Homemade BBQ Sauce (vegan)
Did you know just how easy it is to make a basic BBQ Sauce at home? Once you’ve mastered my recipe you’ll be coming up with your own variations in no time! Check out the recipe below.
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What is BBQ Sauce?
This recipe will make a big (500ml) bottle of BBQ Sauce. But before we get into the detail about how to make it, let’s start at the very beginning.
BBQ sauce (or barbecue sauce) that gets its name because it’s often used as a marinade, or basting sauce or condiment for meat that has been cooked over a grill or barbecue. It often appears in American style cooking like pork ribs, chicken wings and burgers.
Key ingredients
The best thing about this recipe is that it is made with simple store cupboard ingredients. There’s nothing weird and wonderful in the list. Yet, they somehow come together to make this sweet, sticky, smoky BBQ sauce that is packed full of flavour.
First we start with soy sauce. It might not seem like the most obvious of ingredients to use in a classic American condiment, but it’s salty slightly smoky flavour is the perfect base.
Next up we have brown sugar. and tomato ketchup I only use 2 teaspoons of brown sugar though you can add more if you like your BBQ sauce sweet. I prefer mine a little tangy and there’s sugar in the ketchup too.
After the sweeteners we add red wine vinegar. This not only balances out the sweetness of the brown sugar and ketchup but helps to give the BBQ sauce a long shelf life.
The remaining ingredients are our spices – these are where we get that rich, complex BBQ flavour. Garlic and onion powder are a classic base for any dish and cannot be skipped over. For the paprika, go as smoky as you like. This is where you get those charred notes from. Chilli powder and mustard add a little heat, again adjust to your own personal preference, taste as you go. Last but not least we have black pepper.
This all goes into a pan with water to turn into a thick, glossy BBQ sauce.
Variations
If you’re feeling experimental then why not play around with some of the flavours.
Swap out the water for beer for a beer based BBQ sauce. Or why not try fruit juice for a fruity flavour.
You can also use different types of sugar, perhaps honey or molasses, for a different flavour.
If you like it extra smokey, then add some liquid smoke. To turn up the heat, why not add some chipotle chillies.
Once you know how to make the base sauce you can customise it any way you want.
The recipe
Homemade BBQ Sauce
Equipment
- 500ml jam jar or bottle
Ingredients
- 4 tbsp soy sauce
- 2 tsp brown sugar
- 300 ml ketchup
- 75 ml red wine vinegar
- 3 tsp garlic powder
- 1 tsp onion powder
- 1/2 tsp paprika
- 2 tsp chilli powder
- 1 tsp mustard
- Black pepper
- 50 ml water
Instructions
- Combine all of the ingredients into a heavy duty saucepan.
- Stir so that all of the ingredients are mixed well and place over a low heat.
- Let the sauce simmer until the sugar has dissolved. Keep stirring the sauce so that it doesn’t stick and let the sauce simmer for at least 30mins.
- Once the water has evaporated and the sauce has become thick and sticky it can be transferred to a sterilised jam jar or bottle.
- Place the lid on immediately and leave to cool. As the sauce cools it will draw in the lid and will make a popping sound. This means that it is now sealed!
- Enjoy once cool.
Nutrition
Storage instructions
If unopened, this BBQ sauce will keep in the fridge for up to 3 months.
Once opened, however, keep in the fridge and use within 2 weeks.
How to use your homemade BBQ Sauce
This BBQ Sauce can be used in a number of different ways – smother chicken wings, ribs or veggies with it and bake them in the oven, dollop it into a burger bun, dunk your in it chips, or even spread it over a pizza base as an alternative to tomato sauce!
In short, you can use it as a marinade, dip or pouring sauce.
My BBQ Sauce is super versatile and can be used in a whole range of different situations. Let me know in the comments, how will you use yours?
Serve with…
More condiment recipes
If you love making other sauces and condiments from scratch then why not try one of these recipes:
If you try this, or any other recipes from the blog, do let me know! You can leave a comment, add a star rating to the recipe card or tag me on Instagram!