Bourbon BBQ Sauce
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If you like whiskey, you’ll love this bourbon BBQ sauce. It’s perfectly sweet, a little smoky, and generously flavored with bourbon. Bonus: It takes only 25 minutes to make.
Calling all bourbon lovers — this is my go-to BBQ sauce. If you’ve never made BBQ sauce from scratch before, you’ll be amazed at how easy it is. Everything goes straight into a pot, then you let it simmer until it thickens into something rich, glossy, and full of flavor.
I use a full cup of bourbon because I love the depth it adds. The extra liquid means the sauce needs about five more minutes to cook down, but it’s absolutely worth it. The result is a bold, smoky-sweet BBQ sauce with a warm bourbon backbone that tastes far more special than anything from a bottle.
READ MORE: Best BBQ Sauce for Chicken
Answers to your questions
What kind of bourbon should I use? I often use Jim Beam as it’s a decent, inexpensive bourbon. Don’t waste a good bourbon in this recipe. This is the time to reach for something that tastes good but doesn’t cost a lot.
Can I make this a whiskey bbq sauce? Yes! Whiskey works just as well in this recipe. I’ve made it with Jameson’s with success.
Does bourbon BBQ sauce have alcohol? Some, but not much. Alcohol evaporates (or cooks off) as the sauce boils. The amount of alcohol that remains in food after it is cooked depends on several factors, such as how long it is cooked, the size of the pot (larger = more alcohol evaporation), and the other ingredients in the recipe.
Anecdotal evidence: we’ve eaten a lot of bourbon bbq sauce and not felt the tiniest bit ‘funny’ afterward.
How long does homemade BBQ sauce last? This BBQ sauce will last for two weeks in your fridge. For longer storage, freeze it in individual servings for up to three months.
Recipes to use this bourbon bbq sauce
Now that you have your delicious bbq sauce on hand, you’ll want to use it on everything. Here are a few of our favorite recipes that use bbq sauce:
Bourbon BBQ Sauce Recipe
Ingredients
- 1 ½ cups ketchup (see notes)
- 1 cup bourbon
- ½ cup brown sugar
- ¼ cup apple cider vinegar
- 2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
- 1 tablespoon liquid smoke
- 1 tablespoon dijon mustard
- 1 teaspoon EACH: garlic powder and onion powder
Instructions
- Place all the ingredients into a small pot over medium-high heat. Stir well then bring the pot to a boil. Reduce the heat so that it bubbles gently and continue to cook (with the lid off) for 15 minutes, or until the sauce reduces to about 1 ¾ cups.1 ½ cups ketchup, 1 cup bourbon, ½ cup brown sugar, ¼ cup apple cider vinegar, 2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce, 1 tablespoon liquid smoke, 1 tablespoon dijon mustard, 1 teaspoon EACH: garlic powder and onion powder
- Store for up to 2 weeks in your fridge or up to 3 months in your freezer.
Nutrition
We have thoroughly tested this recipe for accuracy. However, individual results may vary. See our full recipe disclosure here.
Made this recipe used the one cup of bourbon that the recipe called for and found the taste very strong had too add sugar too cut down the strong bourbon taste will be making this again but cutting down the bourbon too 1/3 cup instead of a full cup
Your recipe is fantastic.
There is a comment to see notes by the ketchup, but I cannot find the note. Can you please assist?
Sorry about that! The note is about using refined sugar-free ketchup if wanted.
Easy to make and tastes great
This barbeque sauce is excellent! I only had 3/4 of a cup of bourbon, but it was still fantastic. I put it on pork back ribs that I just finished smoking. Yum!
Very easy recipe to cook up. I added in a can of tomato paste to thicken it up and tomato sauce to negate the strong vinegary taste. I also replaced the Worcestershire sauce with soy to make it vegetarian and used less sugar to get rid of the extreme sweetness.
Fast, easy and delicious! The best bourbon BBQ sauce I have ever tasted. Just the right amount of sweetness and bourbon taste. Cut in half and used sugar-free ketchup and bullet bourbon.
Made this sauce the other day to go on my homemade burgers. Let me just say, O.M.G is THIS good!!!! Love Love Love it!!! Thanks so much for a great and EASY recipe!!!
I love anything bourbon so knew I would love this one before I even tried it. Smothered burgers in it and topped them with bacon. Really good.