This 30-minute, Homemade BBQ Sauce is easy to make, with clean ingredients. It’s savory, deep, and smoky, with little tang, and sweetness with a hint of heat. Vegan, gluten-free adaptable!
There is nothing healthier than making your own Homemade BBQ Sauce. This way you can control the ingredients and keep it a little cleaner and healthier. Most often, store-bought BBQ sauce is loaded up with high fructose corn syrup and other “flavorings”, seasonings and colorings, which classifies it as a “highly processed food”- not good for gut health, and probably not the best food to consume regularly. So we like to make out own.
Why You’ll love this Easy BBQ Sauce Recipe
- It’s fast and easy! This recipe comes together in about 25 minutes!
- Simple ingredients: It’s made with simple, clean, basic ingredients that you probably already have on hand, and uses nothing overly processed.
- It has the Best flavor: Our BBQ Sauce tastes deep and savory, with the perfect amount of tang and sweetness, and just a hint of heat. It is perfectly balanced!
- It keeps up to 2 months in the fridge. Hooray!
Ingredients in BBQ Sauce
- Shallot and garlic- give the bbq sauce delicious depth!
- Tomato Paste– you can sub ketchup if you like but we prefer to use the basics here ( ketchup is “highly processed”).
- Apple cider vinegar– gives a great acidity and lengthens the shelf life.
- Soy sauce or Braggs Liquid Amino Acid ( GF)- adds more umami flavor and depth
- Molasses (or sub honey or maple syrup) for a deep sweet flavor, plus molasses is high in minerals!
- Coconut sugar (or sub brown sugaror other sugar alternative)
- Seasonings: dried thyme (or use fresh), smoked paprika, pepper, garlic powder
- Optional additions: chipotle powder, cayenne, liquid smoke , canned chipotles or the adobo sauce from the can.
How to Make BBQ Sauce from Scratch
- Saute shallots and garlic in olive oil.
- Stir in thyme, smoked paprika, garlic powder, tomato paste, broth, vinegar, soy sauce, molasses, brown sugar salt and pepper
- Reduce: Simmer gently, uncovered, for 10-ish minutes, stirring occasionally, until slightly thickened.
- Taste:Adjust salt, vinegar and sweetness to your liking.To add heat, use the adobo sauce from canned chipotle peppersone tablespoon at a time, or add ground chipotle or cayenne to taste. Add a couple of drops of liquid smoke if you like!
- Store: in a sealed jar in the fridge, for up to 2 months!
Ways to use BBQ Sauce!
- BBQ Tofu Sandwich with Slaw
- BBQ Spaghetti Squash Sliders
- BBQ Stuffed Sweet Potatoes ( vegan adaptable!)
- BBQ Chicken with Chipotle BBQ Sauce
- 50 Grilling Recipes for Summer
Enjoy the BBQ Sauce and please let us know what you think of it!
xoxo
Sylvia
Homemade BBQ Sauce Recipe
5 Stars4 Stars3 Stars2 Stars1 Star5 from 11 reviews
- Author: Sylvia Fountaine | Feasting at Home Blog
- Prep Time: 10 mins
- Cook Time: 20 mins
- Total Time: 30 minutes
- Yield: 2 cups 1x
- Category: Condiment
- Method: stovetop
- Cuisine: American
- Diet: Vegan
Description
This homemade BBQ sauce recipe is easy to make, in just 25 minutes! It’s deep and smoky, tangy, sweet with a little bit of heat. Vegan, gluten-free adaptable!
Ingredients
UnitsScale
- 1–2 tablespoons olive oil
- 1/2 cup shallots (or sub 1 cup red onion) finely diced
- 4 garlic cloves
- 1/2 teaspoon dried thyme (or oregano)
- 1 teaspoon smoked paprika
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- 6-ounce can of tomato paste
- 1 cup stock or broth ( or water plus a boullion cube)
- 1/2 cup apple cider vinegar
- 1/4 cup soy sauce or Braggs Liquid Amino Acid ( GF)
- 1/3 cup molasses or maple syrup
- 1/4 cup coconut sugar (or brown sugar, or other sugar alternative)
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon pepper
- Optional additions: chipotle powder, cayenne, adobo sauce from canned chipotles, liquid smoke
Instructions
- Finely chop shallot and garlic, or mince in a food processor.
- Heat oil over medium heat in a medium saucepan. Add shallot and garlic and sauté, and stir continuously for 3-4 minutes. Turn heat down to medium-low, and cook until they are deeply golden, fragrant and softened, 5 more minutes.
- Add thyme, smoked paprika, and garlic powder, and tomato paste and saute one minute to brown the tomato paste (this adds depth). Add broth, vinegar, soy sauce, and scrape up any browned bits. Add molasses, brown sugar, salt and pepper.
- Simmer gently, uncovered, for 10-ish minutes, letting it reduce slightly, stirring occasionally, until slightly thickened.
- Taste. Adjust salt, vinegar and sweetness to your liking. If it lacks depth, add salt, more soy sauce, or even a little miso paste. More brown sugar to taste.
- To add smoky heat, add a little chipotle powder to taste, or the adobo sauce from canned chipotle peppers one tablespoon at a time, or cayenne to taste.
- Optional: For extra smoky, add liquid smoke, ¼ teaspoon at a time to desired effect. (I usually add 1 teaspoon)
- Store in a sealed jar in the fridge.
Notes
Keeps up to 2 months in the fridge and makes a great hostess gift.
Molasses really adds a beautiful deep color here.
Taste Test: If you have a favorite brand or BBQ sauce, I highly recommend this practice- taste them side by side, and see if you can get this recipe to match the one you love. Take some notes! This practice helps to really hone your taste buds.
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 2 tablespoons
- Calories: 59
- Sugar: 10.8 g
- Sodium: 295.6 mg
- Fat: 1 g
- Saturated Fat: 0.1 g
- Carbohydrates: 12.1 g
- Fiber: 0.7 g
- Protein: 1 g
- Cholesterol: 0 mg
