This Kansas City-style homemade BBQ sauce recipe is super quick and easy to make, and full of the best tangy, smoky and slightly-sweet flavors that everyone is sure to love!
Friends, have you ever tried making homemade BBQ sauce?
If not, it’s time. ♡
And as a KC girl, I’m going to vote that you make this Kansas City-style bbq sauce recipe! It’s super-easy to make — just stir everything together and simmer for about 15 minutes — and it’s full of that famous tangy, smoky and slightly-sweet blend of flavors that we all love in Kansas City.
We use this sauce regularly in our house to make traditional bbq chicken, pulled pork, ribs and baked beans. But it also works great as a pizza sauce (hello, bbq chicken pizza ♡) and as a glaze (on meatballs, meatloaf, etc). And of course, you’re welcome to get creative and add it into everything from soups to salads, tacos, burgers, casseroles and more.
So many ways to use homemade bbq sauce. So let’s make a batch!
Homemade BBQ Sauce Recipe | 1-Minute Video
Homemade BBQ Sauce Ingredients:
To make this homemade bbq sauce recipe, you will need the following ingredients (amounts included in the full recipe below):
- Tomato sauce: One can of plain tomato sauce (just puréed tomatoes, no extra ingredients).
- Apple cider vinegar: To add some tang to the sauce.
- Honey: I really prefer the taste of honey as the natural sweetener in this bbq sauce. But you could also sub in brown sugar or maple syrup.
- Tomato paste: To intensify the rich tomato flavor in this sauce.
- Molasses: A must in Kansas City bbq sauce!
- Worcestershire: If making this sauce vegan, be sure to use a vegan brand of Worcestershire.
- Liquid smoke: To give the sauce those important smoky notes.
- Spices: A combo of smoked paprika, garlic powder, black pepper, onion powder and salt. Plus a few optional pinches of cayenne, if you would like to give the sauce some heat.
How To Make BBQ Sauce:
This bbq sauce recipe couldn’t be easier to make! Simply…
- Combine ingredients. Stir everything together in a saucepan.
- Simmer. Bring the sauce to a simmer, then let it continue to simmer for 15-20 minutes or until it has thickened slightly.
- Serve. Then that’s literally it — your sauce is ready to go and use in any of your favorite recipes!
Possible Recipe Variations:
Want to customize your own BBQ sauce recipe a bit? Feel free to:
- Make it gluten-free: To make gluten-free BBQ sauce, just be sure to use gluten-free liquid smoke. (I recommend Wright’s or Colgin.)
- Make it vegan: To make vegan BBQ sauce, just be sure to use vegan Worcestershire. (I recommend Annie’s.)
- Make it sweeter: Add more honey, to taste.
- Make it smokier: Add a touch more liquid smoke, to taste.
- Make it thicker: Simmer the sauce for longer until it reduces to your desired consistency.
Ways To Use BBQ Sauce:
There are so many great ways to put a batch of homemade BBQ sauce to delicious use! Some of our faves include:
- Traditional bbq meat: Grilled or pulled chicken, pulled pork, ribs, burnt ends, etc.
- Baked beans: BBQ sauce is a simple and delicious way to flavor a batch of baked beans.
- Burgers: Use it as a spread on your favorite burgers.
- Pizzas: Use it in place of pizza sauce. (Hello, bbq chicken pizza!)
- Soups/salads: Mix it into broths to flavor soups, or use the sauce as a dressing for your salad.
- Tacos/quesadillas/burritos: BBQ sauce is a great way to give your favorite Mexican dishes a different twist.
- Dipping sauce: And of course, it’s always a great dipping sauce for everything from chicken nuggets to veggie sticks to cocktail meatballs and more!
Homemade BBQ Sauce
Ingredients
- 1 (15-ounce) can tomato sauce
- 1/2 cup apple cider vinegar
- 1/3 cup honey
- 1/4 cup tomato paste
- 1/4 cup molasses
- 3 tablespoons Worcestershire
- 2 teaspoons liquid smoke
- 1 teaspoon smoked paprika
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1/2 teaspoon freshly-ground black pepper
- 1/2 teaspoon onion powder
- 1/2 teaspoon fine sea salt
- optional: a few pinches of cayenne for extra heat, if desired
Instructions
- Combine ingredients. Whisk all ingredients together in a medium saucepan.
- Simmer. Cook over medium-high heat until the sauce reaches a simmer. Reduce heat to medium-low and simmer (uncovered) for 10-15 minutes, or until the sauce has slightly thickened.
- Serve. Use the sauce immediately, or refrigerate in a sealed container for up to 1 week.
Notes
Did you make this?Let me know how it turned out in the comments below!
Do you think you could can this BBQ sauce,?
I continued using mine for about 4 weeks. I love this recipe!
Delicious! Some of the best sauce I’ve ever had.
I added about quarter cup of ketchup, and little extra vinegar, I like it a little more tangy.
Will definitely make this again.
I absolutely love this recipe! Has anyone tried canning it to preserve it? Oh how I would love to have this in my pantry in pint jars! So delicious!
Could you make this without liquid smoke? I want to make this for an upcoming event and don’t have that on hand. Thank you!
Sure thing!
This is the best recipe! I substituted brown sugar for the molasses (didn’t have any) and used half balsamic vinegar for the cider vinegar (to help replace the molasses I didn’t have!) It was perfect! Such a good flavor! Thank you for sharing this recipe!
Very nice recipe. I make extra bbq sauce and freeze some for bbq chicken pizza and marinates as it freezes well. I use tomato passata (what we call tomato purée in Australia) in the sauce not ketchup. I also used white vinegar as that is all I had. Delicious. Thank you for the recipe.
has anyone tried to do this in the instant pot? Ali do you think if i just cook for 5 min on high pressure it will be ok? i don’t have tomato sauce – only crushed tomatoes…. fingers crossed it will be ok!
Super delicious! I didn’t have time to simmer it so I just made it in the blender. I also didn’t have any tomato sauce, so I just used ~6 oz can of tomato paste and added 10 ounces of water to get the right consistency for sauce. I didn’t have Worcestershire sauce, so I needed to added another 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder, 1-2 Tablespoons Apple Cider Vinegar, and another splash of salt to tweak the flavor. Ok, I know it sounds like I didn’t follow the recipe at all at this point :) But everything else was the same! (oh wait, I used sweet instead of smoked paprika. . . . ) BUT REALLY, this was DELICIOUS!!!!!! So good. I’m never buying BBQ sauce ever again.
WOW! I so rarely post comments, but I just made this BBQ sauce and holy cow, it’s so good! I followed your recipe exactly and it was lip-smacking good. I did end up adding 1/2 tsp. of fresh lemon juice while it was cooling, for my own personal taste preference, but it was AMAZING even without that addition. And I love that my family and I are not ingesting all of those terrible preservatives and added sweeteners from store-bought BBQ sauce and ketchup. I actually did a taste comparison with my go-to Sweet Baby Ray’s and there really is no comparison for the depth of flavor of this homemade BBQ sauce. Thank you so much for this delicious and easy recipe! I recently became familiar with liquid smoke but for those who have never used it, you can find it at your local grocery store. For anyone who’s wary about making this because of the high yield, just halve the ingredients and you’ll end up with 1 cup instead. But definitely make it – you’ll never buy bottled BBQ sauce again.