This easy homemade barbecue sauce is delicious on pork, beef, or chicken. You can even add it to vegetables, soups, and sauces for additional flavor. Whether you like your barbecue sauce spicy or sweet, you only need a few ingredients that you probably have in your pantry and fridge to make it yourself.

It’s delicious on shredded chicken, pulled pork, pork chops, chicken legs, chicken wings, chicken tenders, beef brisket, and ribs.

It’s even delicious added to stews, soups, and sloppy joes. I also enjoy dipping my French fries in bbq sauce.

Weird? Maybe. But definitely delicious!

Another great way to enjoy this is to use it in place of pizza sauce. If you’ve never done this, give it a try. You just might be surprised!

Types of Barbecue Sauce

I enjoy a spicy barbecue sauce, while my husband prefers a sweet barbecue flavor. Plus, each region seems to have a favorite type of sauce.

Pick the one you prefer. Or you can mix them up to create your own.

My recipe in the printable card at the bottom of this post has the flavors that my family likes. Try it to see if you enjoy it.

You might like it as-is … but you may decide to add more of one ingredient and less of another. And that’s totally fine!

What is Barbecue Sauce Made Of?

Since different regions have different types of barbecue sauce, they each have their own specific ingredients. Here are some you might enjoy:

The Carolina barbecue sauce tends to be vinegar based, while the St. Louis style has more of a sweet-and-sour flavor with a kick of heat.

Kansas City barbecue sauce tends to be a sweeter sauce. So if you don’t mind a sweet sauce (typically with sugar, honey, maple syrup, or molasses), this might be your favorite.

Memphis barbecue is more of a dry rub than a sauce, but many people from the region still enjoy a sweet sauce. I like getting this one with a dry rub and then adding sauce later.

Texas barbecue sauce tends to have a smoky flavor with a little heat … or in some cases, a lot of heat. And if you’re like me, hot and spicy barbecue sauce is a good thing! And since this is a smoky barbecue sauce, I love it!

Regardless of the region you prefer, you can still alter the recipe to suit your personal taste. So while you’re looking over the ingredients list and recipe, decide whether to follow it as-is or crank up a flavor you particularly like.

Ingredients for Homemade BBQ Sauce Recipe

The sauce I made this time leans a little bit sweet, a little bit smoky, and a little bit hot. That’s because I was making it to put on chicken. And that’s how we like our barbecued chicken. I actually increase the heat even more when I’m making bbq chicken wings.

However, when we have beef, I go heavier on the smoky flavor and heat. And I tone down the sweetness. This is a great recipe that is super easy to tweak according to taste.

Here’s what I used for this sauce:

• Ketchup
• Brown sugar (light brown sugar or dark brown sugar)
• Paprika (regular or smoked)
• Vinegar (white or apple cider vinegar)
• Chili powder
• Garlic powder
• Onion powder
• Cooking oil (any mild-flavored oil)
• Prepared mustard (yellow or dijon)
• Liquid smoke (optional)
• Cayenne pepper (optional)

For exact measurements of each ingredient and full recipe directions, go to the recipe card at the bottom of the page. You can even print out the card by using the “print” button.

Alternative and Additional Ingredients

There are many other ingredients you might want to try. Here are some that I’ve added in the past:

• Worcestershire sauce
• Hot sauce (for a little kick)
• Tomato sauce (instead of ketchup)
• Tomato paste
• Maple syrup
• Blackstrap molasses (for a deep, rich flavor)
• Yellow mustard
• Dry mustard (or ground mustard)
• Red wine vinegar
• Lemon juice
• Red pepper flakes
• Black pepper

You can experiment with other ingredients if you want. Look around in your pantry and fridge, and test anything that looks like it might work. Even pizza sauce can be a good ingredient.

The best thing about homemade sauce is that you can make the perfect sauce for your family and friends. I also like to change things up for a different flavor.

Also, different kinds of meat taste better with different sauces. I tend to go with sweet flavors for pork and more of a smoky bbq sauce for beef or chicken.

How to Make Homemade Barbecue Sauce

Always gather the ingredients so you know that you have everything you need. I’ve started working on recipes in the past, only to discover that I needed something I didn’t have.

Now it’s time to get started. First, combine all of the ingredients in a medium saucepan.

Stir until everything is well mixed. Start out on medium-high heat, until the mixture begins to bubble.

Secondly, turn the burner on medium-low and heat the mixture for 10 minutes. Stir several times to make sure it doesn’t stick to the bottom of the pan.

After the mixture has heated up enough for the flavors to blend, give it a taste. Adjust the ingredients (add more of what you like) if it isn’t the way you want it.

Make sure you only add a tiny amount at a time, or you might wind up overdoing it.

Add Flavor to Foods

There are so many foods that taste better when you add a little bit of barbecue sauce. Or a lot. 

Any time I pick up a rotisserie chicken or any other already-cooked meat from the grocery store, I like to add something to take the flavor up another notch. You can’t go wrong with this deliciously spicy, smoky, and sweet barbecue sauce.

Here are a few more of my favorites:

Slow Cooker Pork Tenderloin – Add barbecue to this pork tenderloin when you first put it in your Crockpot, and the flavors will seep all the way down into the meat.

Brunswick Stew – Barbecue adds a tremendous amount of flavor to this southern favorite.

Country Ribs – Miz Helen has a similar barbecue recipe to mine, but there are enough differences that you might want to give hers a try as well. She’s a fabulous cook! It just goes to show that there are so many ways to easily make delicious homemade barbecue sauce.

Crispy Air Fryer Chicken Thighs – Although this delicious chicken doesn’t need anything else, barbecue sauce takes it to a whole new level of yumminess.

Side Dishes for Your Barbecue

When you serve barbecued anything, you’ll want to have some delicious side dishes. Here are some we enjoy:

Creamy Coleslaw – Balance the flavors of your barbecue with this smooth but crunchy and creamy coleslaw.

Mama’s Potato Salad – My mother’s potato salad was always a huge hit at any family gathering. In fact, no matter how much she made, it disappeared before anything else.

Easy Broccoli Slaw – This easy-to-make side dish adds flavor, crunch, nutrition, and color to your barbecue dinner … or any meal for that matter.

Balsamic Glazed Zucchini – If you enjoy meals with a boatload of flavor, this is the side dish for you!

Watermelon Cucumber Salad – This is so refreshing and delicious that I make it as often as possible when watermelon is in season.

Please feel free to share!