Name: Honey-Sriracha BBQ Sauce
Prep time: 5 min
Cook time: 20 min
Total time: 25 min
Ingredients: 1 1/2 cups ketchup; 3 garlic cloves (minced or grated); 1/4 cup honey; 1/4 cup apple cider vinegar; 2 tablespoons fish sauce; 1 tablespoon fresh ginger (grated); 2 teaspoons sriracha (see note)

Jump to Recipe

Say hello to your new favorite BBQ sauce! With the perfect blend of sweet and spicy and just the right tangy kick, you’ll want to slather this honey-sriracha BBQ sauce on everything that comes off your grill this summer.

A jar of honey-sriracha BBQ sauce with a burlap ribbon on a plate with a spoonful of sauce.

Have you ever made your own homemade BBQ sauce recipe? If this is your first BBQ sauce-making rodeo, you're in for a fun and tasty time.

Making homemade BBQ sauce truly couldn't be any simpler, and it takes hardly any time. And, come on, what sauce isn't better homemade?

Plus, I love how you can easily customize a homemade BBQ sauce recipe once you have a solid base. I generally start with 1 ½ cups of ketchup, ¼ cup of apple cider vinegar and ¼ cup of sweetener.

From there, you can start adding all sorts of different spices, peppers or sweeteners to make your own unique batch. In fact, that's essentially how this honey-sriracha BBQ sauce came to be.

We were making pork ribs one night, and I couldn't get the idea of a sriracha BBQ sauce out of my head. Once my brain latches onto an idea, it generally doesn't give up until it gets what it wants. I knew I had to make this sauce a reality.

So I tossed my base ingredients into a saucepan with sriracha and added a few other ingredients I thought would pair well. Rather than reaching for dark brown sugar, a jar of honey caught my eye, so I gave that a try.

When all was said and done, I ended up with one heck of a delicious BBQ sauce that I just had to share. Yay for impromptu BBQ sauce making!

Related: For more recipes, try my Jamaican jerk BBQ sauce, coffee-bourbon BBQ sauce and blueberry BBQ sauce.

A wooden spoon with honey-sriracha BBQ sauce and a jar of sauce.

Step-by-Step Instructions

Let's jump into this super easy yet delicious recipe to make all your grilling dreams come true.

We start by pouring in all our ingredients into a small saucepan and giving everything a good stir to make one cohesive sauce. Now we bring the mixture to a high simmer and then reduce the heat to allow our BBQ sauce come to a low simmer for about 20 minutes.

As the BBQ sauce simmers, we want to make sure we stir it frequently and keep an eye on the heat.

With the ketchup and honey, we don't want to let the sugar burn. If the mixture gets too bubbly or starts to burn on the bottom, turn down the heat.

A saucepan of honey-sriracha BBQ sauce cooking on the stove.

And just like that, we have our own tasty homemade BBQ sauce ready to go. Could it be any easier? I don't think so.

Now slather and enjoy.

How to Use

Don't you just love how versatile BBQ sauce is? One recipe that can be used in so many ways is always a winner in my book.

Here are just a few ways you can use this honey-sriracha BBQ sauce.

Glazed over grilled or oven-baked ribs.
Poured over brisket in a slow cooker. Make sure you use a liner.
Smothered as a burger, sandwich or sausage condiment.
Slathered on pizza dough for a fun base sauce.
Brushed onto grilled chicken.
Topped on baked potatoes.
Drizzled over tacos for a different twist.
Mixed into ranch dressing to use for salads or as a veggie dip.

You get the idea. This BBQ sauce is great on just about everything.

Oh, and it makes a lovely hostess gift for those summer barbecues. Let me know how you use this honey-sriracha BBQ sauce!

A close-up of a jar of honey-sriracha BBQ sauce with sriracha and honey in the background.

Perfect Pairing

While the perfect pairing for this honey-sriracha BBQ sauce also depends on how you use it, I can give a general guide.

Obviously, pairing beer and BBQ is a time-honored tradition, and so many different pairings would actually work well with this honey-sriracha BBQ sauce. That said, I do enjoy a stout on the side.

Those roasted coffee notes from the stout blend nicely with the spicy sriracha, and then the honey rounds it all out. Sweet and spicy tends to work as a delicious combination with stouts.

Of course, a lot of people love a paler beer with their BBQ. If that’s you, a nice, clean kolsch is perfect. You also can't go wrong with an American pale ale.

When you're craving a glass of wine, pour yourself a nice Zinfandel, which is bold enough to hold up to your typical BBQ meats. Zinfandel also has enough fruit to balance the spicy sriracha and meld beautifully with the sweet honey. Plus, Zinfandel comes with a peppery kick that I love with a BBQ sauce.

With grilling season in full force, I hope you try this honey-sriracha BBQ sauce. I have no doubt this homemade BBQ sauce will jazz up your favorite grilling recipes.

Cheers!

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