This lusciously thick BBQ sauce is sweet, smoky and tangy.
Using simple store cupboard ingredients, it’s ready in less than 10 minutes.
Use it as a basting sauce, dip or pouring sauce – perfect for chicken wings, hot dogs and burgers!
This is THE sauce.
The sauce that turned me from a barbecue sauce ‘meh’ person, to barbecue sauce lover.
It’s the first time in my life that I now reach for barbecue sauce rather than ketchup for my french fries and hot dogs.
Made of store cupboard ingredients, it’s got a lovely smoky, sweet and tangy flavour to it.
And this recipe makes 2 cups. So that’ll last at least a week right? ahem.
Ingredients for barbecue sauce
- For sweetness – tomato ketchup, dark brown sugar, black treacle and honey
- For tang – white wine vinegar and Worcestershire sauce
- For a bit of heat and smokiness – mustard powder, smoked paprika and black pepper
- Plus a little vegetable oil to bring it all together and make it smooth and glossy.
How to make barbecue sauce from scratch
Full recipe with detailed steps in the recipe card at the end of this post.
- Place all of the ingredients in a saucepan and mix together.
- Heat over a medium-high heat, until boiling, then simmer for 5 minutes. Turn off the heat. That’s it!
You might notice that the sauce smells a little vinegary when bubbling in the pan, but the vinegar smell and taste mellows beautifully as the sauce cools
What to serve it with
You can serve this tasty homemade bbq sauce with:
- Crispy Baked BBQ Chicken Wings
- Buttermilk Chicken Burger
- Oven-Baked Bacon – on a lovely soft Brioche Roll
- Crispy Copycat KFC Chicken
- My juicy Brisket Sandwich
- Just as a dip for some fries
Or Pretty much anything on the BBQ
What would you serve it on or with?
Now I’m a BBQ sauce convert, I need more ideas!!
How do you use barbecue sauce?
Use it as a dip for fries or veggies, as a basting sauce for wings, ribs and chicken pieces (brush on during cooking for the last 10 minutes of cooking), as a pouring sauce for hot dogs and burgers or even as a base sauce for pizzas.
You can also add a tablespoon or two to chilli con carne, casseroles, bolognese or shepherds pie for a nice flavour kick!
Want a bit of spice?
Add 2 tbsp of sriracha or 0.5 – 1 tsp hot chilli powder to the pan at the same time as the rest of the ingredients.
Watch how to make it
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BBQ Sauce
Ingredients
- 300 ml (1 1/4 cups) tomato ketchup
- 4 tbsp white wine vinegar
- 5 tbsp dark brown sugar
- 2 tbsp black treacle or molasses
- 3 tbsp honey
- 2 tbsp vegetable oil
- 1 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
- ½ tsp mustard powder or 1 tsp English mustard
- 1 ½ tsp smoked paprika
- ½ tsp black pepper freshly ground
Instructions
- Place all of the ingredients in a saucepan and mix together.300 ml (1 1/4 cups) tomato ketchup, 4 tbsp white wine vinegar, 5 tbsp dark brown sugar, 2 tbsp black treacle or molasses, 3 tbsp honey, 2 tbsp vegetable oil, 1 tbsp Worcestershire sauce, 1/2 tsp mustard powder, 1 ½ tsp smoked paprika, 1/2 tsp black pepper
- Heat over a medium-high heat, until boiling, then simmer for 5 minutes.
- Turn off the heat and allow to cool before serving or storing.
Video
Notes
So if you only want to make 1 cup of sauce, halve the ingredients.
If you want to make 4 cups of sauce, double the ingredients.
It will take longer to come to the boil if you’re making more, but you will still only need 5 minutes simmering time. Nutritional information is per serving – this recipe makes approx 2 cups – which is about 30 servings of 1 tablespoon.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Some of the links in this post may be affiliate links – which means if you buy the product I get a small commission (at no extra cost to you). If you do buy, then thank you! That’s what helps us to keep Kitchen Sanctuary running. The nutritional information provided is approximate and can vary depending on several factors. For more information please see our Terms & Conditions.
Yummy
My teenage daughter adores this sauce and it’s so easy for us to make….. we just keep having to make more!
I dribble a little on cheese on toast
tried it but added extra honey thinking it wont be that sweet but wow very sweet tangy and hot paprika so little spice kick too.used cyder rather then wine vinegar so not sure the diff but pretty nice like the harvester bbq sauce used to be like quite punchy and bold.not as nmice as gary rhodes way back but cant find that now so not a bad sub.less honey though.gunna go on some bbq’ed ribs and marinated chicken kebabs. yum.
Yeah I found this too sweet aswell, i just added a splash more white distilled vinegar at the end and it was perfect. Also good to remember when this is room temp/cold the sweetness wil be dulled.
Had this alongside pulled pork, absolutely delicious, many thanks
We have started doing this sauce and we cant believe we have been buying shop sauce all this time. So easy to make and þastes bloody gorgeous. Just want to say thanks niki. It’s amazing
Made this today in preparation for two upcoming Barbecue. Absolutely delicious and so simple to make. Have a supper club brunch coming up soon, so I will be using on my Bacon and Cheese club sandwiches as well. I have stored in sterilised jars and have set one aside to see how long it may keep.
Absolutely fantastic bbq sauce. I will definitely make it again. I added the sriracha. So so good. I used it on ribs. Amazing. Thank you for the recipe.
Love this recipe on jackfruit, pork, sometimes I even drizzle it over a salad. The balance of the recipe is perfect, no tweaking required, I often find I have to tweak recipes a little to suite my palate but not with this one. Keeps really well in the fridge too.
This is absolutely delicious 😋 and so easy to make. Will never buy shop bought again. Thank u for sharing xxx