Food & Cooking Recipes Quick & Easy Recipes Quick BBQ Sauce 4.0 (49) This easy condiment is ready in a flash—no cooking necessary—and you will use it all the time. Prep Time: 5 mins Total Time: 5 mins Servings: 10 Jump to recipe Our easy BBQ sauce takes mere minutes to make, uses just one bowl, and no cooking is needed. It will be a condiment you rely on and make all through grilling season—and beyond. It's the fastest, easiest route to a homemade BBQ sauce and will become a favorite in your kitchen. It starts with ketchup and has a total of just six ingredients. To make the sauce, you whisk them together—that's it! Then brush the sauce on the meat on the grill in the last 5 to 10 minutes of cooking, or spread it on your burger bun or sandwich for lively flavor. 23 Classic Grilling and Barbecue Recipes to Make All Summer Long Credit: Brie Goldman Key Flavors The recipe's six ingredients are all pantry staples you probably already have on hand. Ketchup is the base of the sauce, Worcestershire sauce adds umami, light brown sugar brings sweetness, vinegar brings tang, and two spices, paprika and cayenne pepper, add a smoky flavor and some heat. Our recipe makes a relatively small amount of BBQ sauce, about 1 1/4 cups, so you can make it any night you need it. If you need a larger amount, simply double or triple the recipe as it will work fine scaled up so you have enough for a larger crowd. The Best Ways to Use BBQ Sauce There are so many ways to use BBQ sauce; here are a few of our favorites: Brush it on your favorite meats on the grill for the last 10 to 15 minutes of cooking Use it to baste larger pieces of meat like pork tenderloin as it cooks Toss it with pulled pork Spread it on your sandwich or burger Use it as a dipping sauce for fries, chicken fingers, or wings Directions Credit: Brie Goldman Combine ingredients: Whisk together all ingredients in a small bowl. Credit: Brie Goldman Brush sauce on meat: Brush on meat during the last 5 to 10 minutes of grilling or roasting. Credit: Brie Goldman How Long BBQ Sauce Lasts Our Easy BBQ Sauce will last for two weeks stored in an airtight container in the refrigerator. Freezing for Longer Storage We think you’ll use it all up quickly, but if you have sauce you know you can’t use in that time, transfer it to a freezer bag, squeeze out all the air, and label. Store the sauce flat in the freezer and use it within three months. (Defrost it in the refrigerator overnight.) Frequently Asked Questions What is the base for BBQ sauce? The base for most BBQ sauces is tomato—many start with tomato paste, some with canned tomato sauce or puree. For this recipe, we use ketchup as the base because it doesn't require cooking. Can I use apple cider vinegar? Yes, you can use apple cider vinegar in this recipe. Many homemade BBQ sauce recipes use apple cider vinegar. If you swap the white vinegar in our recipe for apple cider vinegar, it will give your sauce a bolder tart punch. Can I make this recipe spicier? Yes, there are many ways to make this recipe spicier and add more heat to a BBQ sauce. The easiest way is to add a splash or two of your favorite hot sauce. Other options include adding more cayenne pepper, some chili oil, or red pepper flakes. (We wouldn’t recommend adding red pepper flakes to a smooth, uncooked sauce like our Easy BBQ Sauce, though.) 5 More Homemade BBQ Sauce Recipes to Try Five-Ingredient Barbecue Sauce Kansas City Barbecue Sauce Easy BBQ Glaze Ollie Gates’s Barbecue Sauce Sticky Barbecue Sauce With Molasses Updated by Victoria Spencer Victoria Spencer Victoria Spencer is an experienced food editor, writer, and recipe developer. She manages the decorvow recipe archive and is always curious about new ingredients and the best techniques. She has been working in food media for over 20 years.