Homemade BBQ Sauce Recipe – Spend With Pennies

This homemade BBQ Sauce Recipe is so easy to make and has the perfect combination of sweet, savory, and tangy.

Out of BBQ sauce? Or want to adjust the flavorings to suit your taste? Look no further! There are so many possibilities for this sauce and it can be customized to suit any dish!

Homemade BBQ Sauce

• There are so many BBQ sauces on the market but homemade is always best and you can skip the high-fructose corn syrup!
• Sweet, zesty, and tangy is the best description of this sauce.
• It’s so flavorful and easy to make using pantry staples.
• Make a double (or triple) batch, it keeps well in the fridge or freezer.
• It’s great on so many dishes! Bbq chicken, pulled pork sandwiches, and ribs all taste great doused in this homemade sauce.

Ingredients for BBQ Sauce

The Base of this bbq sauce recipe contains:

• ketchup makes up most of the base
• molasses adds a rich sweetness
• apple cider vinegar brings zesty tang
• brown sugar sweetens the mixture use dark or light brown sugar, we find dark brown sugar to have more flavor
• Worcestershire sauce is adds umami

The seasonings in this homemade sauce include minced onions and garlic (or onion powder and garlic powder for a smoother sauce) with a bit of paprika and dry mustard. Adjust to suit your preferences!

Variations

• Sweet – Substitute honey or maple syrup for the brown sugar.
• Spicy – To make it a little spicy add some cayenne pepper, chili flakes, diced jalapeno or hot peppers.
• Other – Try a splash of bourbon, whiskey, a splash of liquid smoke or even orange or pineapple juice. Try a bit of yellow mustard or soy sauce.
• Add spices or herbs to your liking. Try chili powder, cumin, smoked paprika, or oregano.

How to Make Homemade BBQ Sauce

This recipe is so easy, with just a few steps and only 30 minutes to create a custom barbecue sauce.

1. Cook finely diced onion & minced garlic with olive oil in a small saucepan
2. Add the remaining ingredients and bring to a boil.
3. Stir occasionally while the sauce simmers until it’s thick (as per the recipe below).

Storage

This is the easy part! Just keep it in a tightly sealed container like a glass mason jar or a clean salad dressing bottle. It will keep in the fridge for a couple of weeks.

Store it in the freezer for about 3 months.

BBQ sauce makes a great marinade, a perfect dipping sauce for chicken tenders, or mix 50/50 with pizza sauce (or tomato sauce) to make a bbq chicken pizza!

Did you make this homemade BBQ sauce? Be sure to leave a rating and a comment below!