Homemade BBQ Sauce is an easy, budget-friendly condiment made with simple pantry ingredients like ketchup, brown sugar, vinegar, and spices. It comes together in about 30 minutes and tastes fresher and richer than store-bought sauce.
We love making this sauce because it’s easy to customize. Whether you prefer it sweeter, tangier, or a little spicy. It’s perfect for brushing on chicken, ribs, burgers, or using as a dipping sauce.
If you love making homemade sauces as much as I do, then you will love this BBQ Sauce. It taste so much better than store bought and cooking time is simple.
This Best BBQ Sauce is great to top your favorite Grilled Turkey Burger Recipe or make Boneless Chicken Wings with.
Why You’ll Love Making Homemade BBQ Sauce!
Making homemade sauce allows you to adjust the spices to what you prefer.
- Made with simple pantry staples
- Ready in under 30 minutes
- No preservatives or additives
- Easy to adjust sweetness and spice
- Budget-friendly compared to store-bought
We especially love this recipe during grilling season when we’re cooking outside several nights a week and need a reliable sauce for everything from chicken to burgers.
Recipe Snapshot
- Recipe: Homemade BBQ Sauce
- Cook Time: 20–30 minutes
- Total Time: 25 minutes
- Yield: About 2 cups
- Flavor Profile: Sweet, tangy, smoky
- Best For: Chicken, ribs, burgers, dipping
- Freezer Friendly: Yes
Ingredients
- Ketchup – Use any brand that you like
- Apple Cider Vinegar – Adds a light tangy brightness that balances and enhances flavors.
- Brown Sugar – Make homemade or choose The Best Brown Sugar Substitutes. Feel free to use light brown sugar or dark brown sugar
- Worcestershire – This helps to balance out the flavors. But if you are out, check out The Best Worcestershire Sauce Substitutes.
- Yellow Mustard – Store bought mustard works great.
- Crushed Garlic – If using fresh learn How to Mince Garlic Cloves
- Onion Powder – We love using powder instead of chopped onion
- Smoked Paprika – Feel free to use regular paprika
How to Make Homemade Barbecue Sauce
Step 1 – Add all the ingredients to a medium size saucepan and whisk together. Bring the mixture to a boil over medium heat.
Step 2 – Low heat and simmer uncovered for 20-30 minutes until the sauce thickens.
Step 3 – Let the mixture cool at room temperature and then refrigerate until ready to use. Enjoy!
What Does This BBQ Sauce Taste Like?
This sauce has a classic sweet and tangy flavor with a subtle smoky finish from the paprika. The brown sugar balances the vinegar, while Worcestershire adds depth. You can easily adjust it to make it sweeter, smokier, or spicier.
Recipe Tips
- Rest BBQ Sauce – For the best flavor and taste, we recommend making ahead and allow the sauce to marinate with the other ingredients. This helps it to taste less vinegary.
- Cooking Sauce – All the sauce to simmer over low heat to allow it to thicken. This process usually takes about 20 minutes. Cooking time will vary.
- Flavors – Before storing the BBQ Sauce, we recommend giving it a quick taste to make sure you do not need to add more spices.
Variations Ideas
- Seasoning – Garlic powder can also be substituted for the crushed garlic in this homemade bbq sauce recipe.
- Sauce Additions – Soy Sauce is also another ingredient that goes well in homemade barbecue sauce.
- Spicy BBQ Sauce – Red pepper flakes, chili powder, cayenne pepper or hot sauce can be added for extra heat. This is a good recipe no matter what you add!
Serving Suggestions
This BBQ Sauce is great to make these delicious recipes.
Frequently Asked Questions
BBQ Sauce is a must have condiment in my home. We use it for marinating, dipping and basting our favorite meat recipes. This tomato base sauce has a hint of sweetness with tangy flavors.
You can use just regular store bought ketchup to make this BBQ Sauce. We have even used off brand ketchup and it tasted delicious. With the added seasoning, you won’t be able to tell what type of ketchup you used.
Yes, you can double the recipe. We use a lot of BBQ Sauce and it is part of my meal prep for the week.
The top three ingredients that you need to make BBQ Sauce with is Ketchup, vinegar and sugar. Then you will season it how you prefer.
Simmer longer to reduce and thicken, or stir in 1–2 tablespoons of tomato paste.
Storing Instructions
- Fridge – Store cooled BBQ sauce in an airtight jar or container in the refrigerator for up to 7 days. Because this recipe does not contain preservatives, refrigeration is important.
- Freezing – This Easy BBQ Sauce can even be made ahead of time and placed in a freezer-safe container or bag to freeze. It will stay fresh for up to 3 months.
- Thawing – When ready to use, thaw in the refrigerator overnight. If in a hurry, place the freezer bag or container in warm water to thaw.
Homemade Barbecue Sauce
Ingredients
- 1 ½ cups Ketchup
- 3 Tablespoons Apple Cider Vinegar
- ⅓ cup brown sugar
- 2 Tablespoons Worcestershire
- 2 Tablespoons yellow mustard
- 3 cloves crushed garlic
- 2 teaspoons onion powder
- 1 teaspoon Smoked Paprika
- 1 teaspoon Cumin
- ¼ cup water
See how we calculate recipe costs.
Instructions
- In a medium saucepan, combine 1 ½ cups ketchup, 3 tablespoons apple cider vinegar, ⅓ cup brown sugar, 2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce, 2 tablespoons yellow mustard, 3 cloves crushed garlic, 2 teaspoons onion powder, 1 teaspoon smoked paprika, 1 teaspoon cumin, and ¼ cup water. Stir well to combine all the ingredients.
- Place the saucepan over medium heat and bring the mixture to a boil, stirring occasionally so the sauce blends together. Once the sauce begins to boil, reduce the heat to low and simmer uncovered for 20–30 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the sauce thickens to your desired consistency.
- Let the mixture cool at room temperature and then refrigerate until ready to use. Enjoy!
Recipe Notes
Nutrition Facts
More Homemade Sauce Recipes
If you make this Homemade BBQ Sauce, we’d love for you to come back and leave a comment or star review. Let us know how you used it, whether you brushed it on chicken, tossed it with ribs, or used it as a dipping sauce. Your feedback helps other families and helps us continue sharing simple, affordable recipes you can count on.
For the seasoning, you can use porketta seasoning, available at most butcher shops, instead of those listed. Using porketta seasoning makes a sauce that is especially good on ribs. You may have to try a few shops, since the seasoning tends to be specific to each shop.
Hi ..can you can this barbecue sauce ..it is delicious but just wondering if you could can it
I haven’t tested it yet but I think this homemade barbecue could be canned. I hope you enjoy this recipe!
Hi
How many cups of sauce does this make?
This recipe makes approximately 1 1/2 cups of barbecue sauce.
I was going to make barbecue chicken on the grill and saw I was out of bbq sauce and made this recipe. I’ll never buy store bought again. It was perfect!
The recipe sounds great. How long will it keep stored in the refrigerator? Thank you.
I have kept it in the refrigerator for up to 3 months and it still tasted great.
looking forward to making sound delicious
I canned it and it will work perfectly. Process for30 mins and I made 10x the recipe and then sweetened some and spiced up the other half. I also made mine all 1/2 pints for my Christmas gift baskets. Thanks for the perfect bbq sauce ‘base’ ! 5*’s
Great to hear. Thanks for sharing!
Can this recipe be hot water bath canned for shelf storage.
I haven’t canned before so I’m not sure. Sorry about that. Thank you.
Can the BBQ Sauce be canned for storage?
I haven’t tried but I think that would work.
This recipe was perfect, thanks for posting. Pinning! 🙂
I’m so glad you liked it.