Do you have ketchup, mustard and brown sugar? You have to try this best EVER Basic Homemade BBQ Sauce. It’s a simple base for starting your own BBQ sauce deliciousness, then add and customize from there.
There are several ingredients that I always think I have on hand, but sometimes I go to start cooking and it turns out I don’t have them. This happens a lot with barbecue sauce, which I definitely need on hand when grilling season starts up again. This is my go-to recipe for when this happens!
I always think I have a few bottles of BBQ sauce in the pantry. I go to grab one, and there aren’t any. Because of this, I’ve developed a quick, basic barbecue sauce base. It uses simple ingredients that I always have and it only takes a minute to whip up.
It’s made out of ketchup, mustard, and brown sugar. That’s all you absolutely need, but I’ve got suggestions for more ingredients to make it extra tasty.
Video: BBQ Sauce Base + How To Doctor It Up!
Adaptable Homemade Barbecue Sauce
The beauty of this sauce base is that you can change it if you’re in the mood. You can use honey or molasses instead of brown sugar, you can use Dijon mustard instead of the regular yellow mustard, you can use tomato sauce for some of the ketchup. There are lots of ways to vary the base.
And then you get to add other ingredients to deepen it more, things like Worcestershire sauce, Tabasco sauce, garlic powder, smoked paprika, or all of the above!
Finally, optionally make it more complex by adding in additional spices like cumin, chili powder, or cayenne pepper. 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 brown sugar or 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.
Using Barbecue Sauce
I love using this sauce when I’m grilling chicken, beef, or pork. To make really great barbecue chicken drumsticks, I follow the basic method for Easy Make Ahead Chicken for a Crowd. I love it because you pre-cook the chicken in the oven so you know it’s done, then add the sauce and grill it all up once guests arrive.
You could also use this for Pulled Pork Sandwiches or to dip French fries in.
If you don’t want to start with a BBQ sauce base and add to it with your own ideas, here’s my recipe for a fully done BBQ sauce. It’s a sweet, spicy, smoky BBQ sauce that still only uses ingredients that I usually have on hand, but it gets simmered on the stove.
More Delicious Sauce Recipes
I’m a firm believer that a great sauce can transform a meal. That’s why I’ve come up with over 40 delicious sauce recipes, which you can browse through over here. I’m also going to link to a few of my favorites for you, for extra inspiration:
- The Best Cheese Sauce Recipe
- Homemade Cocktail Sauce
- Creamy Horseradish Sauce For Prime Rib
- Gravy Made Without Drippings
- Garlic Butter Sauce
- Chili Garlic Sauce
Podcast Episode: Making Easy BBQ Sauce
Listen to me explain briefly about how to make this BBQ sauce, along with some other great tips, by clicking the play button below:
Listen to more Recipe of the Day episodes here.
PrintBest Ever Homemade Barbecue Sauce
- Prep Time: 5 minutes
- Cook Time: 0 minutes
- Total Time: 5 minutes
- Yield: 2 cups 1x
- Category: Sauce
- Cuisine: American
DESCRIPTION
Do you have ketchup, mustard and honey? You have to try this best EVER Basic Homemade BBQ Sauce. It’s a simple base for starting your own BBQ sauce deliciousness. Mix up the ingredients below and you’ll have a mild-tasting sauce. Then, if you’d like, add in some pantry favorites like smoked paprika, cumin, and chili powder to really bring in the flavor.
RECIPE UPDATE: A lot of people in the comments below really love this sauce as is, as does my family. However, a lot of people found it too bland. I therefore retested the recipe and adjusted it. The original recipe, in case you loved that, was 1 and 1/2 cups ketchup, 1/4 cup yellow mustard, 1/4 cup honey, a pinch of salt. The revised recipe is now given below. It’s still very basic and can still be used as a sauce base but it has some more flavor elements to start with. Enjoy! -Christine xo
Ingredients
- 1 cup ketchup
- 1/4 cup prepared yellow mustard
- 1/4 cup brown sugar
- 1/2 tsp. garlic powder
- 1/2 tsp. Worcestershire sauce
- 1/4 tsp. salt
- 1/8 tsp. hot sauce
Instructions
- Combine all ingredients in a medium bowl.
- Stir until sugar dissolves.
This post originally appeared in August 2015 and was revised and republished in June 2022.
SHIRLEY WILKES says
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.
Christine Pittman says
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…
Indra Salama says
Thanx a million will try the bbq sauce this weekend
Christine Pittman says
You’re welcome!
Zoe says
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!
Christine Pittman says
Zoe, I’m delighted to have saved the day. Glad you liked it!
Peaches says
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…
(pin.peaches@gmail.com)
Christine Pittman says
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.
Kati Jones says
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. :)
Christine Pittman says
Kati, That sounds delicious. I’m going to give it a try soon!
Kim Fichtner says
Best recipe! Very easy to make! Thank you! Using this for pork chops in slow cooker.
Christine Pittman says
Thanks Kim. Really happy you like it. It’s a favorite around here too!
K. Dan says
I love this simple recipe! I added a splash of lemon, a tablespoon of white, and a dash of worsteshire sauce. It was great!
Christine Pittman says
So happy you liked it. Love your tweaks!
Bridgette says
Can the dry mustard be used?
Christine Pittman says
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.
Jean says
How many cups of sauce for 100 little meatballs
Christine Pittman says
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.
Kelley burleaon says
Going to try this with bbq chicken breasts in the ovwn
Lisa says
Do you think this would be good on boneless ribs.
Christine Pittman says
Lisa, yes, definitely!
Jennifer Lamkin says
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!!
Christine Pittman says
Jennifer, I’m so happy I could help. Thanks for letting me know!
Coral says
I just have ketchup, garlic, sat, pepper and honey.. Without mustard, works?
Christine Pittman says
You could try. I’d add in some vinegar maybe.
jenna says
This is great. Thanks. If I use sweet and sour sauce instead of regular ketchup, will it do?
Christine Pittman says
Jenna, Yes, I think that will work. If you try it, let me know how it goes.
Patrick Scott says
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..
Christine Pittman says
Patrick, so so happy you liked it. Thanks for letting me know!
Judy Wilson says
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.
momz says
Just what I was looking for. I am going to try for dinner with some ribs in oven. :)
Debbie Stratton says
Great starting sauce can spice it up so many ways. I added chopped onions, peppers and garlic. I added cumin and tyme.
Christine Pittman says
Debbie, So glad you like it. Love your additions!
Daria Tarrant says
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.
Mary Frances says
Barbecue sauce is one of my favorite sauces. Especially with chicken! I shall try this out this week. Looks easy to make and tasty!