Kansas City BBQ Sauce
On July 30, 2019 (Updated May 10, 2024)
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Kansas City BBQ sauce is the perfect balance of sweet and tangy. It’s rich from the molasses, bright from the acidic tomatoes and vinegar, and has just the right amount of heat from the chili powder. It’s a classic, ketchup-based BBQ sauce that is a must-have for chicken, ribs, and more!
Homemade BBQ Sauce
Making your own homemade BBQ sauce is something I recommend trying at least once. Though, once you make some from scratch, you’ll likely find yourself making your own sauce over and over again. I personally love making food that has all natural ingredients without anything added (especially all those ingredients I can’t pronounce!), and this BBQ sauce is full of only the good stuff.
This sauce is made from a tomato and molasses base. I add in some brown sugar and apple cider vinegar for a sweet and tangy zip, and then infuse it with 8 spices to give it a well-rounded flavor with a tiny kick of heat at the end. It’s my go-to BBQ sauce when I need that perfect, quintessential sauce. It’s so good, I usually have a jar of it in my fridge at all times.
This sauce is great to make and eat the same day, but if you’ve got the time to let it sit, it is even better after letting it rest for 24 hours. That extra day in the refrigerator gives all of the ingredients time to hang out and get comfortable with each other, resulting in a smoother and more delicious sauce. If you end up with any leftovers, it lasts great in the refrigerator. Make sure you keep it in an airtight container (I usually store my sauces in a simple wide mouth mason jar), and it should last you at least two weeks.
What is Kansas City BBQ Sauce?
I was fortunate enough to visit Kansas City in 2017 for my second Guinness World Record and eat at the best restaurants around. It was pretty darn amazing. While there, I packed my days with BBQ for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. Kansas is famous for their burnt ends, and the best complement for tender, smoked beef is a great sauce.
Kansas city BBQ sauce has got it’s own flare and flavor. Most Kansas City style sauces are tomato based, almost all have molasses, and from the ones that I tasted, they all give you a little kick of heat at the end from chili powder, cayenne pepper, red pepper flakes, or a combination of all three. This homemade version hits all of those major flavor components with my own Hey Grill Hey twist.
How to Make BBQ Sauce
Making your own BBQ sauce at home is inexpensive, easy, and takes less than 30 minutes. Follow along with these 3 simple steps, and you will soon see how it’s totally worth it to make your own sauce at home.
- Boil the ingredients. Combine all ingredients in a medium saucepan and bring to a boil over medium heat. Use a whisk to combine and mix the ingredients while it comes to a boil.
- Simmer the sauce. Once your sauce is boiling, reduce the heat to low and allow it to simmer for 20 minutes. The sauce should thicken nicely, and your house will be filled with the sweet aroma of delicious BBQ sauce.
- Cool and refrigerate. Remove the sauce from the heat and allow it to cool completely. You can use it immediately, but I recommend transferring it to a container with a lid and refrigerating it for 24 hours for the best flavor.
This sauce keeps well, and you can store it in the refrigerator for up to two weeks (assuming it lasts that long!). I highly recommend trying this on my Smoked Chicken recipe. The smoked chicken is moist, juicy, and it is packed with flavor when cooked with this tasty sauce. This sauce is also great to have on hand for dipping. We love to slather it on grilled and smoked meats, and use it as a dip for grilled veggies.
Best BBQ Sauce Recipes
I’m a firm believe that homemade BBQ sauce is the perfect way to finish your hard-earned, long-smoked meat. Check out these recipes below for more amazing BBQ sauce recipes:
Honey BBQ Sauce
Carolina Vinegar BBQ Sauce
Coffee BBQ Sauce
BBQ Sauce Recipe
Kansas City BBQ Sauce
Ingredients
- 14 oz can crushed tomatoes
- 1 cup ketchup
- ¾ cup brown sugar
- ½ cup apple cider vinegar
- ½ cup molasses
- 1 Tablespoon smoked paprika
- 1 Tablespoon salt
- 2 teaspoons ground black pepper
- 1 teaspoon chili powder
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1 teaspoon onion powder
- ½ teaspoon red pepper flakes
- ½ teaspoon ground mustard
Instructions
- Combine all ingredients in a medium saucepan. Whisk to combine. Bring to a boil over medium heat, then reduce the heat to low to simmer.
- Simmer for 20 minutes. Remove the pan from the heat and allow to cool completely before transferring to an air tight container.
- This sauce can be used immediately, but I recommend refrigerating overnight for the best flavor. This sauce will last 2 weeks in the refrigerator if sealed tightly in an air tight container.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
**This post was originally published January 2018. It has since been updated with more information and helpful tips. The recipe remains the same.
This is really good! So much better than anything store bought. I was wondering if anyone has tried to can this? I can freeze it, but would prefer to can some for future use. Thanks
I bought two large Packer Briskets today totally 34 pounds. We have a 20 person dinner planned for next week, and your video and instructions have convinced me to turn at least one of the points, if not both, into burnt ends with your sauce!
We use the Sous Vide method and charring with a flamethrower, so no need to take the brikets to 190.
We smoke at 140 for three hours raw, then Sous Vide at 145 for 36-48 hours. Create the bark with a flamethrower, and using your recipe, we’ll cut the cubes from that and heat them to about 190, while the flats will be medium rare.
Cheers!
Sounds like you are going to get some major praise when those are done! Enjoy!!
Too bad we cant send you samples
medium rare brisket will not be good 200 to make it tender.
Awesome recipe! As you made it, my only addition was a couple dark chocolate chips and it was a huge hit.
Thank you so much for the wonderful recipes!!
I just made this recipe tonight. A few comments on this:
1. Really love the overall flavor. Certainly sweet and spicy. I would put less Chili Pepper in, say 1/8 tsp. 1tsp is certainly for those that love very spicy. I would, but the family doesn’t like it that spicy.
2. The recipe calls for 1 Tablespoon of salt. That is a LOT of salt for a sauce. I put in 1 TSP and turned out great. 1 Tablespoon would certainly have been used with a dry rub.
3. Use either a soup blender or a regular blender (wait until it has cooled off, or you will create so much steam and blow the lid), to blend in the crushed tomatoes. Otherwise, the texture will not be the same as smooth ‘que sauce typically is.
I’ll be making the burnt ends later this week! Cannot wait to try it out.
Thanks for your feedback and personal tips on this one Chris!
Perhaps I measured wrong …. but my whole house smelled of the apple cider vinegar, and it was an overpowering taste while cooking. Tamed it down with a few spoons of cane sugar. Pureed it, not a fan of the chunky tomatoes. Now tastes excellent, can’t wait to try glazing some baby backs on the smoker tomorrow!
Parchment paper contains small amounts of silicone to prevent sticking when baking. It does not breathe like butcher paper.
I put this question on the BBQ Sauce page but it is actually for the brisket.
Is there something I can substitute for the peach butcher paper? I can’t find that in town. Maybe parchment paper? I saw that on one website.
I just purchased a roll from Amazon (not here to promote Amazon), which you can get here: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0776JH663/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o01_s01?ie=UTF8&psc=1
Is there something I can substitute for the peach butcher paper? I can’t find that in town. Maybe parchment paper? I saw that on one website.
Looking for the video on the grilled prime rib roast
Here is the link for that video. https://heygrillhey.com/smoked-prime-rib-roast/
Everything looks delicious, may I please have the link to your bourbon brown sugar pulled pork
Thank you
Thanks Millie! Here is the link for you! https://heygrillhey.com/bourbon-brown-sugar-smoked-pulled-pork/
Can you make a larger batch and freeze for use later?
Absolutely! I recommend using quart size freezer bags and double bagging them to prevent freezer burn and spills.