Honey BBQ Sauce Recipe
On July 22, 2019 (Updated June 09, 2021)
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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.
I’ve made this a couple of times now and it’s truly fantastic. For the main ingredients I do it by weight though so I don’t have four different sizes of measuring cups/spoons to measure, scrape, wash, etc.300g ketchup (1 cup)100g brown sugar (½ cup)60g apple cider vinegar (¼ cup)50g honey (2 Tablespoons)I just put my saucepan on my scale and squirt/pour/shake/spoon the ingredients in. Quick, easy, a bit less cleanup. Each batch makes enough to nicely fit in a two cup/400ml mason jar.
What weights for the rest of the ingredients?
How big of a jar is 24 servings?I need to make 25 jars of 125ml
I made another batch yesterday and it came to about 350ml. So I figure 9 batches worth should do it. Maybe 10 if you want to be sure, and perhaps have a little extra.
I make this EVERY TIME a recipe needs BBQ sauce. Thank you for this! The family loves it.
Good sauce, but I do add a few other ingredients in it:2 tablespoons worcestershire sauce1 teaspoon rubbed sage1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepperI like sauces with a little kick to them.
Love this!!
This was a quick and easy recipe with perfect consistency. It turned out perfect!
I absolutely love this. Followed it exactly and just added 2 tablespoons of chili garlic sauce for extra heat. It’s definitely a 10 plus. Going down in my favorite recipe book ❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️
Thanks for this lovely recipe!!! Easy to make and I will definitely make this again.
It’s wonderful! So easy to make and use! Husband loved it! Thank you so very much.Vicky
I forgot to get extra bbq sauce when I was grocery shopping and I found ur recipe and made it to the exact and my picky picky eater (my son) absolutely LOVED it. We r putting it on a rack of ribs for their dad for his Father’s Day dinner. Now they want me to make wings Tuesday with this exact same sauce. I may add some Frank’s to a jar of it so it will have a good bite to it for my wings. Thank u so much!