BBQ Sauce – Simply Home Cooked

Modified: Jun 30, 2025 by Dina

With just 4 simple ingredients, you can make this delicious homemade BBQ Sauce. It’s thick, sweet, and smoky, and goes perfectly with all your favorite grilled meats.

Table Of Contents

Recipe Details

I love this BBQ Sauce so much! It’s my go-to whenever I’m serving up barbecued meats because its amazing flavor is the perfect thing to set off the yummy flavors coming from our grill. This recipe is super easy and beats store-bought barbecue sauce, hands down!

• TASTE: Sweet and smoky, this BBQ sauce is so tasty. The honey and molasses give it a rich flavor that’s delicious.
• TEXTURE: Simmered until it’s thick and bubbling, this sauce will coat any meat you add it to.
• TIME: It takes about an hour to make.
• EASE: This sauce is so easy. You just pour everything into a saucepan and let it simmer.

What You’ll Need

Ingredient Notes

• Ketchup– This is the tomato base of most barbecue sauces.
• Honey– This brings a light sweetness to the sauce.
• Molasses– It thickens and sweetens the barbecue sauce with rich flavor.
• Liquid smoke– Adds the smoky flavor.

Add-ins and Substitutions

• Make it tangy– Add some apple cider vinegar, mustard, or citrus juice, like lemon or orange to make a tangier version of this sweet BBQ sauce.
• Add some heat– If you prefer a spicier homemade sauce, you can add crushed red pepper flakes, Tabasco, Frank’s Red Hot, or cayenne pepper. Smoked paprika will also make it smokier.
• Add bourbon– Add some bourbon to the sauce and allow the alcohol to cook off, leaving that sweet, delicious flavor behind.
• Make it low carb– Use any kind of keto or low-carb liquid sweetener, like monkfruit sweetener, in place of the honey.

How to Make BBQ Sauce

• Add ingredients together.  In a saucepan, combine the ketchup, honey, molasses, and liquid smoke.
• Simmer the sauce. Heat the saucepan over medium-low and let the sauce simmer for about 1 hour. Then serve or store it.

Pro Tip: Make sure not to simmer it on high heat because it can splatter all over your stovetop.

Recipe Tips

• Stir everything together- Whisk everything well before it starts simmering so the flavors are combined when it thickens.
• Simmer- Make sure to allow the sauce to simmer the full hour so it becomes thick and not runny.
• Use medium-low heat- Doing this avoids splatter all over the stove as the sauce will start bubbling and spitting at higher temps.
• Thin it out- If your sauce has simmered too long and has become too thick, add a little apple juice to thin it out, stirring it in over low heat.

FAQs

Serving Suggestions

This homemade BBQ Sauce recipe is versatile and delicious, with notes of honey and smoke. It’s great with meats, fries, and on burgers and sandwiches.

• Fries: Dip some Crispy Air Fryer French Fries, Air Fryer Zucchini Fries, Air Fryer Sweet Potato Fries, or Air Fryer Potato Wedges in this yummy sauce.
• Meats: Serve this barbecue sauce recipe with pork, beef, chicken, or turkey, like these Healthy Chicken Nuggets, Smoked Chicken Wings, Breaded Chicken Skewers, or Smoked Ribs.
• Sandwiches: Add it to sandwiches, like this Classic BLT Sandwich, Brisket Sandwich, or Turkey Croissant Sandwich.
• Burgers: Spread some of this on a your favorite burger combo, or try it with this Chipotle Burger or this homemade Burger Patty on a Brioche Bun (VIDEO).

Make This Recipe in Advance

Make ahead: You can prepare this sauce days in advance because it will stay fresh in the fridge in a lidded jar.

Storing: This barbecue sauce can be stored in the refrigerator in an airtight container, like a mason jar, for up to 2 weeks. It’s a great sauce to have on hand when you’re cooking and this will keep it fresh.

Freeze: You can freeze this sauce in a ziplock freezer bag, but it will thaw on the thin side.

More Delicious Sauces!

Full Recipe Instructions

This recipe was originally posted on May 16, 2016, but we have adjusted it a bit to improve the recipe.