Honey BBQ Sauce Recipe
On July 22, 2019 (Updated May 10, 2024)
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This Honey BBQ Sauce Recipe is the perfect sweet sauce for burgers, wings, chicken, and more. It’s wonderfully sticky and very kid-friendly, making it a great sauce to have on hand for weekday dinners or big group barbecues with family and friends.
Honey Barbecue Sauce
Honey barbecue sauce is a delightfully sweet sauce that is great on chicken, burgers, and so much more. It isn’t spicy or sour, so it’s the perfect sauce for your most discerning young person. Not only is this sauce a favorite of every member of the family, it’s easy to make and can be made in advance making dinner prep easy.
I especially love having this sauce on hand as a dipping sauce when I have extra picky eaters over for dinner. Meat and veggies are quickly consumed with a little dip from this barbecue sauce.
How to Make Honey BBQ Sauce
Making BBQ sauce at home is a relatively easy and straightforward process. The most important step is to simply allow the sauce to simmer. Giving this sauce a good simmer allows the flavors to combine and it thickens it up into a wonderfully sticky sauce.
Follow these 3 easy steps and you’ll see just how easy it is to make your own homemade BBQ sauce in your kitchen.
- Combine the ingredients. To begin, grab out a medium saucepan and stir to mix all the ingredients.
- Boil and simmer. Bring the sauce to a boil over medium heat, then reduce the heat to low and simmer for 15 minutes.
- Cool and serve. Once the sauce has thickened, remove it from the heat and allow it to cool.
This sauce is ready to go right away and can be served immediately. If you’re making it ahead of time, store the sauce in the refrigerator in a airtight glass jar (a good ol’ Mason Jar works well for this sauce, but I also love these hinged glass jars) for up to 2 weeks.
Ingredients for Honey BBQ Sauce
This sauce uses a ketchup base – perfect for pleasing any and all palates. The remaining 8 ingredients are ones you likely have in your pantry, making this a quick and easy recipe. One quick note: most of my sauce and rub recipes will use smoked paprika instead of regular paprika. I recommend grabbing a big bottle the next time you’re at the store. This smoked seasoning makes all the difference!
Here’s what you’ll need on hand to make this honey BBQ sauce:
- ketchup
- brown sugar
- apple cider vinegar
- honey
- salt
- smoked paprika
- garlic powder
- onion powder
- black pepper
Honey BBQ Wing Sauce Recipe
This honey BBQ sauce makes for a great wing sauce. It’s sweet and just a bit tangy, making it a delicious sweet sauce for chicken wings. In fact, I’m thinking this sauce would take incredible on my Smoked then Fried Chicken Wings. I personally like to have a variety of sauce options available to my friends when I make wings, and this honey BBQ sauce is the perfect sweet option for these smoked then fried wings.
You could also substitute this honey BBQ wing sauce on my Honey Heat Smoked Chicken Wings to cool the heat, or slather it all over my Extra Crispy Smoked Chicken Wings. Honestly, the options are endless with this sauce. Whether you like your wings crispy, fried, or smoked, this sauce is a great sweet way to finish your wings.
More BBQ Sauce Recipes
I love making my own BBQ sauce when cooking up mouth-watering meat. Whether I’m looking for something sweet and tangy, or rich and smooth, these sauces have something everyone can enjoy:
Teriyaki BBQ Sauce
Coffee BBQ Sauce
Carolina Mustard BBQ Sauce
Easy Honey BBQ Sauce Recipe
Follow the recipe, and let’s make some really good food! Hey Grill Hey is here to help you make better BBQ, feed the people you love, and become a BBQ hero. Head on over to YouTube, Instagram, or Facebook for more behind the scenes action!
Honey BBQ Sauce
Ingredients
- 1 cup ketchup
- ½ cup brown sugar
- ¼ cup apple cider vinegar
- 2 Tablespoons honey
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon smoked paprika
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1 teaspoon onion powder
- ½ teaspoon black pepper
Instructions
- Combine all ingredients for Honey BBQ Sauce in a medium saucepan over medium heat.
- Bring sauce to a boil. Reduce heat to low and simmer for 15 minutes.
- Remove sauce from heat and allow to cool.
- Store in an airtight glass container for up to 2 weeks.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Really enjoyed this recipe!
Great flavor how does one make it thicker?
You can simmer on low heat until it thickens up to your liking!
I hate to be one of those recipe reviewers that added some things, but I added everything in plus a few little shakes of red pepper flakes and powdered ginger and it was great! Filled the Buffalo Wild Wings hole in my heart from trying to not order out too much during quarantine. Thank you!
Don’t apologize. We like to see people’s variations so we can try them all. Yum Yum.
It sounds delicious. Can it be frozen for future use?
Absolutely!
Which BBQ sauce would work great with your dry rib rub?
Honestly any of these: https://heygrillhey.com/?s=bbq+sauce
With this pandemic going on right now and the self-isolating that is required I’ve been trying to eat out of the freezer. Found a pork roast last night so decided to toss it in the slow cooker and have pulled pork for dinner. Trouble is, I didn’t have bbq sauce in the house so I found your recipe and since it seemed so easy I decided to try it. The only change i made was that I was out of onion powder so I just used a half a small onion finely diced. I think the hubby would have licked his plate if I had let him get away with it llol.
Is it necessary to use brown sugar
Also what if I have the spice, can I just mix that with honey and apple cider viniger??
It would taste a lot different for sure!
Love your site, so many delicious recipes, and great tips! Thanks 🙂
We love it
I tried the recipe but changed a few things as I don’t use some things. I added a pinch of cayenne and thai basil, 2 pinches of crushed celery seeds. And omitted the paprika and raw honey but absolutely delish, thank you it was so easy
Can you put this sauce in a Mason jar and then pressure cook it. I would like to make a big batch and then give to my friends as gifts. I was hoping canning it would make it last.
I’m sure you could!
I love this recipe so much!
I added a little extra honey to make it sweeter and also added some chilli flakes. I served it over bacon wrapped chicken and it was seriously delishous
I was searching for a honey bbq sauce recipe for baby back ribs and came across this recipe. I must say, it was perfect. I made it and then let it sit until ready to pour on the ribs, once on the ribs I broiled low heat, 2nd rack space down just until it bubbled and it was just right. Definitely saving this recipe.
Can this be canned or processed in jars