Easy Homemade Spicy BBQ Sauce (2024)

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Easily make homemade Spicy BBQ Sauce at home for all your barbecue needs! Perfect for basting meats or as a dipping sauce.

Since being in lockdown, we’ve missed our family. We have not, however, missed cooking. We’ve done plenty of that! Anyone else feel like they’ve cooked eleventy billion meals in the last few months?

Now that it’s officially summer and our stay-at-home order has been lifted, we’re looking forward to having a small get-together in the backyard with our family for 4th of July.

Because we’ve cooked SO much lately, I picked up some bone-in fried chicken and chicken tenders from the deli, but I paired it with this homemade, spicy BBQ sauce that is so good!

We’ve missed everyone so much, we’re going to focus on spending time together instead of spending time in the kitchen or on the grill cooking.

My menu will be centered around bone-in chicken for the adults and chicken tenders for the kids (and me).

Walmart deli also has hot sides – potato wedges, mashed potatoes & gravy, and macaroni and cheese.

Some more easy sides to pair with the chicken are macaroni salad, coleslaw, or potato salad if you want to add some easy homemade elements.

I always like to add a touch of homemade when I’m taking a shortcut in other areas.

How cute are these plates and serving baskets? They had plenty to choose from, I had to reel myself in.

Dipping Sauces

I’ll also add a homemade spicy BBQ sauce to enjoy with the chicken strips. It’s a bit too spicy for the kids, but perfect for me. It is so easy to put together and if you’ve never made homemade BBQ sauce, you’ve been missing out.

More dipping sauces you might like are Honey BBQ Sauce, White BBQ Sauce, or Jack Daniels Sauce. All have less heat and are more kid friendly.

Equipment you’ll need

• Small saucepan
• Silicone spatulas – I use these for everything!
• Silicone pastry/basting brush
• Mason jars – for storage

Ingredients you’ll need

Below is a list of the ingredients you’ll need to gather to make this recipe.Scroll all the way down for the full recipe card.

• VINEGAR – white distilled vinegar.
• BROWN SUGAR – brown sugar, specifically dark brown sugar, is perfect for BBQ sauce because it has a deep, molasses flavor that is perfect for sweetness and thickening the sauce.
• WORCESTERSHIRE SAUCE – Worcestershire has a umami flavor that works well in sauces. If you don’t have any, soy sauce can be used but I would recommend low sodium.
• LEMON JUICE – fresh squeezed lemon juice is always my preference/
• SALT & PEPPER
• CAYENNE PEPPER – for heat.
• SAMBAL OELEK – Sambal Oelek is a chili pepper sauce that I also use in my macaroni and cheese. If you can’t find it, sriracha can be used or just your favorite hot sauce.
• KETCHUP – At the base of most bbq sauces is ketchup. Use your favorite brand.

How to make Spicy BBQ Sauce

1. STEP ONE: Add all ingredients except ketchup to a small saucepan. Stir and bring to a boil over medium heat. Reduce until sugar is fully dissolved.
2. STEP TWO: Pour in the ketchup, stir, and remove from heat.

That’s it! I told you it was easy.

What to serve with homemade BBQ sauce

• Steak Bites
• Chicken Strips
• Roasted Potato Wedges
• Chicken Wings

Patriotic Desserts

If you’re serving this bbq sauce at a summer cookout, you might be celebrating the 4th or Memorial Day.

For dessert, cookie bars are easy to serve to a group, but if you want to keep with the Americana theme, you can bake mini cheesecakes with raspberries and blueberries to make them red, white, and blue.

Or patriotic brownie cupcakes that are as delicious as they are fun to look at.

Throw some drinks, , or homemade lemonade or blackberry lemonade, in a cooler and you’re ready to have an easy (& long awaited) get-together with your family and friends.

How to store leftovers

Homemade bbq sauce should be stored in an airtight container in the fridge for up to two weeks.

What to add to BBQ sauce to make it spicy?

To spice mine up, I add both cayenne pepper and sambal oelek. You can adjust to your liking.

Other options include chili powder, hot paprika, or even curry powder for more spice than heat.

Need more classic BBQ sides? Try these:

• Macaroni Salad
• Potato Salad
• Bacon Ranch Pasta Salad
• Baked Beans
• Arabic Potato Salad

Need more sauces? Try these:

• TGI Friday’s Jack Daniels Sauce
• KFC Honey BBQ Sauce
• Yum Yum Sauce

Originally published June 25, 2020

This was originally a sponsored conversation written by me on behalf of Tyson Foods, Inc. All opinions and text are mine, as always.