Tangy Homemade BBQ Sauce
- PREP 5min
- COOK 10min
- TOTAL 15min
If you can add ingredients to a saucepan, you can make this easy homemade BBQ sauce. This homemade sauce is better than anything you can buy at the store! It’s made with pantry staples like ketchup, brown sugar, and cider vinegar and is ready in under 20 minutes. Store it in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 1 month!
You Will Need
1 ½ cups (390g) ketchup, see tips
5 tablespoons (65g) packed light brown sugar
1 tablespoon molasses
6 ounces (177ml) pineapple juice with no added sugar (3/4 cup)
2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce or Pickapepper sauce, see tips
2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
1 tablespoon plus 1/4 teaspoon smoked paprika
2 teaspoons mustard powder, like Coleman’s, see tips
1 ½ teaspoons garlic powder
1 teaspoon onion powder
1/8 teaspoon ground turmeric
1/4 teaspoon fine sea salt
1 teaspoon fresh ground black pepper
1/4 teaspoon Aleppo pepper or cayenne pepper, optional for heat
Directions
Whisk all the ingredients in a medium saucepan over medium-low heat. Continue to whisk as you bring the sauce to a simmer. Since the saucepan is over lower heat, this will take a few minutes, but keeping the heat low prevents the sugars in the sauce from scorching.
Once the BBQ sauce bubbles, cover the saucepan with its lid and reduce the heat to the lowest flame or setting. Leave the sauce covered for 8 minutes.
Transfer to jars and let cool. Keep refrigerated for up to one month.
At first, this homemade barbecue sauce tastes sweeter and vinegary. However, after it has cooled, the flavors mellow a little, and the sauce becomes one.
Adam and Joanne's Tips
- Ketchup: This sauce is best when made with thicker varieties of ketchup with no high fructose corn syrup added. You can use homemade ketchup, or we have found that organic or natural options like Hunt’s 100% Natural or Heinz Simply work nicely in this recipe.
- Pickapepper and Worcestershire sauce: These umami-rich condiments are used as seasonings in soups, stews, and sauces. Pickapepper is a little thinner and a bit sweeter than the more savory Worcestershire, but in most circumstances, they are interchangeable. As a bonus, Pickapeppa sauce is naturally vegan, so if you want to make vegan barbecue sauce, Pickapepper is the right choice.
- Dry mustard: Coleman’s dry mustard is excellent here, but you can substitute it with other mustard powders, such as prepared Coleman’s mustard or Dijon mustard. When substituting prepared mustard for dry, you will need a bit more. Start with one tablespoon of prepared mustard and go from there.
- Making BBQ sauce on the grill: You can also make this BBQ sauce on the grill. Be mindful of the hotter areas of your grill. Keep the sauce over the coolest, most indirect heat so the sugars don’t burn.
- Making vegan BBQ sauce: Use vegan-reviewed brands of ketchup, sugar, and molasses, as well as Pickapepper sauce, instead of Worcestershire.
- The nutrition facts provided below are estimates.