Feijoa season is short and sharp, usually providing an over abundance of fruit. Time to add Feijoa BBQ Sauce to my seasonal repertoire.
Once ripe and fallen to the ground, feijoa will start to decay and you’ll have rotten fruit in no time at all. USE IT before you lose it!
I’ve made Feijoa Jelly (delicious with a cheese platter or white meats), Skin-on Feijoa Chutney (brilliant on a sandwich or virtually everything). I’ve used feijoa in baking including my Feijoa & Cream Cheese Muffins, even Infused Feijoa Vodka…and now, thanks to a shared recipe amongst our local Crop Swap group, this Feijoa BBQ Sauce which is as delicious with BBQ meats as it is as a pizza base.
Update: Yay, we’ve found the original recipe source (sauce)! Vicky Mavin came up with an ingenious recipe, a variation of a Feijoa Steak Sauce she’d created for a local Hawke’s Bay website Sustainable Ewe. Thanks Vicky!
As with many recipes that I favour, this sauce uses feijoa with skins on, meaning no fuss and plenty of feijoa goodness. The reason why fruit is generally measured by weight (rather than fruit count) is because of the size variations. Not all feijoa are equal, as I remind myself each season!
I was recently introduced to a ‘mammoth’ variety that lived up to its name. One feijoa alone weighed in at 351g!
I thought you may be interested to hear that I have since made this recipe with frozen feijoa and it works a treat! Having so many feijoa last season, I froze several kilograms of feijoa whole. Let them defrost for around 20-30 minutes on the bench-top – this won’t defrost them completely but soften enough to cut off the flowery end, and to cut them into quarters. Then, use the partially frozen feijoa pieces as you would fresh feijoa for this recipe. Yum!
If you have never cooked with whole feijoa before … please understand that the finished product (ie: the sauce) will be somewhat gritty. This has nothing to do with the cooking method. It purely is the texture of the fruit. If you want something absolutely smooth may I suggest the Feijoa Jelly that I mentioned earlier. It is strained through a muslin cloth so no grit passes through.
For more feijoa recipes and inspiration simply type FEIJOA in the search box, top right hand corner.
Feijoa BBQ Sauce
Makes: approx 2 litres
Ingredients
- 2 kg feijoa, skin on
- 5 medium tomatoes, diced
- 1 onion, diced
- 5 cups vinegar (white or malt)
- 2 cups apple cider vinegar
- 5 cups sugar
- 2 Tbsp salt
- 2 Tbsp molasses or treacle
- 1 tsp ground cloves
- 2 tsp allspice
- 2 tsp ground ginger
- 2 tsp crushed garlic
Method
- Wash the feijoa to remove any spray or orchard dirt, then ‘top’ them by cutting off the flowery end. Cut roughly into quarters, or more of the fruit is very large.
- Add feijoa, along with all other ingredients, into a large saucepan.
- Bring to a boil over a high heat, stirring occasionally until the sugar is dissolved.
- Reduce heat then simmer uncovered for 3 hours, stirring occasionally.
- The sauce would have reduced somewhat. Allow to cool slightly then blend with a stick blender, or in batches in a food processor.
- Return to heat to raise the temperature before bottling into hot sterilised bottles.
June 1, 2024
OK so I spent a lot of time preping for this, but alas I have a gritty texture, yuck 🤮. I have strained it through my finest strainer, still gritty! What have I done wrong? Is it the fruit themselves or have I not boiled it long enough?
Tomorrow I am trying the Chutney recipie here’s hoping that’s not a fail also
June 5, 2024
Hi Rozzie, thanks for sharing your experience. Unfortunately it is the fruit – that gritty texture is a combination of the flesh itself and/or the tiny seeds inside the feijoa. Sorry it wasn’t your thing. Try the Feijoa Jelly! >>Julie
May 6, 2024
Hey guys. Just did this with an equal amount of chilli. Couple of tweaks (out of necessity) maple syrup instead of treacle.. coupleof other things.. ill let you know how it goes.
May 11, 2024
Hi Bram, great to hear … and please do let me know! I tweak recipes all the time due to missing ingredients too. Thanks for sharing. >>Julie
April 14, 2024
Is it possible to reduce the amount of sugar!!?
April 15, 2024
Hi Stacy, absolutely I think it would work with less sugar if using just the feijoa pulp. This recipe includes skin-on and it can get bitter with the skins, hence the sugar quantity there to balance it. If you experiment with it, I’d love to hear how you go. Happy preserving! >>Julie
April 30, 2023
how do you get rid of the gritty texture
April 30, 2023
Hi Kim, the flesh of the feijoa is dense, grainy and creamy so I think that gritty texture you’re experiencing is just part of the flesh once it’s all cooked up into the sauce. If it’s too gritty for you, don’t waste the sauce! You could try adding it to casseroles etc where the texture isn’t so identifiable but you still get to enjoy the taste. Worth a try perhaps? >>Julie
April 13, 2024
I just made this sauce with the leftover pulp from feijoa jelly.
After I reduced it and processed I stained it through my Moulinex with the finest sieve.
No grittiness detected after.
April 15, 2024
Hi Sue, good on you! That’s a great use of leftover pulp – and love the sieve addition too. Thanks for sharing. >>Julie
April 28, 2023
Nice recipe. Identical to one I created several years ago, as an adaptation of a steak sauce recipe on a local Sustainability Website.
It would have been lovely for the Sustainable Ewe to have been credited as your source (sauce 🤣).
April 29, 2023
Hi Vicky, so nice to hear from you! I first came across this recipe which was shared in a local crop swap…and unfortunately, the author was unknown. Yes, it is very similar, so very happy to credit you with this one, it’s delicious! Keep up the great work! >>Julie