Miami-Style Guava BBQ Sauce

By Sprig Originals ✓ · cooked up in Sprig

A glossy, tropical barbecue sauce built on a block of guava paste, charred onion and garlic, lime, and warm Caribbean spice. It sits somewhere between Kansas City sweetness and an island glaze — thick enough to cling to ribs or chicken thighs, bright enough to eat with a spoon. The guava paste does double duty as sweetener and thickener, so there's no cornstarch and no cloying corn-syrup edge.

Ingredients

• 1 medium yellow onion, peeled and cut into 1/2-inch rounds
• 5 cloves garlic, unpeeled
• 2 tablespoons neutral oil, such as canola

• 7 oz guava paste (about half a standard block), roughly chopped
• 1 cup guava nectar (or water)
• 1/3 cup apple cider vinegar
• 3 tablespoons tomato paste
• 2 tablespoons dark brown sugar
• 1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
• 2 teaspoons yellow mustard
• 1 1/2 teaspoons chipotle in adobo, minced, plus 1 teaspoon of the adobo

• 1 1/2 teaspoons smoked paprika
• 1 teaspoon ground cumin
• 1 teaspoon dried oregano
• 1/4 teaspoon ground allspice
• 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 1 1/4 teaspoons kosher salt, plus more to taste
• 2 tablespoons fresh lime juice
• 1 tablespoon unsalted butter

Instructions

1. Heat a dry cast-iron or heavy stainless skillet over medium-high for 3 minutes. Lay the onion rounds and the unpeeled garlic cloves in the dry pan and char without moving them, 4 to 5 minutes per side, until the onion has deep black-brown patches and the garlic skins are blistered. Transfer to a plate; peel the garlic once cool enough to handle.
2. Return the skillet to medium heat and add the oil. Roughly chop the charred onion, add it with the peeled garlic, and cook 3 minutes, scraping up any stuck bits.
3. Add the smoked paprika, cumin, oregano, allspice, and black pepper. Stir constantly for 45 seconds, until the spices smell toasted — do not let them scorch.
4. Stir in the tomato paste and cook 2 minutes, until it darkens from bright red to brick.
5. Add the guava paste, guava nectar, cider vinegar, brown sugar, Worcestershire, mustard, chipotle with its adobo, and 1 1/4 teaspoons salt. Bring to a simmer, whisking and mashing until the guava paste fully dissolves, about 5 minutes.
6. Reduce heat to low and simmer, uncovered, stirring every few minutes so the sugars don't catch on the bottom, for 20 to 25 minutes. The sauce is ready when it coats the back of a spoon and a spatula drawn through the pan leaves a trail that closes slowly.
7. Off the heat, blend until completely smooth — a countertop blender works best; vent the lid and blend in two batches if the sauce is still hot, or use an immersion blender directly in the pan. For a truly glossy, restaurant-smooth sauce, push it through a fine-mesh sieve.
8. Return the sauce to the warm pan and whisk in the lime juice and butter until the butter melts and the sauce turns shiny. Taste and adjust: more vinegar or lime for brightness, a pinch of salt for depth, a spoonful of brown sugar if your guava paste ran tart. Cool to room temperature before bottling; it thickens as it cools.

Chef's tips

Nutrition (per serving, estimated)

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