Some things just scream summer, don’t they? Swimming, fireworks, freshly picked berries, homemade ice cream, and firing up the grill, to name few.
Speaking of barbequing, boy, do I have a homemade BBQ sauce for you. Seriously! Just open up your fridge and toss out all of those half empty bottles and make this right. now. NOW. This is the stuff that BBQ dreams are made of. You’ll never go store bought again. I think this would be the perfect show-off recipe for that upcoming 4th of July BBQ.
Ingredients for homemade BBQ sauce
(Please forgive the cayenne pepper. She somehow got mixed up with her dear friend, Lawry’s Seasoning Salt. Note: There is no seasoning salt in this recipe, but there is indeed Cayenne Pepper. Have I lost you yet?)
1 cup ketchup
1 cup tomato sauce
¾ cup red wine vinegar
¾ cup brown sugar
2 tablespoons butter, cut in small pieces
2 teaspoons liquid smoke
¼ cup molasses
¼ teaspoon onion powder
¼ teaspoon garlic powder
½ teaspoon paprika
½ teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon course ground pepper
¼ teaspoon cayenne pepper
1/8 teaspoon cinnamon
1/8 teaspoon chili powder
Don’t let the length of the ingredients list scare you off. I promise it comes together in a snap!
Directions for Homemade BBQ Sauce
Add all ingredients into a medium saucepan. See? I just dump it all in. This is what it looks like:
Also, the lighting over my stove is very poor. (Read: Non-existent). Yes, I certainly did walk outside and take a picture of my saucepan on my front porch.
Stir until well mixed and bring to a boil over medium heat. Turn heat to low and let simmer and thicken for a minimum of 15 minutes. I usually let mine go for at least an hour. Let cool and pour into container of choice. Refrigerate and use within 2 weeks. Use in place of 1 regular sized bottle of store bought BBQ sauce.
Today I slow cooked some chicken breasts in this sauce, shredded up the chicken and whalah! Easy, no fuss summer BBQ chicken sandwiches. Add a spoonful or two to your favorite ranch sauce for a unique BBQ flair cobb salad. On Father’s Day, I layered a dry rub on some pork ribs, smothered them in this homemade BBQ sauce and slow cooked them all day in my crockpot. DELISH, people.
As far as cost savings goes, the average joe BBQ sauce at my local grocery store runs about $2 on sale. Depending on the quality of ingredients and sale prices, our homemade version runs around $1.25.
While that’s only about a 37% savings, this recipe is well worth it! I love that I can pronounce every single ingredient (contrary to that store bought bottle) and you really can’t beat the flavor. I will never have need for another homemade BBQ sauce as long as I live. Really, it’s that good!
Homemade BBQ Sauce
Ingredients
- 1 cup ketchup
- 1 cup tomato sauce
- ¾ cup red wine vinegar
- ¾ cup brown sugar
- 2 tbsp butter cut in small pieces
- 2 tsp liquid smoke
- ¼ cup molasses
- ¼ tsp onion powder
- ¼ tsp garlic powder
- ½ tsp paprika
- ½ tsp salt
- ½ tsp course ground pepper
- ¼ tsp cayenne pepper
- 1/8 tsp cinnamon
- 1/8 tsp chili powder
Instructions
- Add all ingredients into a medium saucepan.
- Stir until well mixed and bring to a boil over medium heat. Turn heat to low and let simmer and thicken for a minimum of 15 minutes. I usually let mine go for at least an hour. Let cool and pour into container of choice. Refrigerate and use within 2 weeks. Use in place of 1 regular sized bottle of store bought BBQ sauce.
Nutrition
Recipe adapted from this recipe at melskitchencafe.com.
Is this a Texas-style sauce or a North Carolina-style?
I have everything except molasses. Can you recommend a sub, or can I just leave it out?
This bbq sauce was delicious! Just as good or dare I say better than store bought! I made this along with the brisket on your site and they were both a huge hit! Thanks for sharing!
This is —by far — the best BBQ sauce ever! You MUST make this because once you do, you’ll be hooked forever! My parents even request that I make and bring this sauce for get togethers. Thanks for sharing this awesome recipe with real ingredients. You changed our lives. It’s that good.
By reading all these comments, it is encouraging me to make this delicious looking recipe… great money saver ?
Hope i enjoy it (i know i will!) ?
Love the reviews for this and I cannot wait to make some. Sometimes it is not easy to find barbecue sauce without high fructose corn syrup, which is so bad for us! There are so many different brands in the grocery and the brand I used to use took it out, then added it again! You have to keep reading those labels! With this recipe, we can know pretty much what is in the barbecue sauce and make adjustments, if needed!
Hi Can you please clarify what you mean by ketchup and tomato sauce. As a Brit we use the same term to apply to tomato sauce/ketchup from a bottle. By that I mean the sauce used to dip chips in though I believe you call them french fries. Thank you.
Yes, you use the sauce you use to dip your chips in! 🙂
Thank you. Is ketchup tomato puree?
No, they are different. Ketchup is prepared with tomatoes, sugar, vinegar or an acetic acid and spices. 🙂
Does it freeze well ?
I haven’t tried freezing it yet because it never lasts that long! 🙂
This looks great! Will make soon. Roughly how long does it stay good in the fridge once made?
Use it within 2 weeks and you should be good!
I haven’t tried canning it yet!
I’m going to try this weekend. This seems it might be a good recipe for canning. Does anyone know?
How many cups does this make
It makes a little over 2 cups!
This looks great! I pinned it. It looks like it’d be easy to mix extra of the dry ingredients when you already have everything out. Then you could just keep the dry ingredients in an air-tight container until the next time you need BBQ sauce – just add wet ingredients and you’re good to go!
This sauce is absolutely the best I have ever tasted !!