This is the best homemade bbq sauce with ketchup you’ll find! It is sweet, spicy and packed with bold, delicious flavors. Great for grilled foods!
Original post: July 2019 | Updated: May 2021
Why This Recipe Works
When my husband started having stomach issues, I began looking more closely at the ingredient lists on store bought sauces. I couldn’t believe all of the garbage that was hiding inside!
So I started making my own, and guess what?! They taste even better than anything you can find in the grocery store.
This best homemade bbq sauce is NO exception. It. Is. DELICIOUS. I always intend to maybe save part of each batch I make, but that never happens. I slather it all over chicken, burgers, brats and what ever else gets in its path.
It has an absolute PERFECT combination of spicy, sweet and tangy flavors that I literally cannot resist. The consistency is perfect, as well, and bonus – it only takes a few minutes and a handful of ingredients to make!
Recipe Ingredients
Ketchup – The ketchup is the star of the show in this recipe, so no skimping! It provides such a bold, robust flavor and texture to this homemade sauce.
Brown sugar – The sugar gives the end result a bit of sweet tang. If you are aiming for a less sweet sauce, decrease the amount of sugar used in the recipe in half.
Apple cider vinegar – Another variety of vinegar can replace apple cider, but I think you’ll enjoy the way this vinegar enhances the flavor of the sauce.
Honey – Omit the honey for a less sweet sauce, if desired.
Paprika – Use smoked paprika in place of paprika and/or add a couple drops of liquid smoke for a smokier bbq flavor!
Cayenne pepper – This can be omitted entirely for a milder sauce. Or it can be increased for an even spicier sauce!
How To Make BBQ Sauce With Ketchup
Step 1
Place the following ingredients in a medium saucepan over medium-low heat: ketchup, brown sugar, apple cider vinegar and honey. Stir until combined, then add Worcestershire sauce, paprika, ground mustard, garlic powder, salt and pepper. Finally mix in your cayenne pepper.
Step 2
Bring to a simmer over medium heat. Let simmer over medium-low heat for 10 minutes, or until sauce has thickened.
Store in a air-tight containers in the fridge for up to one week, or freeze for up to 3 months.
Recipe Notes
- Consider adding 1 teaspoon of chili powder for an even bolder flavor.
- Replace the garlic powder with onion powder, if desired.
- A squirt or two of lemon juice adds a touch of tartness that you’ll love!
- Slather this sauce ALL over any meat of your choice before cooking. Here are a few ideas to get you started: beef or pork ribs, pulled pork, burgers, chicken breasts or brats.
- BBQ chicken is my favorite thing to make with this sauce. The chicken is grilled to tender perfection, with the best flavor you’ll ever imagine.
- This bbq sauce also acts as a great dipping sauce for any meat!
How Long Does Homemade BBQ Sauce Last
If you have a bottle of homemade sauce and you are unsure about whether or not it is still fresh.. read on for tips about how long barbecue sauce stays fresh!
How To Thin BBQ Sauce
Whether you’re looking to highlight a certain flavor or you just need just a little more than the bottle offers to cover everything, stretch your BBQ sauce without sacrificing any flavor.
18 Homemade Sauces to Use Now or Freeze for Later
Making homemade sauces is a great way to know exactly what ingredients are going into them, they are more affordable than store-bought and they’re just tastier! Homemade all the way!
FAQ About BBQ Sauce
BBQ sauce is a sauce meant to add bold flavor to food and it is used mainly with meat that is cooked on a grill. It can be used as a marinade, dipping sauce or topping for meat.
One of the main benefits of making homemade bbq sauce is that you’re able to ditch the preservatives! However, when you ditch the preservatives you will also need to make sure you use the sauce up more quickly. Homemade BBQ Sauce will stay fresh in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 2 weeks. Or you can freeze it for up to 6 months.
BBQ sauce can contain a good amount of sugar, so seek out a low-sugar or no-sugar variety to comply with the keto diet.
BBQ is a food that complies with the vegetarian diet.
If bbq sauce contains onion, garlic, excess salt or artificial sugar, it can be harmful or fatal for dogs when ingested.
Uses for BBQ Sauce
If you have extra barbecue sauce on your hands, think outside the scope of grilled meat! Here are some other great ideas for ways to use it up:
- Brush it over chicken wings before cooking.
- Use it as a topping for your next batch of meatloaf!
- Drizzle it over your next salad. YUM!
- Throw some into your slow cooker along with meatballs.
- Use it as a dipping sauce for French fries.
- Replace pizza sauce with bbq sauce on your next homemade pizza!
More Delicious Homemade Sauces
- This Enchilada Sauce comes together very quickly and is easier to make at home then to spend the time picking it up at the store and opening it to reheat. I promise you’ll love it.
- This is one of those sauces that I won’t pick up in a jar – homemade Alfredo Sauce takes better than anything I can find in the store aisles and it’s super easy to make!
- Arby’s Sauce is perfect for those beef sandwiches you make yourself and then want a delicious homemade sauce to go on it!
- Sometimes an unplanned pizza night calls for Pizza Sauce on the quick! You can do that with this recipe!
- Pasta Sauce takes pasta night up a notch with tastier sauce. Once you try it, you’ll always want it prepared this way!
- Taco Sauce is the bomb! Perfect for nachos, tacos and dipping taquitos in, you’ll enjoy this version you create yourself.
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BBQ Sauce With Ketchup Recipe
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 cups ketchup
- 1 cup brown sugar
- 1/3 cup apple cider vinegar
- 2 tbsp honey
- 2 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
- 2 tsp paprika
- 1 tbsp dry mustard
- 1/2 tsp garlic powder
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1/2 tsp pepper
- 1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
Instructions
- Place all the ingredients in a medium saucepan over medium-low heat. Bring to a simmer. Let simmer for 10 minutes, or until sauce has thickened.
- Store in an air-tight container in the fridge for up to one week. If you prefer, you can freeze this sauce for up to 3 months.
Notes
- Consider adding 1 teaspoon of chili powder for an even bolder flavor.
- Replace the garlic powder with onion powder, if desired.
- A squirt or two of lemon juice adds a touch of tartness that you’ll love!
- Slather this sauce ALL over any meat of your choice before cooking. Here are a few ideas to get you started: beef or pork ribs, pulled pork, burgers, chicken breasts or brats.
- BBQ chicken is my favorite thing to make with this sauce. The chicken is grilled to tender perfection, with the best flavor you’ll ever imagine.
- This bbq sauce also acts as a great dipping sauce for any meat.
Made this months ago & it was OH SO GOOD! We lost the recipe & my husband & I have been digging through the internet for the past two hours searching for it until we FINALLY found it! Yayyyy! We LOVE LOVE LOVE this recipe! We used it a couple of times at home, made it for some friends one night when we cooked out one evening & it was a HIT! We GLADLY share this recipe with others! Thank you so much! This is DEFINITELY our GO TO BBQ sauce recipe!
Ha! Oh my goodness Melissa! Thank you for sharing this story. I’m glad you found it again and thankful you share with others! 🙂
This is REALLY tasty. I always swore that I wouldn’t leave a rating for a recipe if I didn’t make the recipe EXACTLY as written but … I have to leave a rating for this recipe even though I changed the recipe slightly because it is so yummy. I didn’t have paprika or cayenne so I omitted those spices and used about 1/8 tsp of powdered chipotle instead. Yum. I think that you could cut the sugar back a bit and still have a very tasty sauce.
Thank you for sharing, Margaret – it’s appreciated! I like that you didn’t shy away because you didn’t have one and used the chipotle powder. Sounds delicious! The smokiness is perfect.
This is such a great recipe and came together quickly. It reminded me of the barbecue sauce I had with brisket at a popular smokehouse restaurant in Texas.
Hi Megan, yep, I made the recipe but I had to substitute a few ingredients that I didn’t have the originals. I used Agave syrup instead of honey, and used spicy Spanish paprika and no cayenne, also added fresh garlic and onion powder and mascabado sugar instead of brown sugar, ah and no salt. Came out just great. I think I’ll keep it that way in the future.
Thanks for the substitutions that worked. I love that you just dove in and made it that way. Others will appreciate it too.
This is an excellent BBQ sauce! I made a large crockpot of meatballs to take to a potluck dinner and needed a BBQ sauce. I decided to try this one since I had all of the ingredients on hand. I tripled the recipe for enough sauce to cover the meatballs and was very pleased with the result. The BBQ meatballs were a hit at the dinner and I took home an empty crockpot.
It’s a win, Nancy! When all the ingredients are there and it’s enjoyed! Thank you for sharing!
This was very good. I added 1/2 tsp cinnamon and about 2 taps of apple cider. I will be making it from now on! My husband loved it!!
Great suggestion on apple cider – thank you for sharing, Barb!
Why do I need to go through an entire frikken encyclopedia of crap to get to the bloody recipe!? Give me strength.
Good news! Click on the JUMP TO RECIPE button and you can skip the tips, recipe clarifications and substitutes that I take the time to share with those who need/want it. Thanks for stopping by!
Who hurt you Karen?
Second time making this great go to barbecue sauce. Didn’t change a thing except I used smoked paprika. This is easy and delicious and my 34yr old son told me that he no longer uses bottled sauce, we Texan’s love our barbecue. Thank you!
Made the sauce for pork short ribs: delicious. Next time i will add finely grated raw Vidalia onion.
Thank you Lois for that tip. Sounds amazing and I definitely want to try it with the onion added now as well!
Barb I tried your BBQ sauce & it was awesome made ribs did not have dry mustard nor Worcestershire sauce. Still hade awesome taste. Thanks for sharing 5 star
Thank you, Barb. I’m so glad you tried it out and found it to be delicious. I think of chicken all the time, but it IS a great sauce for ribs. Inspired!
I made this BBQ sauce, tried it on some chicken. My husband really likes it, i did add chili powder and will tweak it a bit more!!
Hi Joyce – thanks for trying it out! I’m glad you tweaked it to the way you like, that’s what cooking is all about.
I started with Trader Joe’s Organic Ketchup: no corn syrup, little sugar. No ingredients that I did not recognize. Then I cut back on the brown sugar and used turbinado sugar instead. Added to your ingredients a good dollop of prepared spicy ginger, maple syrup not honey, and about 1/2 cup of Kroger’s jellied cranberries for a deep berry taste with a natural source of pectin to boot as an easy thickener.
Sounds great! Thank you Norman for sharing that detail.
Sorry Norman, did not get your recipe. I made a tiny bit to try but my entire family hated it.
I’m
Excellent recipe. I put it over pork chops and air fried them it was deeelicious!!
Great use of the air fryer – thanks for sharing!