Fresh Tomato BBQ Sauce & Freezing Tips

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Freezing BBQ Sauce is a quick and convenient way to keep it on hand for use in recipes all year round. Learn how to make and freeze this delicious Fresh Tomato BBQ Sauce to take advantage of all your fresh tomatoes.

Freezing BBQ Sauce is a quick and convenient way to keep it on hand for use in recipes all year round. Learn how to make and freeze this delicious Fresh Tomato BBQ Sauce to take advantage of all your fresh tomatoes. #freezingbbqsauce #homemadebbqsauce #barbecuesauce #freezingtips #freshtomatobbqsauce

Fresh Tomato BBQ Sauce & Freezing Tips

We use Barbecue Sauce quite often at our house. Whether it’s on my favorite BBQ Meatballs, over a roast, or for some crockpot chicken, it seems like we are using a good amount each week.

With all the tomatoes I had this summer, I decided to make up some easy freezer packages of BBQ Sauce to grab when we need them. Since the sauce I make does not use any kind of vinegar or acid, I decided to freeze it instead of can it (and I will admit, I was a little tired of canning by the time I made this!).

Fresh Tomato BBQ Sauce

Ingredients:

  • 8 cups of diced tomatoes (Home Canned Tomatoes work great!)  or about 8 large tomatoes if using fresh tomatoes
  • 1 cup Onion, chopped
  • 2 teaspoons Garlic Powder
  • 1 teaspoon Salt
  • 1 cup Brown or Raw Sugar
  • 1 7-oz jar of Tomato Paste

Directions:

First, I had to make the sauce. To make BBQ Sauce out of fresh tomatoes is slightly more complicated than just dicing up tomatoes, but it can still be done easily!

Fresh Tomato BBQ Sauce

I used my food strainer and ran my diced tomatoes through it to collect the sauce. If you’re using fresh tomatoes, make sure they are clean and washed before running them through the strainer.

I used the smallest (berry) strainer that it came with so I could also strain out most of the seeds. I love my Roma Sauce Maker. Not sure how I did all the work by hand before I got it!

— See more of my favorite, recommended products.

Fresh Tomato BBQ Sauce

After straining the tomatoes, I added the tomato juice that I had made into a large stockpot. Then I added in tomato paste (to thicken it) and all of the other ingredients. Let the sauce simmer over low heat for about 30 minutes to thicken up.

Once the sauce had thickened, let it cool for a while before packaging it.

Want to print this Fresh Tomato BBQ Sauce Recipe? Grab it below:

Fresh Tomato BBQ Sauce

Ingredients

  • 8 cups of diced tomatoes Home Canned Tomatoes work great!  or about 8 large tomatoes if using fresh tomatoes
  • 1 cup Onion chopped
  • 2 teaspoons Garlic Powder
  • 1 teaspoon Salt
  • 1 cup Brown or Raw Sugar
  • 1 7- oz jar of Tomato Paste

Instructions

  1. Using your food strainer, run the diced tomatoes through it to collect the sauce. If you're using fresh tomatoes, make sure they are clean and washed before running them through the strainer. (I used the smallest (berrstrainer that it came with so I could also strain out most of the seeds.)
  2. After straining the tomatoes, add the tomato juice that you had made into a large stockpot.
  3. Add in tomato paste (to thicken iand all of the other ingredients.
  4. Let the sauce simmer over low heat for about 30 minutes to thicken up.
  5. Once the sauce had thickened, I let it cool for a while before packaging it

Recipe Notes

Note: This recipe is for a large batch of Fresh Tomato BBQ Sauce to freeze.

If you're looking to make a smaller batch, simply quarter the recipe.

 

Now that our BBQ Sauce is done, it’s time to freeze it!

As a note, You can adjust this recipe with any spice combination or freeze a different BBQ Sauce recipe that your family enjoys. Just make sure to add tomato paste to your recipe to thicken up your sauce.

–Here’s another great Homemade BBQ Sauce recipe you can try as well. 

Freezing BBQ Sauce

Freezing BBQ Sauce

For packaging in the freezer, you can use either freezer containers, freezer bags, or jars.

If you are using bags or containers…

  • Completely cool your sauce down before adding it into your containers. This way chemicals from the plastic will not leech into your food and/or your freezer bags won’t melt.
  • Leave room for expansion as your sauce freezes.
  • When you place your bags in the freezer, lay them flat so that your sauce freezes evenly.

If you choose to freeze your sauce in jars, here are a few tips you need to remember…

  • Use only flat-sided jars, like small jam jars for smaller portions and wide mouth jars for larger containers. Don’t use jars with any kind of shoulder (such as quart jars or regular mouth jars). This will help reduce the jar’s tendency to break in the freezer.

Fresh Tomato BBQ Sauce

  • Leave plenty of room for expansion in the jars as your product freezes. Take a look at the jar above. See the little line? That’s the freezer fill line. Make sure that when you fill up your jar you leave at least that much space (about an inch) between your product and the rim of the jar.
  • Make sure your product is fully cooled (possibly even refrigerated) before you place the jar in the freezer to prevent any sudden expansion from freezing that will lead to cracking.
  • When you place your jars in the freezer, make sure you place them upright and preferably in the door of the freezer so they will freeze a bit slower.

You can freeze your BBQ sauce in any size that you prefer, but I recommend freezing in portion sizes that you frequently use for recipes. The recipe above divides evenly into 4 portions that are just right for my Crock Pot BBQ Meatballs or Crockpot BBQ Drumsticks recipes.

When you are ready to use your sauce, simply move the container from the freezer into the fridge to thaw the morning of or the day before you plan to use it in a recipe. If you’re using freezer bags or plastic freezer containers, you can jump-start the thawing process by placing it in a bowl of warm water.(This is not recommended with glass jars)

I’m excited to have this base for meals in our freezer for the winter. It will really help shave off some valuable time with meal planning and preparing and I know that we are having the best sauce available since it’s made from our fresh garden tomatoes!

Looking for more Fresh Tomato Recipes? Here are some you might enjoy:

Homemade Ketchup with Fresh Tomatoes
Quick Spaghetti Sauce Recipe 
Making Sun Dried Tomatoes
How to Freeze Tomatoes
Home Canning Tomatoes 
How to Can Tomato Juice 
Canning Tomato Soup

Trying to plan better, more frugal meals for your family so that you always have a warm meal on the table and aren’t wasting money at the grocery store? You’ve got to check out my ebook Meal Planning Made Simple. Even if you thought meal planning didn’t work for your family, this ebook will help you find the perfect fit for your family’s style.

Have you ever made BBQ Sauce for the freezer? What kind of meal bases do you make ahead of time to freeze?

merissabio

This post on Freezing BBQ Sauce was originally published on Little House Living in September 2014. It has been updated as of September 2019.

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11 Comments

  1. LHL,

    Interesting – wonder what sort of spices you are using or is this a huge secret (Which I can understand, I’m Italian!)? Looks like a smart and fun way to make, enjoy and preserve BBQ sauce for quite some time. Hope it tastes great, thanks for sharing.

    -Lanny

  2. Thanks so much for all those freezer tips – I never realized that I shouldn’t be using the jars with a shoulder.

  3. Your recipe looks fabulous. Would be honored if you would stop by and share at Foodie Fridays this week. The party starts on Thursday 9 pm EST. Hope to see you there. (coming from Table for Seven)
    Blessings,
    Shari

  4. Oh boy, this sounds great! I think I will try it out. Thanks for linking up to Tips and Tricks. Hope to see you again this week.

  5. Thank you for posting this recipe! I have never made my own BBQ sauce but am moving towards making my own sauces and condiments. I pinned the post for future reference.