Whiskey Peach BBQ Sauce
On September 20, 2022 (Updated May 10, 2024)
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Whiskey peach BBQ sauce is a tangy and sweet flavor punch for your mouth. Slather this sauce liberally all over smoked chicken, low and slow BBQ ribs, or even use it as a dipping sauce for anything and everything.
Whiskey Peach BBQ Sauce
Whiskey peach BBQ sauce is the sauce you never knew you needed in your life. It’s got a little bit of everything, and it’s completely amazing on just about any BBQ. It’s a rich and sweet sauce that is truly one-of-a-kind.
This sauce is incredible on Whiskey Peach Smoked Pulled Chicken, Whiskey Peach Baby Back Ribs, and my recipe for Smoked Chicken Thighs. And if you don’t have the time to make this sauce from scratch, Hey Grill Hey is here to help! We have this sauce in our store packaged and ready to ship right to your door! Pick up a bottle today!
Ingredients for Whiskey Peach BBQ Sauce
The key to all great BBQ sauces is a great balanced blend of sweet, and savory, with a little punch of spice. This whiskey peach BBQ sauce gets the perfect amount of sweetness from peach preserves and a kiss of brown sugar, savory notes from the whiskey, and the perfect blend of spice from the homemade Sweet Rub.
Here’s what you’ll need to make this sauce:
- 1 cup ketchup
- 3/4 cup peach preserves
- 1/2 cup brown sugar
- 1/4 cup apple cider vinegar
- 1/4 cup whiskey
- 2 Tablespoons molasses
- 2 Tablespoons Hey Grill Hey Sweet Rub
My Sweet Rub can be made from scratch using the recipe for Best Sweet Rub, or you can purchase a bottle from the Hey Grill Hey Store.
How to Make Whiskey Peach BBQ Sauce
It’s a breeze to make this sauce. All you need is a medium saucepan and a spoon and you’re ready to go! Here’s how to make whiskey peach BBQ sauce:
- Combine ingredients. Pour all ingredients into a medium saucepan. Bring the sauce to a boil, stirring frequently.
- Simmer. Once the sauce reaches a boil, reduce the heat and simmer the sauce for 20 minutes. Stir occasionally to ensure the sauce doesn’t burn. It should thicken up during this time to a nice BBQ sauce consistency.
- Cool. Remove the sauce from the heat and allow it to cool completely.
- Use or store. This sauce is ready to be used immediately, but I feel it tastes better the next day. Store the sauce in an airtight container or a glass mason jar until ready to use.
Tips for Making Whiskey Peach BBQ Sauce
Before you jump into making this sauce, I have a couple of tips to help you get the most flavor out of your sauce!
- Make in advance. I believe all homemade barbecue sauces are better the next day. Make your sauce a day in advance, cool completely, and then transfer to an air-tight container. Keep in the refrigerator overnight (or for at least 8 hours) to let all of those tasty flavors mellow together. It creates a much more cohesive and delicious sauce. My favorite sauce containers are these wide-mouth glass canning jars. Perfect for storing in the fridge or even giving as gifts.
- Play around with flavors. If you wanted to switch up the flavors in this sauce or you needed to substitute some of the ingredients, I thought I’d give you a few ideas to make this your own. You can easily swap the whiskey for bourbon, or if you wanted to skip the alcohol altogether I recommend using apple juice. If you’re not into (or can’t find) peach preserves, this sauce works great with apricot jam, apple jelly, or even orange marmalade. Each of those will add different flavors to the barbecue sauce, but should have the right consistency and sweetness to make the delicious sauce!
More Homemade BBQ Sauce Recipes
Making your own homemade BBQ Sauce recipes is a great way to add fresh flavors to your BBQ. I’ve got a handful of other sauce recipes in addition to this whiskey peach BBQ sauce recipe on my site, so if you feel like browsing around check out a few of our most popular homemade BBQ sauce recipes below.
Whiskey Peach BBQ Sauce Recipe
Hey Grill Hey is dedicated to helping you make better BBQ so you can feed the people you love and become a backyard BBQ hero. If you’re looking to up your BBQ game, join The Grill Squad. It’s my members-only BBQ group that is packed full of awesome pitmaster classes and other amazing perks (like a running discount on my store!) Check it out today!
This post was originally published in January 2018. We recently updated it with more information and helpful tips. The recipe remains the same.
Whiskey Peach BBQ Sauce
Ingredients
- 1 cup ketchup
- ¾ cup peach preserves
- ½ cup brown sugar
- ¼ cup apple cider vinegar
- ¼ cup whiskey
- 2 Tablespoons molasses
- 2 Tablespoons Hey Grill Hey Sweet Rub link in recipe notes
Instructions
- Make the sauce. Combine all ingredients in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Bring to a boil, stirring frequently. Reduce the heat to a simmer and cook for 20 minutes, stirring occasionally to prevent anything from sticking to the bottom of the pan.
- Use or store. Cool completely and transfer to an airtight container. Refrigerate overnight for the best flavor and then use liberally on grilled or smoked chicken, pork, and fish.
Notes
- Purchase it from the store HERE: Sweet Rub
- Make it from scratch using this RECIPE: Best Sweet Rub Recipe
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Made the Whiskey Peach BBQ Sauce. It’s now our favorite “sticky” sauce. We gave our store bought away. We use this on everything, grill chicken, smoked tenderloin, even use it at Xmas for the twice smoke baked Ham. Followed your recipe except I covered with our new sauce before wrapping it w/ foil and putting back on the smoker. Everyone adored the ham. Smoked it with pecan pellets. Wife only got one slice. Had to smoke another Ham for New Years, so we would have left overs.
Going to try the recipe with crown Royal peach. Can I do ribs in crock pot then transfer to oven with the bbq sauce?
Are the measurements for the ketchup and peach preserves wet or dry measurements?
After all the bbq sauces that I’ve tried, the whiskey peach is my favorite! I’m so glad that you allow people to make their own. That’s awesome!
Do you have suggestions on how it would be canned? This sounds so yummy that I’m thinking of making this for Christmas gifts!
Great recipe.
I added cinnamon-chipotle to it to give a another layer of flavor.
Can you use fresh peaches?
Absolutely!
I used Jim Beam Peach Whiskey instead of just whiskey. Have done it both ways. Also, after it cooled, we put it in our Ninja Blender and pureed it. Definitely give it a 24 hour rest. It’s a sweet sauce. So, once it’s caramelized, it’s truly delicious!
What type of whiskey was this recipe originally intended to use? I saw your note about subbing whiskey for bourbon, but I had assumed that whiskey the recipe was referring to was probably a bourbon.
Just regular whiskey!
Can this sauce be safely canned.
I’m sure it could!