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 use Sweet Baby Ray’s but sometimes add some lemon and hot sauce to it for ribs. Would love to try making my own!
Please log in or create a free account to comment.My way of “making my own” BBQ sauce was mixing a couple of store bought brands- lol- so I can’t wait to try this! Currently, the BBQ sauce we always have on hand is Cattleman’s Carolina Gold- YUM!
Please log in or create a free account to comment.My favorite is Stubbs although Sweet Baby Rays is a close second. Your recipe looks maaaaaavelous so I intend to give it a try! (Thanks for sharing) I’m always up for making things from scratch…so that I KNOW for sure what’s in it! :-)
Please log in or create a free account to comment.And it’s fun to experiment!
Thanks for all you do!
I make my own, similar to the posted recipe except I start off with caramelizing in butter, 1/2 chopped sweet onion, 2 chopped celery, and three chopped garlic cloves, let cool. Then add it to all the rest of the ingredients in a blender ; however, I do use brown sugar, not liquid stevia…but I’ll give it a try. I do not have a BlendTec, and it would be nice to see if I could add my veggies without having to caramelize them first.
Please log in or create a free account to comment.I enjoy honey BBQ sauce! Homemade is best especially if it’s my grandpa’s recipe!
Please log in or create a free account to comment.I’d love to BRAGG about my favorite BBQ Sauce. It’s the Texas Roadhouse brand. Can’t wait to try your world’s easiest instructions! Easy sounds good, but we mustard try to get some Hot Sauce in our Lemon Juice. Holy Hickory Smoke! The Blender BBQ Sauce sounds unsulpheredly great! Can’t WAIT to mix all EIGHT ingredients (plus one). Right now we’re missionaries in S. America, but we’ll soon HOT SAUCE home and try it for Christmas. LOVE ALL YOUR POSTS!
Please log in or create a free account to comment.Just tried a new BBQ sauce from Hy-Vee store a local made sauce called Joe’s, it was the best sauce e I’ve ever tried had. Not a big sauce fan but this one I used on almost everything…..chicken, pork, beef, even used it as a dip for french fries.
Please log in or create a free account to comment.We have recently gone gluten free and sugar free so are testing new favorites, but my favorite anything is homemade, so this recipe just might fit the bill!
Please log in or create a free account to comment.I like spicy, smoky sauces. Havent found one that I love. Looking forward to trying your recipe as it is not loaded with stuff that we avoid.
Please log in or create a free account to comment.My favorite is Oklahoma Joe’s. There aren’t many barbeque sauces I don’t like unless they’re downright salty. Nice idea on the recipe!
Please log in or create a free account to comment.If we aren’t making our own sauce, we always use Dinosaur BBQ.
Please log in or create a free account to comment.I really like Stubbs spicy, or the regular whatever the store has in stock.
Please log in or create a free account to comment.Sometimes I make my own sauce – ATK has a pretty good one – but usually I just buy whatever looks good at the store and has the fewest ingredients that I can’t pronounce.
Please log in or create a free account to comment.no high fructose corn syrup!
Please log in or create a free account to comment.My favorite BBQ sauce is bulls eye not sure if it is in the
Please log in or create a free account to comment.US or not but it is nice and thick with lots os smoke
My favorite home made BBQ sauce is simple but very tasty!! Equal parts Heinz steak sauce and local honey, mix together and enjoy!!
Please log in or create a free account to comment.My favorite is thick and spicy.
Please log in or create a free account to comment.I have always cooked and canned my own sauce but I am tempted to give this one a try. It seems so easy. Can I use any blender, right?
Please log in or create a free account to comment.Sweet Baby Ray’s definitely! I don’t even know what I used before then! All the varieties I’ve tried are FANTASTIC! It’s sweet enough without being overpowering. IF (ha!) I run out, I run around the corner to a local restaurant and get Big Pete’s Famous BBQ sauce! Homemade deliciousness mmmm… Thanks Jillee, now I want BBQ! I would love a blendtec. Our current blender doesn’t quite cut it.. groan.. sorry! You mentioned a few of the fantastic things I make in the blender. Hummus, this summer has been lemon basil yum! pesto peanut butter smoothies etc
Please log in or create a free account to comment.Love Sweet Baby Rays but trying not to use as much due to the high fructose corn syrup
Please log in or create a free account to comment.I like Sweet Baby Ray–Yum
Please log in or create a free account to comment.I don’t have a favorite. But I will if I win this blender!
Please log in or create a free account to comment.I found my favorite BBQ sauce on Allrecipes. Nana’s Barbecue Sauce. Hands down the best. Even better than SBR, which I also happen to like.
http://allrecipes.com/recipe/nanas-barbeque-sauce/
Please log in or create a free account to comment.We like Stubbs BBQ sauce.
Please log in or create a free account to comment.Sweet Baby Rays…cutting back on sugar so can’t use it as much as we used to. This recipe sounds great got to try it.
Please log in or create a free account to comment.