In my last few articles I’ve been covering how to eat healthy at barbecues and provided you with a range of healthy barbecue meat, fish and vegetable recipes to try. Today, I’m going to be continuing with the focus on barbecues and providing you with 3 Healthy & Natural BBQ Condiment Recipes.
Currently, you probably don’t put much thought into the condiments you consume at barbecues. After all, if you’re eating relatively healthy and avoiding the processed burgers and hot dogs, a small amount of condiment doesn’t sound like it’s going to have much of an impact on your health. However, gram for gram, condiments are one of the worst thing you can eat and often contain lots of sugar and unnatural ingredients but very little else.
With these three recipes you can give your condiments a healthy twist by preparing them using natural ingredients. Each condiment tastes just like its processed counterpart, packs much more of a nutritional punch and is generally much lower in calories.
To prepare each of these healthy and natural barbecue condiments you will need the following equipment…
– 1 Blender
– 1 Mixing Bowl
– 1 Saucepan
– 1 Sealable Container
– 1 Serving Bowl
– 1 Serving Spoon
– 1 Wooden Spoon
1) Healthy & Natural Tomato Ketchup Recipe
On first inspection, processed tomato ketchup doesn’t seem too bad with a single tablespoon containing a reasonable 20 calories. However, if you dig a little deeper, you’ll see that 80% of these calories come from sugar and when you add to that the fact tomato ketchup contains less than 5% of the recommended daily allowance (RDA) for any of the essential vitamins or minerals, you can see that it’s something you definitely don’t want to be consuming at every barbecue you attend over summer.
This low calorie tomato ketchup recipe cuts the amount of sugar down to just 1 teaspoon per bowl and provides you with a much lighter but still great tasting alternative to processed tomato ketchup.
Ingredients:
– 200ml Of Apple Cider Vinegar
– 200ml Of Tomato Puree
– 1 Teaspoon Of Garlic Powder (6g)
– 1 Teaspoon Of Onion Powder (6g)
– 1 Teaspoon Of Salt (6g)
– 1 Teaspoon Of Sugar (6g)
Instructions:
1. Place the saucepan on the hob on a low heat and add all the ingredients.
2. Stir the ingredients continuously with the wooden spoon until the mixture starts to simmer.
3. Once the mixture starts to simmer, stir for a further 5 minutes and then remove the saucepan from the hob and turn off the heat.
4. Pour the mixture from the saucepan into the mixing bowl and let it cool for 1 hour.
5. After 1 hour, pour the mixture into the sealable container and then let it cool in the fridge until you are ready for the barbecue.
6. When it’s time for the barbecue, remove the sealable container from the fridge.
7. If you are hosting the barbecue, pour the healthy, natural tomato ketchup into the serving bowl, add a serving spoon and place it outside with the rest of the food. Alternatively, if you’re attending the barbecue, bring the sealable container with you, ask your host if you can borrow a serving bowl and serving spoon when you arrive and then pour the healthy, natural tomato ketchup into the serving bowl, add the serving spoon and place it outside with the rest of the food.
Calories:
– 236 Calories Total (400ml)
– 11 Calories Per Tablespoon (18ml)
2) Healthy & Natural Mayonnaise Recipe
Processed mayonnaise is a thick, creamy condiment that contains a whopping 50 calories per tablespoon. In addition to this, it contains low quality vegetable oil and many other unhealthy, unnatural chemical ingredients.
This healthy, natural mayonnaise recipe allows you to cut down the calories in your mayo to just 43 calories per tablespoon. However, the best part is that it’s made using all natural ingredients, so there’s no nasty chemicals to harm your body.
Ingredients:
– 150ml Of Mustard
– 100ml Of Sour Cream
– 50ml Of Rapeseed Oil
– 2 Large Eggs (100g)
– 2 Tablespoons Of Lemon Juice (36ml)
– 1 Teaspoon Of Salt (6g)
Instructions:
1. Crack the eggs into the blender and start blending at a low speed.
2. Slowly pour the rapeseed oil into the blender.
3. Once you have poured all the rapeseed oil into the blender, slowly pour the lemon juice into the blender.
4. Once you have poured all the lemon juice into the blender, add the mustard, salt and sour cream to the blender and blend for a further minute.
5. After 1 minute, pour the mixture into the sealable container and then put it in the fridge until you are ready for the barbecue.
6. When it’s time for the barbecue, remove the sealable container from the fridge.
7. If you are hosting the barbecue, pour the healthy, natural mayonnaise into the serving bowl, add a serving spoon and place it outside with the rest of the food. Alternatively, if you’re attending the barbecue, bring the sealable container with you, ask your host if you can borrow a serving bowl and serving spoon when you arrive and then pour the healthy, natural mayonnaise into the serving bowl, add the serving spoon and place it outside with the rest of the food.
Calories:
– 934 Calories Total (400ml)
– 43 Calories Per Tablespoon (18ml)
3) Healthy & Natural Salsa Recipe
In terms of calories, processed salsa is relatively light and contains just 5 calories per tablespoon. However, despite the relatively low number of calories, a lot of the processed varieties often contain dangerous chemicals which can harm your body.
This healthy, natural salsa recipe contain a similar amount of calories to processed salsa but removes all the unnatural ingredients to create a chemical free condiment.
Ingredients:
– 200g Of Chopped Tomatoes
– 10ml Of Tomato Puree
– 1 Finely Chopped Jalapeño Pepper (14g)
– 1 Small Chopped Onion (70g)
– 1 Small Chopped Pepper (74g)
– 1 Teaspoon Of Black Pepper (6g)
– 1 Teaspoon Of Dried Basil (6g)
– 1 Teaspoon Of Dried Rosemary (6g)
– 1 Teaspoon Of Dried Thyme (6g)
– 1 Teaspoon Of Salt (6g)
Instructions:
1. Place the saucepan on the hob on a medium to high heat and add all the ingredients.
2. Heat the mixture until it starts to simmer and then simmer for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally.
3. After 10 minutes, remove the saucepan from the hob and turn off the heat.
4. Pour the mixture from the saucepan into the mixing bowl and let it cool for 1 hour.
5. After 1 hour, pour the mixure into the sealable container and then let it cool in the fridge until you are ready for the barbecue.
6. When it’s time for the barbecue, remove the sealable container from the fridge.
7. If you are hosting the barbecue, pour the healthy, natural salsa into the serving bowl, add a serving spoon and place it outside with the rest of the food. Alternatively, if you’re attending the barbecue, bring the sealable container with you, ask your host if you can borrow a serving bowl and serving spoon when you arrive and then pour the healthy, natural salsa into the serving bowl, add the serving spoon and place it outside with the rest of the food.
Calories:
– 140 Calories Total (400ml)
– 6 Calories Per Tablespoon (18ml)
Summary
By making your own condiments you can ensure that you know exactly what’s inside them and prevent any harmful chemicals from entering your body. So instead of reaching for the bottle of ketchup or the tub of mayonnaise sitting in your cupboard, stock up on the ingredients above and get cooking some healthy, natural condiments.
Once you’ve given these recipes a try, be sure to let me know how you’ve got on. Also, if you know any other natural and healthy condiment recipes that you’d like to share, feel free to do so. Simply leave a comment below to share your thoughts and recipes. Happy Cooking!