Blueberries give this lip-smacking barbecue sauce multiple levels of fresh appeal. One hits you at first glance upon seeing its unexpected indigo color. Another – its flavor – is fresher than a traditional sauce, with the fruit lending its gentle, nuanced sweetness to the tangy-savory mix. That sweetness is backed up by a drizzle of molasses, so this sauce has none of the highly refined sugar that tops the ingredient list of most bottled barbecue sauces, nor the artificial additives.
Adding to its health appeal, the sauce also has less salt and more nutrients than its counterparts. With those selling points, the bounty of fresh berries at the market now (though frozen would work, too), and the fact that this luscious sauce is so simple and quick to make, why wouldn’t you?
Just simmer the ingredients until the berries are warm and bursting – less than 10 minutes – then puree. The accompanying recipe makes two batches worth, so you can serve a crowd, or keep any remaining sauce in the refrigerator for four days, or freeze it for several months. Here, the sauce is brushed onto chicken thighs toward the end of grilling and chars pleasantly on the meat without burning. Doing that gives the poultry a purple-ish hue, which doesn’t bother me, but if you would rather avoid that and get more of a color contrast between the sauce and the chicken, brush it with a little honey at that point instead, and serve the sauce alongside. Either way, you get the complete, fresh effect.
Grilled Chicken Thighs With Blueberry Barbecue Sauce
4 servings
MAKE AHEAD: The sauce can be refrigerated for up to 4 days.
• For the sauce
1 cup fresh or frozen blueberries
1/2 cup canned, no-salt-added tomato sauce
2 tablespoons molasses
2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
1 1/2 teaspoons chili powder
1 teaspoon yellow mustard
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• For the chicken
1 1/2 pounds boneless, skinless chicken thighs
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
Vegetable oil
For the sauce: Combine the berries, tomato sauce, molasses, vinegar, chili powder, mustard, salt and pepper in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Cook, stirring occasionally; once the mixture is barely bubbling at the edges. Reduce the heat to medium-low and cook, stirring frequently, about 7 minutes, or until the berries soften and are nearly bursting. Cool slightly, then transfer to a blender and puree until smooth. You should have about 1 cup of sauce.
