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
I actually have never found a BBQ sauce that I like:)
Please log in or create a free account to comment.We actually make a tomato-less sauce due to all our family’s allergies using carrots instead. Amazingly good. Tastes just like store bought.
Please log in or create a free account to comment.Ooh…I would love the recipe if you’re willing to share it!
Please log in or create a free account to comment.My favorite BBQ sauce is an old family recipe from my grandma. It’s similar to this one, but she would slow cook it for hours in a big pan in the oven. It would cook and thicken up and the whole house would smell incredible the entire day! !
Please log in or create a free account to comment.My daughter is the BBQ sauce fan in our house. She doesn’t have a particular favorite but puts it on just about everything. Would like to try this recipe (and some of the other variations suggested) to get her using homemade sauce instead of the store bought ones. Thanks for all the good recipes all the time, Jillee!
Please log in or create a free account to comment.Your recipe is almost like mine. I love the hickory smoke flavor but next time I will try it with chipotle sauce instead.
Please log in or create a free account to comment.Apparently the liquid smoke has some undesirable ingredients.
I love Sweet Baby Ray but I will for sure have to try this. I am a weight loss nutritionist and my clients are never allowed to have BBQ sauce because of the junk in it! So they will be excited to have an alternative that tastes great :)
Please log in or create a free account to comment.My favorite BBQ sauce is my boyfriends family’s homemade sauce that they have started calling NeelBQ sauce. Family secret recipe so I don’t know what’s in it but it’s great!!
Please log in or create a free account to comment.We use Williamson Bros. from a local BBQ place here in GA.
Please log in or create a free account to comment.My favorite is Sweet Baby Ray’s Hickory Smoke.
Please log in or create a free account to comment.I use a homemade sauce that my grandfather made when I was growing up. It would be awesome to have a blendtec and make it on the hot soup cycle!!
Please log in or create a free account to comment.My favorite BQ sauce is from Stamey’s Barbeque Restaurant in Greensboro N.C. I make a version of it, apple cider vinegar, ketchup, red pepper flakes & sugar.
Please log in or create a free account to comment.I love sweet bbq sauce and semi-homemade recipes! I like to use Sweet Baby Ray’s Original Barbecue Sauce and add few TBSP of Coke and Brown Sugar and heat it up on the stove until it’s blended and bubbly.
Please log in or create a free account to comment.I love famous daves…but this one sounds better!
Please log in or create a free account to comment.We like Sweet Baby Ray’s.
Please log in or create a free account to comment.Being a west Texas girl my favorite bbq sauce has to be Stubb’s BBQ sauce.
Please log in or create a free account to comment.Mustard based BBQ sauce and vinegar sauces are delicious!
Please log in or create a free account to comment.Our favorite is from a local restaurant-Half Sauced.
Please log in or create a free account to comment.Sweet and spicy. Would love a Blentec!!!
Thomas sauce!
Please log in or create a free account to comment.My favorite sauce was my grandmother’s. Very similar to this one (without the amino and blender!). She made the most delicious baked beans using Lima beans and her sauce. I can taste them now!
Please log in or create a free account to comment.Stubbs is the best store bought I’ve found.
Please log in or create a free account to comment.My favorite barbecue sauce is the one I make using the basic recipe my parents always made. There was really no recipe, just add a little of this and a little of that until it tasted right. Mama could always tell what it needed just by tasting it – an art I haven’t quite mastered yet but I’m getting there!
Please log in or create a free account to comment.A Dana Carpender recipe (author of many great low carb cookbooks) — there’s no sugar, and it’s REALLY good!
Please log in or create a free account to comment.Stubbs………but this one could become my new favorite!
Please log in or create a free account to comment.Claim jumper is one of my favorites
Please log in or create a free account to comment.We love The Jack Daniels BBQ sauce and Tony Roma’s BBQ ribs from Costco. Would love to try to make homemade.
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