It’s grilling season, so it’s only natural that I make my own homemade BBQ Sauce! This sweet, smoky, and tangy sauce takes only minutes to make and will take your summer grilling to new heights of drooly deliciousness. While making your own BBQ sauce isn’t much less expensive than buying a bottled sauce, I love it for its deep, rich flavor, the fact that I can make it on demand (instead of having another half-used bottle of sauce hanging out in my fridge), and because I can control every single ingredient that goes into it.
“I made this as is…I was concerned when I tasted it “raw” before putting it on the stove. After 5 minutes at a simmer, it was TOTALLY delicious! I kept going back for more spoonfuls! Thank you for another great recipe.”
Dana
I have a chronic condiment problem. I tend to have waaaay too many bottles of half used condiments in my fridge, so when I can make a homemade sauce with pantry staples, I’m prepared. It’s not always less expensive, but the fact that I can use up what I already have on hand instead of buying something new is itself an advantage. Plus, there are no mystery thickeners, emulsifiers, or sweeteners in my BBQ sauce recipe…which is always a winner.
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Combine the ingredients: This sauce is so ridiculously easy to make. Simply combine all of the ingredients, minus the salt, in a small sauce pot: 8 oz. tomato sauce, 2 Tbsp tomato paste, 2 Tbsp apple cider vinegar, 2 Tbsp brown sugar, 2 Tbsp molasses, 1/2 Tbsp Dijon mustard, 1 tsp Worcestershire sauce, 1 tsp smoked paprika, 1/4 tsp garlic powder, 1/4 tsp onion powder, 1/8 tsp cayenne, and some about ten cranks of a pepper mill. (that’s ice on the tomato paste, I had some saved in the freezer.)
Simmer: Stir and heat the ingredients in the pot over medium heat. Allow the sauce to come up to a slight simmer, then continue to stir and cook for about five minutes. Make sure to stir often. After simmering for about five minutes, give it a taste and add salt if needed (I did not add salt). And that’s it! The sauce is ready to use.
BBQ sauce is by nature a sweet sauce. The sugar in this recipe (both the brown sugar and molasses) serve to sweeten the sauce, balance the acidity, and create a slight glaze-like texture. The amount of sugar listed in this recipe is balanced to my taste buds, but you can always experiment with a lower sugar content to see if it’s palatable to you. Or try Googling a low sugar BBQ sauce to find a recipe that is already specifically designed to be balanced with a lower sugar content.
If you’re a BBQ fan, then you know just how versatile this sauce is. But if you’ve only ever had it when eating BBQ grilled chicken, you’re missing out! Here are a few of my other favorite ways to use this sauce:
I purposely made this a fairly small batch (just over one cup), so there wouldn’t be much leftover, but if you do happen to have some leftovers, this sauce recipe freezes very well! Pack it into any freezer-safe container (a resealable container, ziplock freezer bag, or even portioned into an ice cube tray), label it, and freeze it. It should stay good for at least a few months in the freezer. As for the fridge, I prefer not to keep homemade sauces for more than 5 days in an airtight container.
Our Homemade BBQ Sauce recipe was originally published 6/24/19. It was retested, reworked, and republished to be better than ever 7/20/25.
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