This BBQ Sauce Recipe is easy to throw together and absolutely delicious! Fast to make and with ingredients you already have on hand, you are going to make this homemade bbq sauce all the time.
Pair this BBQ sauce recipe with my Chicken Rub for the perfect grilled bbq chicken.
Since first sharing my BBQ Sauce recipe with you in 2019, it has gotten rave reviews. Just like me, my readers find this sauce not only incredibly easy to make, but absolutely delicious.
In the last four years, I’ve added this sauce to so many different recipes (check out the list of recipes below), and without fail, it always becomes the star of the show. Just like so many others, one you make this homemade BBQ sauce, you will never look back.
This is the only BBQ sauce you will ever need, better than store bought and so easy to do!
How to Make BBQ Sauce
This is a brief overview of how to make this delicious recipe. For the full recipe with all of the ingredients find the recipe card at the bottom of the post.
- Combine the ingredients. In a small saucepan, combine all of the ingredients.
- Bring the sauce to a boil. After being over medium heat for a few minutes, large bubbles will start to appear.
- Reduce the heat to a simmer. Once the sauce starts to boil, turn down the heat to a simmer. You should see occasional and intermittent bubbles.
- Simmer the sauce for 15 minutes. This allows the sauce to thicken and the flavors to develop.
BBQ Sauce Ingredients
- Brown Sugar: Not only does this add some sweetness to your sauce, a must in BBQ Sauce in my personal opinion, the sweetness also balances the acidity of the other ingredients.
- Ketchup: Made with tomatoes, vinegar, and sugar, this also brings some acidity and great flavor to the sauce.
- Apple Cider Vinegar: This brings the great tang that I bet you didn’t even know you love in BBQ Sauce. Read more about this below.
- Paprika: I generally keep regular paprika on hand and not smoked, so that is what I use here. That being said, smoked paprika would be fantastic in this.
- Onion Powder: This is a great way of getting good onion flavor in the BBQ sauce without chunks of onion.
- Worcestershire Sauce
- Kosher Salt & Black Pepper
Using Homemade BBQ Sauce
While BBQ Sauce is typically meant to go on meat after it has been throughly cooked, like in my Grilled Chicken Legs, I do use it as part of the cooking liquid often. Let me tell you, it makes for some pretty amazing recipes.
- Crockpot Ribs
- BBQ Chicken Nachos
- Meatloaf
- Crockpot Little Smokies
- BBQ Pork Chops
- BBQ Pulled Pork
- Crock Pot Chicken Drumsticks
- Dr. Pepper Pulled Pork
Crock Pot Ribs
BBQ Sauce as a Marinade
I’m all about breaking rules. Especially when it comes to cooking. It should be a fun creative process that makes you really happy. So while you don’t typically use BBQ Sauce as a marinade, and you add it at the end as mentioned above, if you want to use this as a marinade, go for it!
Remember that with marinades we want to marinate meat for at least 30 minutes but not more than 24 hours as a general rule. There are lots of cuts of beef that require at least 6 hours of marinating time – like flank steak for example. The point of a marinate is to penetrate the outer layer of the meat, tenderize the meat, and give it flavor. Marinating for more than 24 hours will break down the meat in a way that will make it unappetizing.
Vinegar Based BBQ Sauce
As mentioned above, the tang in this recipe comes from apple cider vinegar. In fact, in the 2 1/2 cups that this recipe makes, 1/2 a cup is vinegar.
That’s a lot of tang, and I love the flavor of it. I think it balances the the sweetness and the smokiness of the other flavors perfectly. That said, if you are worried it will be too acidic, I would start with 1/4 cup, taste it and add more vinegar until you get to taste you want or 1/2 cup, whichever comes first.
Storing BBQ Sauce
The vinegar and sugar in this recipe both act as natural preservatives, so this easy homemade bbq sauce recipe should keep in the refrigerator for up to two weeks.
Things to keep in mind:
- It should be stored in an air tight container.
- Keep it in the refrigerator.
- If the sauce looks as though it has separated, it should be tossed.
- Obviously, if there are signs of mold it should be discarded.
- When using this homemade bbq sauce avoid brushing cooked meat, and then dipping the brush back in the container, introducing bacteria to the sauce. Rather, pour some from the jar into a bowl and brush from there.
FAQ
While this recipe is naturally gluten free, you need to ensure that the Worcestershire sauce (as well as the other ingredients you are using) you are using is gluten free. There are some brands on the market that do contain barley malt vinegar, which would make this recipe not gluten free.
Yes, it can go bad. See my tips above to ensure that your sauce recipe is still good.
I don’t have enough experience with canning to advise you on this and I suggest that you use this website as a guide.
Other Great Homemade Recipes
If you try this recipe, come back and let me know what you think! I love hearing from you!
BBQ Sauce Recipe
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 cups brown sugar (319.5 grams) packed
- 1 1/2 cups ketchup (352.5 grams)
- 1/2 cup apple cider vinegar (119.29 ml)
- 1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
- 2 teaspoons paprika
- 2 teaspoons onion powder
- 1 teaspoon black pepper
- 2 teaspoons kosher salt
Instructions
- Combine all the ingredients in a small sauce pan over medium heat.
- Bring to a boil. Reduce to a simmer and cook for 15 minutes, stirring occasionally.
JJ says
Just made this for some oven baked BBQ chicken, that I want to be a little special, and HOLY. SMOKES. I used half the vinegar for my preference; and because I like a slight heat, I subbed 1 tablespoon of the ketchup w/ a half Tbsp each of Thai chili paste & Thai sweet chili sauce – this is the perfect blend of sweet, tangy, spicy, and so thick! Next time I might try a tiny touch of liquid smoke too, just for kicks :) Thanks so much for this recipe – never going back to bottled!
Glad you liked it.
Jacqueline Buchanan says
There are 4 of us in the household so I’m inquiring as to how much would be good for us when baking about 6-8 drumsticks?
The full batch of this would definitely be enough. Though you could probably get away with making a half batch, I would encourage you to make the whole thing because I think you will really like it and enjoy it on other things too.
Em says
Hey!I’m super excited to make this as my daughter has multiple allergies and store bought bbq sauce has been a bit scary for us to introduce. My question is that I’m going to be using this in a crockpot recipe and since this will be cooking for 8 hours with the meat do you think I need to follow the directions and bring to a boil and let simmer for 15 min before adding to the crockpot or can I just mix all ingredients and throw in to cook with the recipe. I’m figuring you can but I figured I’d see if you’ve done that before with success or not :)
I actually just developed a recipe using this sauce in a crockpot with meat and you don’t need to boil it first. It’s not as thick, but it gives the meat a great flavor!
Valerie says
Love the zing of the vinegar! I added 1 tsp. ground mustard and 1 tsp. chili powder. Not major changes, but I like those flavors in BBQ sauce.
Chris says
This is the only BBQ sauce you will ever need, better than store bought and so easy to do!
So glad to hear you liked it, Chris!
Paula says
This was awesome! Followed some of the suggestions and cut the ACV in half and used a 1/4 cp Thai sweet chili sauce for some of the ketchup as it like sweet spicy. So good and easy! No more store bought for me!
VIKKI says
(CAME OUT SO GOOD. WE LOVE IT.
So glad to hear this Vicki!
Erin says
I Would like to try another BBQ sauce but My boyfriend has issue of “sweet baby rays” sauce. I’m hoping you have a whole different of bbq sauce.
Thanks
Erin
Hi Erin! I you are asking if this is better than Sweet Baby Rays, I would say that it definitely is. It has a deeper flavor and is not as sweet in my opinion.
Gramma Di says
I made as is and LOVED it on my ribs. A definite keeper. Will be making again for sure. Thanks for sharing. 😊
James fitzwater says
I’ve try it like it and it was a hit can’t wait to try more