30 Lip Smackin’ Barbecue Sauce Recipes

This week’s Recipe Hit List is a collection of homemade bbq sauces I’ve found around the net (for ribs, chicken, pork–you name it).

There are some really interesting recipes in this bunch with ingredients like espresso, bourbon whiskey, cherry cola, blueberries but there are plenty with more traditional ingredients too. Some sweet, some hot & spicy –they all look so good, you might just find a few new favorites in the bunch!

*Some of the pages include recipes for the meat dishes or side dishes, you may have to scroll down the page to find the BBQ sauce recipes.

Homemade Barbecue Sauce Recipes

*Note: Descriptions below are quotes from the recipe sites

1. BBQ Sauce: The following recipe is for my tomato-based BBQ sauce. It is fairly straight forward until you get to one ingredient, vanilla. I love vanilla, and try to use it everywhere that I can. It highlights the sweetness in this sauce recipe, and lingers gently on the palate. It adds an exotic, almost mysterious flavor that leaves you wanting to take another bite. Recipe from Beyond The Kitchen Wall.
2. Backyard Barbecue Sauce: This spicy slather has been my go-to for so long that I can no longer remember its source, and of course it changes just a bit each time I make it. My friend Bob made this batch when he fired up his smoker last week; he used brown sugar substitute instead of the real thing, and the sauce was deee-lishus! It does have quite a kick, so if you want a milder sauce, omit the jalapeno. Makes 4-5 cups; leftover can be frozen. Recipe from The Perfect Pantry.
3. Classic Barbecue Sauce: I’ve already made barbecue chicken twice in the last week. At the risk of sounding immodest, I have to say that my barbecue chicken is fantastique. Recipe found at Brownies For Dinner.
4. Alabama White Barbecue Sauce: This is truly a regional thing, but also a regional requirement. EVERY BBQ restaurant in North Alabama features white bbq sauce on their menu, their meats, and their tables and North Alabamians eat it with everything from french fries to bread to chicken and ribs. This unique, tangy flavor is the perfect compliment to just about everything. Personally, I like to use so much that my food is swimming in it. How about we make up a batch for you? Recipe from Southern Plate.
5. Big Bob Gibson Bar-B-Q White Sauce: But once the grilled breasts (over charcoal, not wood) were dipped in the white sauce, the magic truly happened. The creamy, peppery sauce had a slight edge of heat that was transformational. By the end of the meal, we were pouring white sauce on everything we could find—grilled mushrooms, corn, bread, whatever — just so we could get some more of it. Recipe found at Bitten Blog – NY Times.
6. Barefoot Contessa’s Barbecue Sauce: There’s this initial sweetness followed by an unexpected heat, and it’s better than any jarred stuff I’ve ever had. What’s more, BC’s recipe makes a staggering 1-1/2 quarts (48 oz) of sauce, which compensates for the initial investment. Without exaggeration, it will last FOR MONTHS. Recipe found at Cheap Healthy Good.
7. Balsamic BBQ Sauce: (Includes lager beer) This isn’t the type of recipe you just make on a whim, it’s a labor of love recipe, so since you’re going to put the time in, you might as well make your own bbq sauce. It adds that extra something special to make them your own. Recipe from Krista’s Cooking Blog.
8. Tangy Rhubarb Barbecue Sauce: This is a nice change of pace from the usual smoky and/or sweet barbecue sauces. The rhubarb gives it thickness and a fruity flavor. The amounts below are suggestions only. Add more honey if you like it sweet, more apple cider vinegar if you like a vinegary kick. Or leave out the ketchup and double up on the mustard and vinegar for a Carolina-style sauce. The sauce is good with grilled pork chops and chicken thighs, but it’s a particularly good match with duck breasts that have been pan-fried and sliced. It may be refrigerated in an airtight container for 2 to 3 days. Recipe from The Washington Post.
9. Blueberry Chipotle Barbecue Sauce: The secret to getting a really nice deep flavor is to cook the sauce down for a good long time. That concentrates all the flavors and makes it lusciously thick like a BBQ sauce should be. I didn’t feel like cheating and using liquid smoke for the smokiness, not this time. Instead, chipotle powder giveth smoke and spice. Recipe from Post Punk Kitchen.
10. Kansas City-Style Hot Barbecue Sauce: Adapted from Blue Ribbon BBQ. Recipe found at The Boston Globe.
11. Elizabeth Karmel’s Dr. Pepper Barbecue Sauce: My students make this barbecue sauce every month in my Southern-barbecue classes. It is the only red sauce that we make in the class, and we always double the recipe because the class slathers it on everything! This sauce has been printed in many places and thousands of students have the recipe, but I couldn’t write a sauce chapter and not include it here. The Dr. Pepper gives this sauce an edge over most basic sweet barbecue sauces. Recipe found at Good Morning America Recipes.
12. Coffee-Honey Barbecue Sauce: The sauce on the other hand. Oh that sauce. That sauce is love. The color of shellacked mahogany, the sauce is so thick and sticky, it has the consistency of molasses, or sorghum, or honey or some other slow-moving, sticky-sweet substance. And yet the sweetness is not at all cloying. The bitterness of the espresso balances it out and adds a really rich depth of flavor. Recipe found at Well Fed.
13. Cherry Cola Barbecue Sauce: This sweet-savory sauce is served with a mixed grill of baby back ribs, chicken breasts, and smoked sausages in our Fourth of July Cooking Club menu. Adjust the sauce’s heat by adding hot pepper sauce to taste. Recipe from bonappetit.
14. Homemade Chipotle Barbecue Sauce: (soy-free, gluten-free, sugar-free) Just in time for summer BBQ’s comes an easy recipe for homemade barbecue sauce! It is sweet and tangy with a nice kick from the chipotle chili powder. Recipe from Whole Life Nutrition.
15. Paula Deen’s Spicy Barbecue Sauce: Incorporates a bit of peanut butter. Recipe from Paula Deen.
16. Sweet-and-Sour Barbecue Sauce: This classic barbecue sauce is so flavourful you won’t even realize that it has no added salt. It’s great for pork, chicken or beef. Recipe found at Canadian Living.
17. Moroccan Barbecue Sauce: This super flavorful, tomato based barbecue sauce uses wonderful Moroccan spices for a new twist. Absolutely delicious! Recipe found at The Nourishing Gourmet.
18. Georgia Peach Barbecue Sauce: This is the sweetest of the three sauces for barbecued chicken. You can add a tablespoon or so of peach liqueur for more peach flavor. Recipe found at Fine Cooking.
19. Mango Barbeque Sauce: Healthy Appetite with Ellie Krieger. Recipe found at Food Network.
20. Smoky Orange and Honey Barbecue Sauce: A recipe for my Smoky Orange and Honey Barbecue Sauce that you can throw together and slather on some chicken. It’s heavenly and miles above any bottled sauce. It’s got tang, sweetness, spice, smoke, and overall fabulous balance. Recipe found at Prudence Pennywise.
21. Smoky Barbecue Sauce: Here is a recipe that doesn’t require chopping vegetables and hours of cooking, just a few special ingredients. Recipe found at Cooking For Seven.
22. South Carolina Golden Mustard Barbecue Sauce: When I moved to South Carolina, I was surprised to discover that the barbecue there was yellow instead of red. Tangy and sweet, mustard-based barbecue sauce was very popular, but I don’t think I ever got a chance to sample the barbecued pork that the natives raved about because I became vegetarian shortly after moving there. Fortunately, the bottled sauce was available in stores, and once I tried it, I developed an instant love for it. Recipe found at FatFree Vegan Kitchen.
23. Honey Chipotle Barbecue Sauce: Chipotle peppers are known for having a smoky sweetness, with a slow but strong heat. The spice is what makes them so great, but the sweetness is fairly unique and lets chipotle work very well when paired with some much sweeter things. Honey and chipotle is one of my favorite combinations for a salsa. It wasn’t a stretch to make it into a smoky sweet barbecue sauce – perfect for pairing with anything grilled. Recipe from Baking Bites.
24. Ryan’s Homemade BBQ Sauce: (recipe includes a good shot of bourbon whiskey) I love fine cuisine from all over the world, but my favorite flavors are the uniquely American, rich, smoky tastes of true Southern BBQ. When buying BBQ sauce, most of the sauces you’ll find at your local grocery store are thick, sugary sauces, generally intended to be used as a condiment rather than a marinade or cooking tool. Below, you’ll find the recipe for my personal BBQ sauce done in this same vein, but with a few twists. Recipe found at Culinary Crafts.
25. Lifeboat Farm BBQ Sauce: This is our own recipe based loosely on the DYC vinegar recipe with some extra (not so) secret ingredients. Recipe found at Lifeboat Farm.
26. Jamaican Barbecue Sauce Recipe: Since visiting Jamaica, I’ve become a big fan of jerk chicken and fish. I came up with my own version of that zesty island flavoring especially for this contest. It’s a great sauce for ribs, whether you’re grilling them or making them in the oven. It makes me feel like I’m on vacation! Recipe found at Taste Of Home.
27. Chipotle Apricot Barbecue Sauce: The barbecue sauce was a hit, but of course, there was bacon in it, and let’s be honest, pork on pork is a winning combination. Although, I imagine it would also be magical on shrimp and chicken, too. Recipe found at He Cooks, She Cooks.
28. Molasses Barbecue Sauce: The sauce has a “rich, intensely sweet taste” that is good paired with pork. Recipe from Serious Eats.
29. Homemade Guava BBQ Sauce: Nothing says Miami or Cuban food like guava, so it’s just natural that when I get a grill, I think to make guava BBQ sauce. Some of you may think it’s weird, but everyone’s heard of peach BBQ sauce. This version has the same sweet flavor with a little tropical twist. Since I use canned guava shells and guava paste, this also makes it an all-season sauce. Pork chops and pork tenderloin are especially yummy covered in guava BBQ sauce, but chicken and turkey taste pretty darn good, too. Grill, broil or sear for a caramelized, sweet and tangy taste that will make you feel like it’s summer already. Recipe found at Bitchincamero.
30. Espresso BBQ Sauce: Not only will I make them again and again, I have decided that it’s stupid for me to ever to buy BBQ sauce. This espresso bbq sauce was fantastic! I was a bit skeptical because it was soooo tangy before I smothered the ribs in them. But the second they hit the grill, those bad boys turned into the stickiest tastiest caramelized mess. I was proud. I conquered. I show those ribs who was BOSS. Recipe found at Shutterbean.

Also check out Grilling Tips: 12 Ways To Kick Up The Flavor.

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