Hot Pineapple BBQ Sauce
The only BBQ sauce I ever want
This Hot Pineapple BBQ Sauce adds a tropical twist with sweet, spicy, and tangy flavors. Made with crushed pineapple, Memphis style BBQ sauce, Buffalo sauce, and optional habanero powder. Perfect for soy curls, grilled tofu, or as a dip for fries.
On my mission to find my ultimate everything - see my miso chocolate chip cookies for a bit of background, I’ve recreated my favorite BBQ sauce at home. It’s a mashup of two of my favorite sauces I’ve had over the years.
One was from a now shuttered neighborhood wing shop called Alley Cats in my college town in TN. Alex and I used to cozy up to a table with a pitcher of PBR, two baskets of wings, and two waffle fries, smothered of course, every Tuesday night for 50cent wings. We’d promptly go home and crash from the utter gut bomb that was that meal but at the time, it was damn good. They had a sauce that was buffalo and BBQ together and it was just perfection.
It wasn’t until having vegan wings from Rudy’s Pizza here in Portland that I realized I was missing an ingredient that would take my buffalo BBQ mashup to a whole other level. Enter pineapple. It’s no secret that I’m a huge Pineapple fan so obviously I loved their hot pineapple BBQ sauce.
I recreated it at home a few times, using canned pineapple juice, canned crushed pineapple, fresh pineapple juice, frozen and thawed pineapple, and finally, fresh cut whole pineapple chunks. I wanted a strong pineapple flavor and two were clearly the winner.
Canned crushed pineapple and fresh pineapple chunks both stood out for their deep, luscious pineapple flavor. Of course, using fresh pineapple will be less controllable since some fruits will be tastier and sweeter than others, especially depending on the season.
So, here’s my suggestion — if you have a ripe pineapple that’s super fragrant and sweet, use it. If you don’t, use crushed pineapple from a can.
Along with the pineapple, I add three more ingredients, and I am picky about two of the brands. Annoying, I know…
BBQ Sauce - I use Trader Joe’s Organic Memphis Style BBQ Sauce, it’s the perfect blend of sweet and smoky without being too sweet which holds up well with the pineapple. It’s also the BBQ sauce that tastes the most like a BBQ place my family use to frequent when I was a kid, so there’s a bit of nostalgia there as well. If you can find this one, use it. If not, find one that’s a thick sweet and smoky sauce that you like.
Hot Sauce - Frank’s RedHot, easy as that.
Habanero Powder - this is optional but I really love the additional clean and fruity punch of heat.
To make the sauce, all you need to do is give everything a whirl in the blender until smooth. Pour into a jar and refrigerate. It’s best after a day or so once the flavors have had time to jive with each other.
Some ways I’ve used this sauce are over soy curls for a pulled “pork” situation, in baked beans, on grilled tofu, and just as a dip for fries. It’s super versatile! Hope you love it.
