A Delicious Homemade BBQ Sauce That’s Ready In Seconds
When I was a girl, I loved most of the food my mom made, but I was always particularly excited when she made ribs with homemade BBQ sauce. Mom’s BBQ sauce was thick, sweet, and slightly tangy — exactly how I like it!
I didn’t find out that her recipe had a bonafide secret ingredient — prunes baby food — until my siblings and I were teenagers. (Knowing how we would have reacted to that knowing that were eating a fruit puree for babies, I can’t say I blame her for keeping that a secret as long as she did!)
With it being grilling season, I thought I’d share my take on my mom’s easy BBQ sauce recipe here in this post! Grab your blender and a few simple ingredients, and you’ll be seconds away from a delicious sauce that’s sure to steal the show at your next backyard barbecue.
How To Make Blender BBQ Sauce
Ingredients:
- 1/2-1 cup brown sugar (for a sweeter sauce, use the higher amount)
- 1 cup ketchup
- 1 (2 1/2 ounce) container prunes baby food (my mom’s secret ingredient!)
- 2 Tbsp apple cider vinegar
- 1 Tbsp liquid smoke
- 1 Tbsp Worcestershire sauce
- 1 tsp black pepper
- 1 tsp garlic powder
Directions:
Get ready for the world’s easiest instructions…
Put all the ingredients in your blender, then blend until smooth. At that point, you can either warm the sauce on your stove or use it as is. And that’s it!
Additions & Substitutions
The recipe above is great as is, but don’t be afraid to add or swap ingredients to make it your own! You can add a dash of hot sauce or cayenne to give it a bit more heat, use less brown sugar, add more garlic — whatever sounds good to you!
One of the great things about this BBQ sauce recipe is that you can make a big batch of it and freeze whatever you won’t use right away. (I suggest pouring the extra sauce into an ice cube tray and freezing it, then transferring the frozen cubes to a ziplock freezer bag!)
What Can I Put Blender BBQ Sauce On?
Brush this easy BBQ sauce on grilled chicken and serve with a fresh salad for a perfect summertime meal. I also love this sauce on a homemade BBQ chicken salad with black beans, corn, red onion, and ranch dressing. So good!
You can brush blender BBQ sauce on meatloaf and burgers, add it to shredded pork or chicken for sandwiches, and even stir into some mayo to make a tangy dip for french fries and onion rings. It’s also great on delicious BBQ chicken pizza too!
More Hot-Off-The-Grill Goodness
Check out these other posts:
Do you have a favorite recipe or dish with BBQ sauce?
Blender BBQ Sauce Recipe
Equipment
- Blender or a bowl and whisk
Ingredients
- ½-1 cup brown sugar to taste
- 1 cup ketchup
- 2½ ounces baby food prunes or prune puree
- 2 Tbsp apple cider vinegar
- 1 Tbsp liquid smoke
- 1 Tbsp Worcestershire sauce
- 1 tsp black pepper
- 1 tsp garlic powder
Instructions
- Add all ingredients to your blender and blend until smooth.
- Warm before using, if desired.
Nutrition
More Ideas You'll Love
Even though I know it has way too much sugar, I use Sweet Baby Rays.
Please log in or create a free account to comment.I look for organic and sugarless.
Please log in or create a free account to comment.Memphis style BBQ sauce is my favorite but I also like Sweet Baby Rays.
Please log in or create a free account to comment.I would love a blendtec to make your easy BBQ sauce
Please log in or create a free account to comment.Our family loves Sweet Baby Rays Hawaiian style, but I am really looking forward to making yours!!
Please log in or create a free account to comment.I have not found a favorite commercial brand of BBQ sauce. I do however love the little packets of BBQ sauce from McDonalds and would love to be able to recreate the vinegar / BBQ goodness.
Please log in or create a free account to comment.I like to try all kinds of sauce, but I have to be able to taste the vinegar.
Please log in or create a free account to comment.My husband & I have been doing the Keto diet & so we use the following BBQ recipe & it is sooo good! Just put everything in a blender (or a Blendtec) if lucky enough to own one:-)
KETO BBQ SAUCE
1/2 Cup Sugar Free Ketchup (homemade as well)
Please log in or create a free account to comment.1 Tbsp. Hot Sauce
2 tsp. Yellow Mustard
1 tsp. Liquid Smoke
1 tsp. Worcestershire
1/2 tsp. Mrs. Dash Table Blend
1/2 tsp. Chili Powder
1/2 tsp. Cumin
1/4 tsp. Cayenne Pepper
Just good old fashioned mesquite original is my favorite.
Please log in or create a free account to comment.I don’t really have a favorite. It depends on the meat I am eating as to what we use. Maull’s for pork steaks is a must for my husband. My Dad always made his own when I was growing up. I am going to try your sauce though, it sounds good and clean :)
Please log in or create a free account to comment.Hands down my favorite is South Carolina Sauce, a family recipe shared with me by a friend years ago. It calls for honey and now that I keep bees, I love it even more!!
Please log in or create a free account to comment.We love Stubbs or Sweet Baby Rays!
Please log in or create a free account to comment.I like most all tomato based bbq sauces, not so much the vinegar or mustard recipes. The recipe sounds good, especially with less sugar.
Please log in or create a free account to comment.I used to make a BBQ sauce that used pickling spices. Somehow I lost the recipe (I have 5 kids, all grown now, but they get blamed for everything). This recipe looks worth trying.
Please log in or create a free account to comment.My favorite BBQ sauce is a recipe from my great uncle. It’s the best!
Please log in or create a free account to comment.Cattle Boyz is really good, but I look forward to trying your recipe because it looks a lot healthier!
Please log in or create a free account to comment.Sweet Baby Rays but I do add my own stuff too!
Please log in or create a free account to comment.Definitely my quick go to BBQ sauce is Sweet Baby Rays. We use is for BBQ of course, but also as extra flavor in so many other dishes. But my favorite homemade BBQ sauce comes from a 1973 small town church cookbook in Nebraska. With a few small updated tweaks, OH MY!!
Please log in or create a free account to comment.My favorite BBQ sauce is Waterloo CA sauce! Would love to win the Blentec!
Please log in or create a free account to comment.I like “Rudy’s Sause.” (Yes, that’s how its spelled.) Rudy’s is a smokehouse chain from Texas, I believe. There sauce is less sweet and more peppery than most. It’s gluten free so my whole family can enjoy it. I’ve dreamed of owning a BlendTec blender. Thanks for the chance to win one!
Please log in or create a free account to comment.My favorite is Sweet Baby Rays!
Please log in or create a free account to comment.I have a great homemade BBQ sauce but I want to try yours. I love a little honey in BBQ sauce.
Please log in or create a free account to comment.I really like to make my own bbq sauces, for fish, meat,
Please log in or create a free account to comment.vegetables, rice/pasta/potatos…
I prefer an Asian-inspired sauce, so
I start with sauteeing onions and garlic in olive oil, then I add fresh grated ginger, rice wine vinegar, a small amount of sesame oil, hoisin sauce, soy sauce, pepper, some honey for sweetness…
Then, perhaps some ketchup and/or tomatoes, or some Mr Yoshida sauce or some of Trader Joe’s SOY VEY sauce (which is also great as a dipping sauce for veggies or for cooked shrimp, pieces of meat/pork. Sometimes, I’ll add Sweet Baby Ray’s sauce as it adds a nice blend of many flavors. Many times, I’ll just look through my fridge and improvise by adding condiments from the shelves. I would so LOVE and APPRECIATE winning a Blendtec blender to make food prep/cooking so much easier…This faithful OGT reader would jump for joy if I won the Blendtec. Thanks for your many wonderful hints, for the kitchen and for the rest of one’s life…
My mom makes an awesome homemade BBQ sauce. She never measures but one day I watched her and wrote down estimates of the ingredients so I have a recipe that is close to hers. I seldom make it, though, because I’m too lazy/busy, too. If we do BBQ we need to avoid gluten and we’re trying to cut back on processed sugars and HFCS. Mom uses brown sugar in her recipe so I think the molasses and stevia would be a great substitute.
Please log in or create a free account to comment.A hickory bbq sauce (similar to the sauce they have at Training Table restaurants) that has just the right kick but is not too sweet.
HICKORY SAUCE
1 cup Barbecue Sauce
1 and 1/2 cups Ketchup
1/8 tsp. Cayenne Pepper
1/8 tsp. Chili Powder
1 Tbs. Red Hot
You can also mix this bbq sauce with mayo for a french fry sauce.
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