BBQ Sauce Recipe – easy homemade barbecue sauce

This homemade BBQ sauce recipe is the perfect blend of sweet, spicy, and smoky and it’s perfect on chicken, pork, jackfruit…whatever your heart desires.

Summer is coming! Or so I’m told. Michigan is still giving us plenty of reason to doubt that statement. Last week we had snow, freezing rain, sleet, tons of rain, and just a tiny sneak peek of sunshine. It was a weather rollercoaster, and I’m ready to get off that ride and step into sunshine-land. 

With summer comes lots of grilling and BBQ nights and days. I’m excited to fire up my Traeger more frequently and grill as much as possible. I love Instant Pot Ribs and this BBQ sauce is absolutely perfect on them. 

Now, I won’t lie to you, and it probably won’t come as a surprise…but I do sometimes buy barbecue sauce. I’m a girl that’s all about shortcuts. But, if you want to control exactly what you’re eating…and maybe not pay the big bucks for high-quality store-bought barbecue sauce, this BBQ sauce recipe is the way to go.

Side note: I just typed QQB instead of BBQ and now I’m thinking maybe I need some C-O-F-F-E-E. I’m blaming the lapse of brain function on the rain. I’m blaming everything on the rain. Sometimes I blame things on my kids, but they’re not home right now, so it’s definitely the rain.

About this BBQ Sauce Recipe

This BBQ sauce recipe is packed full of sweet heat and is great on chicken, pulled pork, ribs, barbecue chicken pizza, and anything else that you’d normally sauce up with BBQ. It has a touch of smokiness from chipotle chili powder, and like many of my recipes, it’s customizable so you can make it perfect for you.

What’s in the BBQ Sauce:

• tomato sauce + ketchup – the base of most bbq sauce recipes
• brown sugar + molasses – to make it nice and sweet and rich
• apple cider vinegar – to balance out the sweetness with a little tang and acid
• Worcestershire sauce – so I can practice spelling it. Oh yeah, and to add depth to the flavor…
• Spice Party! Included are dry mustard, chipotle chili powder, onion powder, paprika, garlic powder, salt, pepper, and cayenne.

Here’s how you can make it your own:

• You can use light brown sugar instead of dark brown sugar if that’s all you have. You could add a tablespoon or two of molasses in this case. Or you could try a different type of sweetener, or a blend. A little maple syrup is really tasty in BBQ sauce. 
• Don’t have chipotle chili powder or don’t want to buy it just for this recipe? I totally understand that. You can substitute it with regular chili powder. If you do this, I’d consider using smoked paprika instead of sweet paprika so you still get the smokiness that the chipotle chili powder adds.
• Speaking of paprika, if you want it extra smoky…like it just came out of the smoker, try using smoked paprika instead of sweet paprika, regardless of what type of chili powder you choose to use.
• If you want to make this with no ketchup, you could substitute with all tomato sauce. You might need to add some extra vinegar and/or sugar to compensate for the flavor of the ketchup…let your taste buds be your guide. 
• Cayenne…add more! Add less! You’re the boss. Remember it’s easy to add more later and a little goes a long ways…so start with a little and add more after you taste the sauce. You can’t take it out once it’s in there. 
• Try this Cherry Chipotle BBQ sauce for a sweet and spicy sauce.

One more note: 

• The sauce thickens up a bit as it cooks, but I suggest putting it on your meat and then cooking a little more or broiling, depending on what you’re cooking. This will caramelize the sugars in the BBQ sauce and make it absolutely irresistible.

How long does homemade bbq sauce last? This is a very common question I get with recipes like this, I get it a lot for my pickled red onions, too. This BBQ sauce will last for a couple weeks in your fridge, maybe more. Quite honestly, it will be good ’til it gets moldy. Then you’ll know it’s not good anymore and it’s time to toss it.

I can’t wait to hear how you guys use the BBQ sauce recipe – what’s your favorite thing to barbecue?

Try homemade bbq sauce on fall-off-the-bone Instant Pot Ribs! It would also be great on Instant Pot shredded chicken, these fun turkey tenders, or yummy slow cooker pulled pork. I love to dip air fryer French fries in barbecue sauce, and air fryer chicken nuggets, too!