Jalapeno Cherry BBQ Sauce

I love taking my family to Cherry Days every summer. It’s one of my favorite things about living in North Ogden! I love the parade and the small, hometown pride that fills the streets here. I also love my giant cherry tree that gives us thousands of cherries every year. We get so many that I have to get creative in ways to use them up. My Jalapeno Cherry BBQ sauce is a delicious, unique way to use them! Dark sweet cherries add the perfect natural sweetness to this easy, homemade sauce. I used frozen cherries this time but can’t wait to make this BBQ sauce again with fresh cherries from my tree!

Servings: Makes 3 cups
Difficulty: easy
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Ingredients

12 oz (or 1 ½ cups) fresh or frozen dark sweet cherries, pitted and roughly chopped
2 tablespoons butter
1 medium onion, chopped
1 jalapeno, seeded and diced
4 cloves garlic, minced
1 ½ cups ketchup
1/4 cup apple cider vinegar
3 tablespoons brown sugar
2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
2 teaspoons liquid smoke
2 teaspoons ground mustard
Salt and pepper

Directions

Heat a large saucepan to medium-high and add butter. Add onions and jalapeno and cook until softened and browned.
Turn heat down to medium and add garlic. Cook about 1 minute then add remaining ingredients.
Simmer, uncovered, for 15-20 minutes. Carefully transfer to a food processor or blender. Blend until smooth.
Makes about 3 cups. Freezes well if needed.