Carolina Rib Rub
This is a great classic rub for the Carolina Pulled Pork, ribs, brisket, poultry, lamb or pork. Where it originally comes from I’m not sure but this is a great BBQ dry rub recipe.
- 2 tablespoons salt
- 2 tablespoons sugar
- 2 tablespoons brown sugar
- 2 tablespoons ground cumin
- 2 tablespoons chili powder
- 2 tablespoons freshly ground black pepper
- 1 tablespoon cayenne pepper
- ¼ cup paprika
- Combine all ingredients together.
Basic BBQ Pork Rub
This is a simple classic pork rub which is the basis of all BBQ dry rub recipes. It’s a favorite recipe for pulled pork BBQ.
- ⅓ cup paprika
- ¼ cup sugar
- 3 tablespoons black pepper
- 2 tablespoons salt
- 2 teaspoons dry mustard
- 2 teaspoons cayenne
- 1 teaspoon white pepper
- Combine all ingredients together.
How to Make Homemade BBQ Sauce
In my opinion, BBQ just isn’t the same if you don’t have a great BBQ sauce to compliment the meat you slow cooked. And making a Homemade BBQ Sauce is something everyone should try. It’s easy, it’s fun, and you might just discover you can whip up a batch of homemade bbq sauce that rivals your favorite store brand!
As you’ll see by looking around this website, we’ve collected tons of great BBQ Sauce Recipes you can try. Homemade BBQ sauce recipes are actually very simple and quick to make, so there’s no need to be scared of trying to make it even if you are a novice cook. Just a few simple ingredients and your off to making your very first batch of homemade BBQ sauce.
Just to get you started with a simple recipe, give this one a try!
- 2 Tbs. vegetable oil
- 1 onion, finely chopped
- 3 garlic cloves, minced
- 1½ cups ketchup
- ½ cup cider vinegar
- ¼ cup Worcestershire sauce
- ⅓ cup sugar
- 1 Tbs. chili powder
- ½ tsp. cayenne pepper (or more if you like it hot!)
- Prepare all the ingredients so chop the onions and mince the garlic.
- Heat up the oil on medium heat in a saucepan. Add the onion and garlic and cook for about 5 minutes, gently stirring.
- Add the ketchup, vinegar, Worcestershire sauce, sugar, chili powder and cayenne (use more cayenne if you like it hotter).
- Reduce the heat and simmer, partially covered, until the sauce has thickened slightly, about 20 to 30 minutes.
- Makes around 2½ cups.
As you can see, making your own homemade BBQ sauce just isn’t that complicated! Check out our section called “The Basics” for a description of the 4 basic types of BBQ sauces that we have in the U.S. I will say there is a 5th type called Alabama White BBQ Sauce which is a Mayonnaise based sauce which is still fairly unknown. For more information on the history of this type of BBQ check out our section on White BBQ Sauces.
Another advantage of making your own homemade barbecue sauce is freshness and no preservatives. So, for the health conscious and organic fans, making your own homemade bbq sauce is a great way to go!
I’ve put together a huge list of sauces of all varieties and have attempted to organize them for easy browsing.
A Hot and Spicy BBQ Sauce Recipes section dedicated to all kinds of hot BBQ sauces using different kinds of hot peppers and spices.
A Fruit Based BBQ Sauce Recipes for recipes based on every type of fruit you can think of from Apples to Watermelon.
A Citrus Based BBQ Sauce Recipes for the Orange, Lemon and Lime based recipes. (Also, Pineapple for the more adventurous!)
Honey BBQ Sauce – There’s nothing like the sweet honey based BBQ sauces.
Jack Daniels BBQ Sauce Recip (TGI Friday’s Knockoff!) – I think just about everyone loves the grack Jack Daniels BBQ sauce servicd at TGI Fridays.
So, dig in, find a recipe you want to try, or heck find two or three and get cookin! You’ll soon discover that you too can make great homemade BBQ sauce and enjoy experimenting with different recipes that you won’t be able to find at your local grocery store.
North Carolina BBQ Sauce Recipe
North Carolina BBQ Sauce is well known to be made with very basic ingredients of vinegar, ground black pepper, and hot chile pepper flakes making it a Vinegar based BBQ Sauce. It is used as a “mopping” sauce to baste the meat while it is cooking and can be used as a dipping sauce when it is served.
This first of our 3 BBQ sauce recipes is an Eastern North Carolina BBQ Sauce recipe. By someone from North Carolina, it was described as the closest to what you will find in any of the BBQ Restaurants in North Carolina. Now, there’s no doubt, this is a HOT BBQ sauce, so be careful!
- 1 cup white vinegar
- 1 cup cider vinegar
- 1 tablespoon brown sugar
- 1 tablespoon cayenne pepper
- 1 tablespoon hot pepper sauce (e.g. Tabasco™), or to taste
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon ground black pepper
- Combine all of the ingredients, put in a jar with a tight fitting lid.
- Refrigerate for 1 to 2 days before using so that the flavors will blend.
- Shake occasionally; you can store and use for up to 2 months in the refrigerator.
Here’s another, but as you can tell, a very simple but very standard version of North Carolina BBQ Sauce.
- 1gallon cider vinegar
- 1⅓ cup crushed red pepper
- 2 tablespoons black pepper
- ¼ cup salt
- Mix all 4 ingredients together and let stand for at least 4 hours. You want the spices to mix in and flavor the vinegar.
This traditional North Carolina BBQ sauce recipe was probably was most likely developed for North Carolina Pulled Pork recipes. Again, a very simple Vinegar based sauce with good heat!
- 2 cups Apple Vinegar
- 3 tablespoons Fresh Red Chile Pepper, crushed or minced
- 1 teaspoon Black peppercorns ground to medium-coarse
- 2 teaspoons salt
- Chop the fresh red pepper to split most of the seeds, and then crush them.
- Add all ingredients in a bottle or jar with a sealable lid then shake well to blend everything.
- Let sit overnight (keeps well outside the fridge), shake regularly.
Memphis style BBQ sauce recipe
Memphis barbecue sauce has its own distinctive flavor, as well. Though the specific ingredients will vary from cook to cook, Memphis sauce is usually made with tomatoes, vinegar, and any countless combination of spices. It is generally thin, tangy, and somewhat sweet. Memphis sauce is poured over pulled pork or served along side of dry ribs. Memphis style seems to be a thinner and not as sweet version of Kansas City style sauces.
- 4 tablespoons of butter
- ¼ cup of chopped onion
- 1 cup of tomato sauce
- 1 cup of vinegar
- ¼ cup of Worcestershire sauce
- 1 tablespoon of brown sugar
- 1 teaspoon of salt
- ½ teaspoon of black pepper
- ⅛ teaspoon of cayenne pepper
- A dash of Tabasco sauce
- Sautee the onion in butter until golden brown, then add the remaining ingredients.
- Heat the mixture for fifteen minutes until it thickens in texture.
- So there you go, give it a try. If all else fails well you can always buy a good jar of gourmet barbecue sauce.
Lexington Dip Barbecue Sauce Recipe
Lexington Dip (a.k.a. Western Carolina Dip or Piedmont Dip) – In Lexington, and in the “Piedmont” hilly areas of western North Carolina the sauce is often called a dip. It is a lot like the East Carolina Sauce (above) with tomato paste, tomato sauce, or ketchup added. The tomato softens the vinegar. Lexington Dip is still thin, never thick like a Kansas City style sauce.
- 1 cup distilled vinegar (do not use cider vinegar)
- ¼ cup ketchup
- ¼ cup apple juice
- 1 teaspoon hot sauce
- 3 tablespoons light brown sugar
- ½ tablespoon salt
- 1 teaspoon crushed red pepper
- 1 teaspoon finely ground black pepper
- Whisk together all the ingredients and let them sit for at least three hours to allow the flavors to meld. Overnight is better. A week is best. Mop it on the meat with a basting brush once every hour while cooking.
- Before serving, take the remaining mop and boil it to sterilize it. With a clean brush, to prevent contamination by a brush used on uncooked meat, mop the meat one last time. Serve the sauce in a cruet on the side so your guests can drizzle on more if they wish.
Great Bar BQ Sauce Recipes
If you are looking for great Bar BQ, BBQ, Barbecue recipes or however you like to spell BBQ, then you’ve found the right place! This website is dedicated to the fun of making your own Bar BQ sauce. We’ve got everything from hot and spicy to sweet and fruity. Regional styles of Bar BQ Sauce that range from vinegar and mustard style BBQ sauces to the more common Kansas City style sauces.
So, to get you started, here’s a simple, really easy recipe to try.
Vinegar Based BBQ Sauces
North Carolina is the home of the Vinegar based BBQ sauce. However, it didn’t stay there, it spread all across the country even though it’s not as popular as the thicker Kansas City style BBQ sauces. I’m traditionally a thick sauce fan so it’s taken me awhile to get a taste for the vinegar based BBQ sauce flavor so I invite you all to try. I’ve assembled a couple of different recipes for you to choose from so you don’t grab one and find it’s not to your liking and then never try another vinegar based sauce again.
Traditionally this type of BBQ sauce is used for pulled pork and those that love these types of sauces absolutely swear by them. So give some of these a try and tell me what you think!
- 1 cup cider vinegar
- ¼ cup brown sugar
- 1 tsp crushed red pepper flakes
- 1 tsp cayenne pepper
- ½ tsp salt
- ½ tsp pepper
- Basically, just mix all of the ingredients together and let stand for at about 4 hours for full flavor so the spices can fully soak in. If you don’t like the stronger flavor of cider vinegar, replace it with white vinegar. Or, even add another cup of white vinegar to the cider vinegar and double all the other ingredients.
Here’s a version of the vinegar based BBQ sauce that’s going to be more mustard based:
- 1½ cup cider vinegar
- 1 Tbl chili powder
- 1 Tbl brown sugar
- 1½ tsp salt
- 1 tsp black pepper
- 1 tsp paprika
- 1 tsp dry mustard
- ½ tsp cumin
- Same as the first recipe, simply mix all the ingredients together and let it set for a few hours for the flavors to mix and settle properly. And feel free to adjust the seasonings and the amounts of either recipe in case you want it sweeter or more or less spicy. What’s nice about making your own BBQ sauce is you can try out all sorts of versions and get the taste just the way you like it.
Sweeter version of a Vinegar based BBQ sauce
This version has honey and ketchup and is a bit like a sauce I like from a BBQ restaurant from my native Oklahoma area. No doubt the family must have brought it from North Carolina at some time in the past and modified it a bit.
- 1 cup (250 ml) apple cider vinegar
- 1 tablespoon crushed red pepper flakes
- 1 tablespoon ground black pepper
- 1 teaspoon salt (or to taste)
- 3 tablespoons ketchup
- ⅓ cup (75 ml) honey
- Now this recipe requires a little cooking. Combine the vinegar, both peppers and the salt in a saucepan and stir.
- Bring it to a boil then mix in the ketchup and honey and reduce the heat to low.
- Let the mixture simmer for about 30 minutes and its done!
Sweet Mustard Barbecue Sauce Recipe
This is an extra sweet version of the basic mustard based barbecue sauce. The combination of mustard and molasses gives barbecued meats a sweet and sour flavor.
- 1 cup prepared mustard
- ½ cup molasses
- ¼ cup cider vinegar
- ¼ cup honey
- 1 tablespoon oil
- ¼ teaspoon powdered oregano
- ¼ teaspoon powdered thyme
- ¼ teaspoon ground black pepper
- ¼ teaspoon cayenne
- Combine dry ingredients in a saucepan.
- Add enough vinegar to make a mixable paste.
- Mix well.
- Place over high heat and add remaining ingredients.
- Bring to a boil, stirring constantly.
- Reduce heat and simmer for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally.
Basic Mustard Barbecue Sauce Recipe
This basic Mustard barbecue sauce recipe is one that originated in North and South Carolina. According to history, it was heavily influenced by the German immigrants in that area. This sauce has traditionally been best for pork. A basic South Carolina Mustard based BBQ Sauce is made of cider vinegar, yellow mustard, brown sugar and spices. It’s easy to make, and there’s many variations of this basic recipe. This sauce is good for all kinds of meat, but especially so for pork and chicken. It can be basted on late in the grilling or smoking process or used as a table or dipping sauce.
- 200ml / 8 fl oz mustard
- 100ml / 4 fl oz balsamic vinegar
- 5 tablespoons brown sugar
- 2 tablespoons butter
- 1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
- 1 tablespoon lemon juice
- 1 teaspoon cayenne pepper
- Just mix the ingredients together in a saucepan and simmer for approximately 30 minutes.
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