Vivian Howard’s Blueberry BBQ sauce… via Alabama Chanin.com website
- 3 quarts blueberries
- 6 cups cider vinegar
- 6 cups granulated sugar
- 1 cinnamon stick
- 3 teaspoons chili flakes
- 2 teaspoons kosher salt
Combine the blueberries and the vinegar in a blender and blend until super smooth. Combine the blueberries, vinegar, sugar, and spices in a large pot. Bring the pot up to a simmer in a heavy bottomed pot and cook about 40 minutes, stirring frequently to prevent scorching. It should reduce and thicken up slightly. Remove the cinnamon stick and chill the sauce.
NOTE: I added water to my blueberries in the blender. By doing so, it extended the cooking time – drastically. Additionally, because I ended up with such a large volume because of the additional water, I had to use a thinner-bottomed stockpot, and thus a lower burner. I ended up cooking this for about 5 to 6 hours to get the right thickness. If you deviate, you will pay the price. Good thing I started early on a Sunday morning!
I canned my in 4- and 8-ounce jars by processing them in a waterbath for 15 minutes. Start the timer once the water begins boiling. When the timer is up, remove the jars and let cool for 24 hours, undisturbed. Within a few minutes, you should hear the lids start to “ping” as they cool down and the lids seal.
This yielded four 8-ounce jars, and nine 4-ounce jars, plus a little leftover that we sampled that evening on some freshly smoked mackerel that a friend brought over. It was delicious!
On the fourth of July, there were still plenty of unripened blueberries.
On the fourth of July, there were still plenty of unripened blueberries.
Three quarts of blueberries, some brown sugar and apple cider vinegar are the primary ingredients for Blueberry BBQ Sauce.
After pureeing the blueberries in the blender, I added about a cup of the vinegar and ran it to clean out everything stuck to the sides. No waste!
The stockpot: very, very full! By the time it had cooked down, it was about half the volume. Mind you, I had added several cups of water while pureeing the blueberries. Why? I don’t know! It added many hours to my cooking time.
This was used in her restaurant to create a Blueberry BBQ chicken flatbread with smoked Gouda, Red Onion and Jalapenos. Sounds yummy!! Thank you Vivian Howard for sharing!
icookforleftovers 
in the recipe above you stated “granulated sugar”- which I am assuming is white. Below you noted, with photo that all you need to make this recipe is …., brown sugar….to clarify- which is it- white or brown? Thanks so much!
Hi, Judy. You are right. The recipe I followed called for white sugar, but everything is better with brown sugar. Sometimes, anyway. I think I used less brown sugar but added almost that amount of honey. When it was nearing the end of cooking, it was sooo vinegary I added more honey. I ended back up to the 6 cups of sugar. Why I thought one of her recipes would need reduced sugar is beyond me.
I will also say that this sauce is much better once it has “sat” for a few months, like pickles. There was quite a bit of difference between what we tasted a month after canning and 1 year after canning.
So…was Vivian’s recipe with white or brown sugar? Just curious :}
The one I found had just white sugar.
This is not the same as in her cookbook, Deep Run Roots. Proportions are different, as is the process. Also, you left out the bay leaf. Sorry I made this before checking the cookbook. Guess I was being lazy and went right to the internet instead of getting up to take the book off the shelf!
No, I guess it isn’t since I posted this 2 years before the book was published. This was her recipe back then, apparently what is (or was) the ingredients listed on the bottles. https://www.vivianhoward.com/products/blueberry-bbq-sauce. The recipe I followed was from this blog: https://journal.alabamachanin.com/2014/07/vivian-howards-blueberry-bbq-chicken-flatbread/
I’m sure by the time she wrote the cookbook she had adjusted/perfected her ingredients and method. Still good stuff! I will say, that much like pickles, this is actulally better after a week or so.