Simple Homemade Barbecue Sauce
Makes about 2 cups
Smoky • Tangy • Versatile • Dependable
A simple homemade barbecue sauce with the perfect balance of sweetness, tang, and gentle smokiness—ready for sandwiches, grilled vegetables, tofu, beans, and countless everyday meals.
This recipe is 100% plant-based.
There are some recipes I like to keep around because they make everyday cooking easier—not louder, not more complicated, just better.
This barbecue sauce is one of them.
There’s something about the combination of tomatoes, gentle smokiness, and just the right touch of sweetness that’s hard to beat. A good barbecue sauce has a way of making almost everything around it taste a little better. It finds its way onto sandwiches, brushed over tofu, tossed with mushrooms, spooned onto roasted vegetables, stirred into beans, tucked into tacos, or simply spread on a thick slice of toasted sourdough. Whenever a meal feels like it’s missing just a little something, this is often the jar I reach for first.
One of my favorite barbecue sauce memories goes back to a Christmas party at Crossroads Kitchen in Los Angeles. They served tiny plant-based slider burgers that were unforgettable. It wasn’t just the burger itself—it was the combination of smoky barbecue sauce and crisp coleslaw tucked inside those little buns. I remember happily going back for seconds and thinking, I have to make a barbecue sauce this good at home someday.
Over time, this recipe became my answer to that memory.
It comes together from simple pantry ingredients in just a few minutes. A short simmer is all it takes for the flavors to deepen into something smoky, gently sweet, tangy, and wonderfully balanced. It’s the kind of sauce that’s just as tempting straight from the spoon as it is brushed over golden tofu or layered into your favorite sandwich.
I keep a jar in the refrigerator most of the time because I know it won’t go to waste. It quietly finds its way into sandwiches, burgers, roasted vegetables, tofu, mushrooms, tacos, beans, and all sorts of everyday meals. It’s not a sauce I save for special occasions. It’s one of those dependable staples that’s always there when dinner needs just a little more warmth, a little more flavor, or a little more comfort.
I hope it becomes one of those recipes you make so often that you can hardly remember your kitchen without it. Because sometimes the recipes we reach for most aren’t the ones that steal the spotlight. They’re the Small Beautiful Things that quietly help a kitchen feel like home.
INGREDIENTS
Simple Homemade Barbecue Sauce
1½ cups tomato sauce or crushed tomatoes
¼ cup apple cider vinegar
¼ cup pure maple syrup (adjust to taste)
2 Tbsp coconut aminos
1 Tbsp tomato paste
1 tsp smoked paprika
1 tsp onion powder
½ tsp garlic powder
½ tsp ground mustard (optional, but recommended)
¼ tsp freshly ground black pepper
Optional: A pinch of chili flakes or cayenne pepper for heat
METHOD
Step 1 — Combine the Ingredients
Everything comes together in one saucepan.
Add to a small saucepan:
1½ cups tomato sauce or crushed tomatoes
¼ cup apple cider vinegar
¼ cup pure maple syrup
2 Tbsp coconut aminos
1 Tbsp tomato paste
1 tsp smoked paprika
1 tsp onion powder
½ tsp garlic powder
½ tsp ground mustard (if using)
¼ tsp freshly ground black pepper
Optional: A pinch of chili flakes or cayenne pepper
Stir well to combine.
Step 2 — Simmer the Sauce
Gentle simmering develops a richer, deeper flavor.
Bring the sauce to a gentle simmer over medium-low heat.
Reduce the heat to low and cook, uncovered, for 15–20 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the sauce has thickened slightly and become glossy.
Step 3 — Adjust the Flavor
Taste and make it your own.
If desired, adjust the seasoning by adding:
More maple syrup for sweetness
More apple cider vinegar for tang
More smoked paprika for a deeper smoky flavor
Remove the saucepan from the heat and allow the sauce to cool.
It will continue to thicken slightly as it rests.
Transfer to a sealed jar and refrigerate until ready to use.
NOTES
Flavor Balance
This sauce is meant to be gently smoky, lightly sweet, and pleasantly tangy—not overly sweet or overpowering.
Taste it before serving and adjust until it tastes delicious on its own with a spoon.
Texture
For a perfectly smooth sauce, blend it briefly with an immersion blender or countertop blender after cooking.
If you enjoy a little texture, especially when using crushed tomatoes, simply leave it as it is.
Make It Your Own
This recipe is wonderfully forgiving.
Add a little more maple syrup for sweetness, apple cider vinegar for tang, or smoked paprika for a deeper smoky flavor until it tastes just the way you like it.
(I think this is nicer than repeating the adjustments in the method—it encourages readers to make it their own.)
Ways to Use It
This sauce is delicious on sandwiches, burgers, grilled tofu, tempeh, roasted vegetables, baked beans, pizza, or as a dipping sauce for fries and roasted potatoes.
It’s one of those recipes that quietly finds its way into all kinds of everyday meals.
(I’d expand this because it helps readers immediately imagine using it.)
Storage
Store in a sealed jar in the refrigerator for up to one week.
The flavor continues to deepen after a day or two, making it an excellent make-ahead staple.
(I’d definitely add this note.)
A Final Thought
Sometimes the simplest recipes become the ones we reach for most often.
A good homemade barbecue sauce doesn’t ask for much—just a handful of pantry ingredients and a few quiet minutes at the stove. Yet it has a way of bringing sandwiches, burgers, vegetables, and simple weeknight meals to life.
That’s the beauty of the Small Beautiful Things—the humble recipes that quietly make everyday cooking a little more delicious.
This is the kind of food that nourishes quietly.
It asks us to slow down,
to listen,
and to remember what is enough.