There are several ingredients that I always think I have on hand, but when I go to start cooking it turns out we don’t have any. This happens a lot with barbecue sauce, which I definitely need on hand when grilling season starts up again.
I always think we have a few bottles in the pantry. I go to grab one, and there aren’t any. Because of this, I’ve developed a quick, basic barbecue sauce. It uses simple ingredients that I usually have and it only takes a minute to whip up.
It’s made out of ketchup, mustard and honey. That’s it.
The beauty of it is that you can change it if you’re in the mood. You can use brown sugar or molasses instead of honey, you can use Dijon mustard instead of the regular yellow mustard, you can add Worcestershire sauce or Tabasco sauce, sprinkle in some garlic powder or some smoked paprika for smoky flavor. Really the options are endless. Soooo good. You’re going to love making this easy staple and doctoring it up in new ways.
The reason this simple sauce works is because of the flavor balance. You have salty and sweet flavors in the ketchup, more sweet from the honey and then a good tang from the mustard. It’s also great because the sugar content in the sauce makes it caramelize on food when it’s cooking. And there is quite a bit of sugar in here. Ketchup itself, even without the honey in the recipe, has a lot of sugar (which is why ketchup isn’t keto, if you’re wondering. If you’re following a keto diet, you might want to try a sugar-free ketchup).
To make barbecue chicken drumsticks, I followed the basic method for Easy Make Ahead Chicken for a Crowd. Instead of grilling them, I put them under the broiler for a few minutes, just until the chicken started to blacken in spots, but it would be fabulous on the grill, too.
Prep Time: 5Total Time: 5
Yield: 2 cupsVideo by Leigh Olson. Article, photos and recipe by Christine Pittman.
Here on COOKtheSTORY, Professional Recipe Creator and Photographer Christine Pittman gives you a glimpse into her real life of quick and easy, healthy, homemade cooking. See her most popular recipes here.
Print Recipe
Pin Recipe
I have made my own rendition of this sauce for a while now, but always guessed and checked a bit to get it how I wanted. I was looking online for a recipe to start with instead of throwing myself in blindly. I doubled this recipe because I’m making slow cook ribs tomorrow and needed a lot. Personally, I think there’s WAY too much ketchup. It may just have more to do with our ketchup brand, though, because it’s particularly strong. I added a bit more mustard, brown sugar, and a splash of Louisiana hot sauce and it turned out great! In other batches, I’ve added small amounts of Worcestershire sauce, lemon juice, and even maple syrup. If you’re really looking for that thick smoky barbecue taste, add a tablespoon or two of Worcestershire sauce to it and people won’t believe you made it yourself! ;) Can’t wait for slow cooker ribs and good ol fashion sweet ice tea tomorrow :D
Alycia, Thanks for the feedback. I agree that this is quite a ketchupy flavor. Adding extras of the other ingredients is a great idea if you don’t want the ketchup to be as strong.
Great info i like this thanxx a lot
I will try your sauce with some meatballs in freezer
Great, i will try this at home for sure! :)
I just looked up this recipe, and I’m going to make this over the weekend! I will add a couple other ingredients, and one more, not a lot, just 2 tablespoons (Jack Daniels) that should jazz it up a little!!
Wendell, That sounds amazing!
I read this recipe yesterday. Reading on the comments I was so fascinated to prepare this. I had tomato ketchup in xcess with me. So without a second thought today wanted to give it a try. But added Indian spicy red chilli n lemon juice to this in addition. And voila!! The outcome was so so finger licking. Couldn’t wait to thank you. I always wanted to prepare BBQ sauce at home. But the recipe always contain so many fancy items which are handy at home. This recipe is a true life saver. Thank u again so very much.
You’re welcome!
This is a really good recipe thought it’s not exactly nutritious my friends and I love it it tastes wonderful but I wanted to try a sweeter version so I tried adding brown sugar but it stuck out in lumps what should I do to correct this j don’t have access to mollases
Make sure the brown sugar is lump-free before adding it. You can smoosh out the lumps with the back of a spoon. From there, the acid in the ketchup should dissolve it if you stir it lots.
your site content really impressed me. well done job
I made your bbq sauce, wow it was very good everybody fell in love with it. it just what i was looking for my labor day cookout! TYVVM FOR YOUR RECIPE/MDF.
You’re welcome. Thank you for letting me know. I’m so happy that you all liked it!
really really good loved it.can you make a chili garlic source but not to chili
This is not a homemade sauce…. Homemade means you actually make it with basic ingredients, not by bashing together ketchup and mustard.
Christine,
Thank you so much for this very easy recipe. I did tweek it some to make it my own but with your guidance made an AWESOME SAUCE!!😍 I guess since you helped me create the masterpiece I call MY OWN LITTLE SECRET I’ll let you on the greatness…instead of ketchup I used one can of manwhich, 1/4 cup of spicy mustard, 1/4 cup of brown sugar, 2 1/2 tablespoons of hot sauce and salted taste. My husband who is normally the cook in our house LOVES IT!! So again thank you, thank you, thank you. You have definitely peeked my interest to see and use some of your other easy and just as tasty recipes.
Stephanie, So happy you liked it! Your version sounds delicious!
Thank you miss for the delish bbq sauce recipe instead of using normal mustard I used honey maple mustard it came out wonderful
Fantastic! Great idea, Lamar!
Thank you for this simple BBQ Sauce recipe. This is a better tasting recipe for my mother who is a stroke victim and her taste buds have dramatically changed and doesn’t like the store bought ones anymore. The store bought ones are just too spicy and really doesn’t taste that good anymore. I used both honey and brown sugar and no salt since there is salt already in the mustard and ketchup. If I want a little spice I can add the spice flavors to my own and not hers. Thank you again.
Shana, You’re welcome. I’m delighted that you and your mom like it!
Thanks Christine for this simple mild recipe I love bbq but can no longer enjoy it because I have a lot of stomach issues and all the commercial products are too harsh on my stomach they all are too spicy and will make me end up in bed. So I so appreciate this recipe it was perfect. And f or those seeking more heat it is so workable you can add whatever you desire. Thanks again😊
Veronica, You’re welcome. I’m really happy that this mild bbq sauce works for your stomach and that you enjoy it!
Do you know how long this will last in the fridge? I made some last week and loved it, but haven’t really had a chance to use it up. I hate to waste it!
It should last for a really long time, 2-3 weeks for sure. The ingredients in it all last really long. Store in an air tight container in the fridge.
I have always made my own bbq sauce. It’s easy and quick. Unfortunately I never measure my ingredients. But I normally use brown sugar, ketchup, and liquid smoke as my base. I love the addition of liquid smoke as it adds that smokey flavor. From there I will add a little garlic powder, hot sauce, honey, and red pepper flakes for some heat. The flavors can be changed depending on my mood. Everyone always asks what brand I use as it’s so good. Works perfectly on ribs, chicken wings, grilled chicken and bbq pork.
Susannah, Love this kind of improvisational cooking! Thanks for the great ideas!
Thank you for the great recipe. I never thought barbecue sauce could be this easy–easy to prepare and easy to adapt to your personal taste. I added more ketchup, some cider vinegar, a touch of Worcestershire, and some seasoned salt to my chicken. So delicious over baked potatoes!
Nina, your additions sound delicious. Thanks for letting me know. Glad you liked it!
I made this sauce but with a major twist of my own. I used honey and brown sugar. Also I users 1 tbs lemon juice, 1 Tbs Worcestershire sauce and salt, lemon pepper and garlic. Tasted awesome!
Stacey, Love your variation. It’s such an easy sauce to adapt. I can’t wait to try adding lemon juice – never done that before!
Just what I was looking for. I am going to try for dinner with some ribs in oven. Barbecue sauce is one of my favorite sauces. Especially with chicken! I shall try this out this week. Looks easy to make and tasty!
I tried it, and not too impressed with it. It tasted like sweet mustard and ketchup.
Tried your recipe tonight, I added the Worcestershire sauce, a few drops of jalapeno sauce and garlic powder. Was fantastic, kids really enjoyed, “best sauce ever” was banded about.
John, What a nice compliment. Thank you! I’m glad you guys liked it and your variations sound delicious.
BBQ sauce must do things to some people. A few of these comments are a bit bizarre. I want to let you know that I tried your simple and easy BBQ sauce recipe on my ribs and they were simply to die for! Thanks again for taking the time to share it with us.
Ingrid, Fantastic. Thanks for letting me know you liked it. (I’m not sure but maybe BBQ sauce is one of those things that is really personal – people like it a certain way and feel passionate about it. It’s definitely interesting to see what people have to say!).
I made it for my chicken tweaked a little. They loved it thank you so much.
Amy, You’re welcome!
It looks from the commons as if quite a few people like this recipe. I don’t. The ketchup taste is way too pronounced. To me a barbecue sauce must have vinegar, onions, garlic, and brown sugar at a minimum. Ketchup is a good at dishing to barbecue sauce but a barbecue sauce for me is best based in tomato sauce.
Thank you SO much for posting this simple, basic recipe, Christine! I was serving a vegetarian meal and wanted BBQ Chick-n-Strips (Gardein); I didn’t like the ingredients of many prepared BBQ sauces (high fructose corn syrup, for starters), so I went in search of a simple recipe and came upon yours (with all the wonderful comments left with variations galore!). I doubled the catsup (3 cups), mustard (1/2 cup), and brown sugar (1 cup), then added 1 Tbsp. of molasses, 2 tsp. onion powder, 1 tsp. garlic powder, and 2 tsp. liquid natural smoke flavoring. That made enough to cover 8 bags of the Chick-n-Strips generously, and my guests licked the casserole clean and came asking for more! Even some who weren’t BBQ enthusiasts came back for seconds. So, thanks a million, once again!
You’re welcome, Crys. Thanks so much for letting me know!
I use concentrated tomatoes as ketchup is part of my anti American activity, on the other hand I use JD Black and Dijon mustard Amora brand. thanks much.
Can this be used as a dipping sauce? Does it have ro be put on meat and be cooked?
Melissa, It doesn’t require cooking and can be used as a dip.
Love the recipe!
I always seem to have way more ketchup on hand than barbecue sauce. It makes me wonder why I bother buying ketchup when my “cowboy” is always reaching for the other anyway. This gives me the perfect way to use up all that ketchup!!
Thanks!
Can this be canned and stored? Even if you add other ingredients to it? Well so long as they are not dairy based that is. LOL
Kelsey, it depends on the other ingredients. If everything is shelf stable, it will keep in the fridge for awhile for sure.
i had never made homemade sauce before and decided to surprise my family….so l found this recipe and followed it to the dot….believe you me the sauce was sticky,,tangy and sweet the balance was on point and we ended up eating the whole chicken thats how nice it was
Hi
I just wanted to thank you for giving me the basics
of BBQ sauce. My wife will be surprised when gets home!
I was making a Pulled Chicken Barbeque when I discovered I did not have any Barbecue Sauce in the pantry. I Googled Easy Homemade Barbecue Sauce and found your recipe. All I can say is, Why did I not try this sooner?!?! I used the basic recipe with Dark Brown Sugar. I then added Worcestershire Sauce, Soy Sauce, a drizzle of Maple Syrup, a teaspoon each of Onion Powder, Garlic Powder, Paprika and Fresh Ground Black Peppercorns then blended and chilled the mixture. Wow! It is absolutely amazing! :)
Steve, fantastic! So happy you liked it and your added ingredients sound amazing!!
I found this recipe on a google search! It took me a few tries to get the right mix of things to go into it! Finally after like 3 tries,I found that it was best for me and my family to use only 1 c. ketchup and to add to this recipe;
1 tsp- Spice Supreme Chili Powder
1 tsp- Blazin Blends Garlic & Pepper
1 tsp- McCormick Onion Powder
1/4 c. Mrs. Butterworth’s Syrup
I plane on using it on my chicken legs that my son love to have! So, Thank you, Christine,for your recipe!
Thank you, thank you! The recipe came in handy. Just like the rest had cook my chicken breast & thought I had barbecue sauce but no sauce in cabinet. I was ready to eat so I Google & I found this site recipe quick & easy & I added Worcestershire sauce & molasses. Great recipe!
Thanks Sharon! So happy you liked it!
I’ve been looking for a quick and easy BBQ sauce recipe and I was so happy to have come across yours. My only question is.. for how many lbs of chicken is this BBQ sauce good for? I’m having a small get together and plan on using 4,5lbs of chicken. Can’t wait to try this at home.
Lilla, I find it easier to think of it as sauce per piece of chicken. You’ll need about 2 tablespoons of sauce per piece of chicken. There are 16 tablespoons in a cup and the recipe makes 2 cups so you’ll have 32 tablespoons, or enough for 16 pieces of chicken. If you like it really saucy, then you could say 3 tablespoons of sauce per piece of chicken, in which case it would cover about 11 pieces of chicken.
Hmmm I did as instructed and mine tastes more like ketchup.
Stacie, It should taste tangier and sweeter than ketchup. If you want a more distinctive taste and darker color, you can go with molasses instead of honey. And go in with a good drip of Worcestershire sauce and a dash of hot sauce.
i just want to know if its mustard powder or the finished product
Dario, The finished product. Plain yellow mustard like you put on hot dogs at the ball park.
How much worchester sauce to add
Tammy, Just a couple of drops. Then taste. Add more if you’d like. It is potent stuff though so a little at a time is key.
So you just mix it all together- no need to cook it, right?
MaryJo, Correct. Just mix and use.
I just stumbled across your recipe and am about to glaze my chicken with it. Yep, I too thought I had BBQ sauce, there is a snow storm, and the closest store is 30-45 minutes one way so this will have to work :D Can’t wait from all the awesome reviews. I plan to tweak just a smidgen with extra garlic and perhaps a little Worcestershire
Natasha, Happy to help. I hope you liked it and your tweaks sound great!
So glad I found this recipe. I am making bbq pulled pork and didn’t have enough sauce so I made this recipe with chili powder garlic powder seasoning salt and a little soy sauce. Turned out perfect. Now its in with the pork and heating up. Thank you for the recipe. You saved me from having to try to get to the store in my power chair with 6 inches of snow to fight through.
Nena, So happy to help and I’m delighted that you liked it.
I Wanted to do a homemade bbq sauce so searching the net I found yours and gave it a try. Well my visitors just loved it and wanted to know how I made it. I was almost gonna take the credit😜 I did it with spare ribs chops. It was absolutely delicious. Thanks very much for posting your receipt. Next time I’ll try it on chicken. No more bottled or packed bbq for me.
Ps. I did write out your receipt for my friend to try.
Thanks so much for this recipe!!! The food was already in the grill and i was beginning to panic!! Tastes sooooo good, only i used more honey and added garlic and herbs <3
So happy you liked it, Jacynda!
Can you use white sugar instead of brown sugar. What if you have no honey?
I think white sugar would work. Use a bit less and then taste and see. Molasses works too.
Hi, I would like my BBQ chicken to look more dark red than orange. What can I add to make it look redder? Would paprika or some dark soy sauce work?
Yes, either of those would work. Molasses is another option.
Hello! Can you tell which type of mustard you use? Thanks in advance!
Missy, I used yellow mustard and I edited the recipe to say so. I’m sorry about that. I do think you could use any kind of mustard though, except perhaps a really spicy one. You’d put in much less if it was hot.
I WAS COMPLETELY OUT OF STORE BOUGHT BBQ SAUCE AND DECIDED TO SEARCH FOR A RECIPE WHEN I CAME ACROSS YOURS TODAY. I MADE IT A FEW MINUTES AGO AND WAS SHOCKED BY THE TASTE. IT’S GOING ON MY RIBS IN THE SMOKER THIS AFTERNOON. THANKS SO MUCH FOR POSTING YOUR RECIPE BECAUSE I WON’T BE BUYING BBQ SAUCE ANYMORE.
Shirley, I’m so happy that you like it so much. Thanks for letting us know! And now I really wish I was eating ribs…
Thanx a million will try the bbq sauce this weekend
You’re welcome!
Thank you, thank you for this simple recipe. Like everyone else I thought I had a bottle of bbq sauce. This easy recipe saved the day and I now know how to have a batch ready always. I added lemon pepper, grated garlic and paprika. As we say in Hawaii, soooo ONO! Aloha!
Zoe, I’m delighted to have saved the day. Glad you liked it!
Hi there…I adore your site, and all the feedback you give to the feedback you get is oh so thoughtful and generous !!!! You are kind and it is obvious you love what you are for doing here on this site…..I am impressed !!!! I appreciate you !!!! I am however having a bit of trouble signing up to “belong” to your site and I would like to be a part of your sister site as well….you have my permission to sign me up for both ….please and thank you…
([email protected])
Peaches, I have signed you up for both. You should get emails looking for confirmation. Check your inbox and if it’s not there, look in your trash and spam folders. They shouldn’t go there but you never know. Thank you for your kind words.
Thank you! My friend has Hosimotos and so can’t have store BBQ sauce as many sneak gluten in with molasses. I was able to make a really delicious sauce after messing around.
I added minced onion, 1/2 tbsp chilli powder, salt and pepper, 1/4 cup brown sugar, 2/4 cups honey, 1 tbsp minced garlic, 1/2 tbsp garlic powder. Mixed it all in and it’s really good. Savoury and sweet. :)
Kati, That sounds delicious. I’m going to give it a try soon!
Best recipe! Very easy to make! Thank you! Using this for pork chops in slow cooker.
Thanks Kim. Really happy you like it. It’s a favorite around here too!
I love this simple recipe! I added a splash of lemon, a tablespoon of white, and a dash of worsteshire sauce. It was great!
So happy you liked it. Love your tweaks!
Can the dry mustard be used?
Bridgette, Not for the full amount of mustard called for in the recipe. Dry mustard is too spicy for that. You could experiment using the amounts of ketchup and honey listed. Then add the dry mustard 1 teaspoon at a time, stir and taste. If you try it, let us know how it turns out.
How many cups of sauce for 100 little meatballs
Jean, I’m not really sure. What I would do is make one batch of sauce and see how many meatballs that covers. Then calculate how many batches you need to cover the rest of the meatballs from there.
Going to try this with bbq chicken breasts in the ovwn
Do you think this would be good on boneless ribs.
Lisa, yes, definitely!
You just saved me!! Thought I had some bbq sauce in the pantry and I didnt. The chicken wings were already in the oven. I was panicking until I found this recipe. I made it and wow!! I’ll neverr opt for store bought sauce again! Thank you!!
Jennifer, I’m so happy I could help. Thanks for letting me know!
I just have ketchup, garlic, sat, pepper and honey.. Without mustard, works?
You could try. I’d add in some vinegar maybe.
This is great. Thanks. If I use sweet and sour sauce instead of regular ketchup, will it do?
Jenna, Yes, I think that will work. If you try it, let me know how it goes.
I’ll never buy BBQ sauce from the store again ,, now that I can make my own with these simple ingredients, plus I can customise it to what ever food I’m cookin..
Patrick, so so happy you liked it. Thanks for letting me know!
I’m surprised by how simple this barbecue sauce recipe is. I didn’t know that all it takes to make sauce the right way is with ketchup, mustard, brown sugar, and salt. I’ve always thought that it required a secret ingredient, so it’s good to see that barbecue sauce actually requires pretty simple ingredients.
Just what I was looking for. I am going to try for dinner with some ribs in oven. :)
Great starting sauce can spice it up so many ways. I added chopped onions, peppers and garlic. I added cumin and tyme.
Debbie, So glad you like it. Love your additions!
Mary, I’ve always been looking for a simple BBQ Sauce recipe but could never find one. Thank you for posting this it’s the simplest one I’ve ever seen. I’m going to try it tonight.
Thanks again,
Daria.
Barbecue sauce is one of my favorite sauces. Especially with chicken! I shall try this out this week. Looks easy to make and tasty!