Homemade Gluten-Free Sweet Banana Pepper Honey Mustard Sauce (No Flour Needed)

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This Sweet Banana Pepper Honey Mustard Sauce uses no flour, no clear gel, and less sugar than similar recipes. Slightly sweet, tangy, and perfectly sticky, it's delicious brushed on chicken, amazing on pulled pork, and even great served as a dipping sauce for cheese and meat on a charcuterie board. It's a sauce you didn't know you needed in your life!

I created this recipe after falling in love with a BBQ honey mustard sauce from Savannah Bee Company while our family was on vacation. While it's not exactly the same, I'm really happy with how this sauce turned out. One of my favorite kinds of sauces at BBQ restaurants is the Carolina Gold Mustard types. Speaking of BBQ restaurants, they are everywhere in the southern region of the USA, and they sure know how to do BBQ right!

I wanted to be able to enjoy and serve my family a sweet honey mustard sauce, but most of the ones available to purchase in the grocery store usually contain a fair amount of refined sugar. So, I created one that has a lower amount of sugar and no refined sugars that we can feel good about eating.

What's different about this recipe from other honey mustard sauces is that it contains banana peppers. The peppers that I use are not spicy, they are sweet banana peppers (although I wouldn't consider a sweet banana pepper sweet or spicy). I add a few jalapenos for the spice component. Peppers give the sauce a unique flavor and balance out the mustard and honey, so there's no strong mustard bite or overpowering sweetness, just a unique well-rounded flavor.

I grow my own sweet banana peppers in my garden. Their easy to grow and yield a lot of peppers per plant. If you can't or don't want to grow them, check your local farmers market, just be sure that you buy sweet banana peppers because many stands sell hot wax peppers that look very similar.

Why you'll love this recipe:

• No flour or clear gel needed: In many similar recipes flour or clear gel is used to thicken the sauce, but this sauce doesn't use either. We will thicken this sauce by simply simmering it down until the liquid reduces.
• Less sugar: Contains less sugar than similar recipes.
• No refined sugar: We'll use coconut sugar and honey to sweeten the sauce.
• So many uses: Great on burgers, brats, brushed over grilled chicken, piled on pulled pork, even great as a dipping sauce for cheese. The possibilities are endless!

What you'll need to make this Sweet Banana Pepper Honey Mustard Sauce:

Kitchen supplies:

• Food processor
• Large kettle
• Disposable gloves

Ingredients:

Sweet banana peppers- You should be able to find these in season at your local farmers market or grow them yourself. Their easy to grow and prolific so you don't need very many plants.

Jalapenos- These also should be easy to find at your local farmers market, even some grocery stores carry them. I don't consider this to be a spicy sauce, so if you would like more heat add more jalapenos. If you don't like any heat they can be omitted completely.

Apple cider vinegar- This doesn't need to be the pricier one with the mother, regular apple cider vinegar works just fine.

Yellow mustard- Any prepared mustard will do, just look for the gluten-free label.

Coconut sugar- Any kind will do. I like Madhava brand because of the rigorous toxin and contaminate testing they do on their coconut sugar.

Salt- I recommend using mineral salt. I use Redmonds Real Mineral Salt.

Honey- It is always best to source local honey, if possible, to ensure its quality and that it is real!

Step by step instructions to make the Banana Pepper Honey Mustard Sauce:

Wash all the peppers. Cut off the tops and remove the seeds. (Wear gloves to prevent burning your skin when working with the jalapenos). Slice the peppers into rings and run them through the food processor in batches. Grind them as fine as your food processor will allow. Pour some of the vinegar into the food processor along with the peppers if you want a smoother sauce, or for a more textured sauce grind the peppers by themselves and then add the vinegar to the kettle later with the rest of the ingredients. Either way is fine, just don't forget to add the vinegar.

Add the processed peppers to a large kettle along with the vinegar (unless you've already added it when processing the peppers), yellow mustard, coconut sugar, and salt. Stir and cook on high heat until it comes to a boil. Then reduce to a low-medium heat and simmer for about 2 hours, stirring occasionally. This may take more or less time depending on how thick you would like your sauce to be.

Once your sauce has reached your desired consistency remove from heat. Then add the honey. Stir to combine and taste test. Add more honey if you desire a sweeter sauce. Let the sauce cool down and either refrigerate or freeze.

I like to freeze mine in freezer bags. I find this works really well when you take a bag of sauce out of the freezer because it thaws quickly. Then, I transfer it to a pint jar and store it in the fridge.

Ways to use this Sweet Banana Pepper Honey Mustard Sauce:

• Brush it on baked chicken thighs, drumsticks, or homemade wings.
• Great brushed on all grilled or smoked meats.
• Delicious on pulled pork sandwiches.
• Makes a great topping for sausage burgers, hamburgers, or brats.
• Spread it on a turkey sandwich or a hot ham and cheese sandwich.
• Serve it as a dip on your charcuterie board to pair with your cheese and meats.

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