for replying. Makes more sense now.
Jerry
Erin Wright says
This is really sweet as the recipe stands. What would you recommend to balance it out?
Karly Campbell says
You could always add more mustard or vinegar if you prefer it more tangy.
Tammy says
This sauce was excellent! Used it on the side to dip pilled pork in, perfectly tangy and a little went a long way.
Tammy says
*pulled pork 🙂
Karly Campbell says
So glad you enjoyed! 🙂
kitten says
I’m wondering if i can omit the molasses (dont keep any in the house) and sub the erythritol with the Swerve brown sugar for a similar flavor?
Karly Campbell says
Yes, that should be fine! 🙂
Cindy says
This stuff is really good! After tasting, I added a quarter or half teaspoon of white pepper (eye-balled it) and a teaspoon of tarragon to deepen the flavor a bit. I do think that adds to it, but it’s fantastic as written.
Camilla says
How many grams of sugar it has per serving?
Karly Campbell says
The nutrition info is in the recipe card. If you need more detailed information, you can enter the recipe into a nutrition calculator. 🙂
les howard says
hi is it american mustard you used or can you use seeded mustard
Karly Campbell says
I use American mustard.
Melissa Beaty says
I want Keto recipes!!!
Vian says
This looks awesome and i’m excited to try it, but I am curious why you specify to NOT use blackstrap molasses?
Karly Campbell says
The flavor is a lot stronger and more bitter.
Emily says
Could I possibly use Yacon syrup instead of molasses? Just trying to use what I already have in my kitchen.
Karly Campbell says
I haven’t tried Yacon syrup before. If it’s very sweet, you might just reduce the sweetener a bit. It should work fine though!
LORI says
Made this today using the juices from the crockpot… omitted the sweetener & molasses, just because sweetener seems to do funny things to my body & stalls my ketosis. Nice tangy mustard! Perfect with the pork. Thank you!
Joan says
This is delicious!! Thank you. I am not even sure what I will serve it with yet, but I love mustard and made it as soon as I saw the recipe.
Karly Campbell says
If you like pulled pork, you have to try it over this low carb pulled pork. The mustard is so perfect with the richness of the pork. 🙂
Bec (It's Yummi) says
This mustard BBQ sauce is so good, Karly! I served it with Cajun smoked spare ribs and my husband devoured them!
Karly Campbell says
It is THE BEST! 😉
Teresa says
Perfect, Karly! I can’t wait to make this.
By the way, my husband loved the radishes, I thought they were great too, but I kept wanting them to taste like potatoes, even though I knew they wouldn’t/couldn’t.
Can someone please make a potato without carbs, please Lord!!!
Keep these recipes coming, they are always a hit with us! Even though, I had to take your pancake cookbook to the basement, too hard to look at 🙂