Name: Bourbon BBQ Sauce
Prep time: 5 min
Cook time: 15 min
Total time: 40 min
Ingredients: 1 24 ounce bottle ketchup; 1 cup bourbon; 2/3 cup apple juice; 1/3 cup dark brown sugar; ¼ cup apple cider vinegar; 2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce; 2 teaspoons liquid smoke; 1 tablespoon whole grain mustard; 2 teaspoons salt; 1 teaspoon garlic powder; 1 teaspoon onion powder; 1 teaspoon cracked black pepper

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Our homemade Bourbon BBQ Sauce is the perfect mix of sweet and smoky! This homemade sauce is easy to make, easy to customize, and perfect for summer grilling!

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When we are planning dinners or even ordering food from a restaurant, I’m mostly focused on the condiments.

Sure, a burger sounds good, but if that burger has crazy toppings and some kind of fancy sauce? I will always go that route. (Like the sauce on our animal style burger or a drizzle of smash burger sauce!)

You have 23 different varieties of ranch dressing? I want one of each, starting with the chipotle ranch!

Barbecue sauce? Yeah, I’m going to try every single option at every single barbecue joint I go to. It’s just how I roll.

So, while we already have a popular recipe for a Carolina BBQ sauce…why stop there? We have plenty of room for more flavors in our lives and this bourbon BBQ sauce does not disappoint.

Not overly sweet, thanks to the bourbon. Not super tangy. Just the right amount of richness with a good balance of sweet and savory.

We think this bourbon bbq sauce has more of a ‘grown up’ sophisticated flavor verses the sugary sweet sauces you find in the bottles at the grocery store. Highly recommend giving this one a try!

Table of Contents

Bourbon BBQ Serving Suggestions:

This sauce is a great all around bbq sauce for slathering on our slow cooker ribs or dunking our FAMOUS chicken strips recipe.

Slather this on our BBQ Chicken Burgers or dunk our onion strings in it, too.

You’ll definitely want to swirl some into our crockpot baked beans!

Ingredients & Substitutions:

ingredients for bourbon bbq sauce on white counter.

Ketchup – It’s a quick and easy ingredient for any tomato based BBQ sauce!

Bourbon – We use Jim Beam, since it’s reasonably priced. No need to get fancy here. You’ll use a cup of bourbon to make this sauce. Most of it will evaporate when cooking, but it’ll leave behind all that bourbon flavor!

Apple Juice – It’ll add some extra sweetness and complement the other flavors in the sauce. The apple flavor is pretty subtle here. Apple cider works as well.

Dark Brown Sugar – It’s best to use dark brown sugar which contains more molasses than a lighter brown sugar. The molasses adds rich, sweet and smoky flavor to the sauce. You could also use regular white sugar and stir in a tablespoon or so of molasses.

Apple Cider Vinegar – This helps balance the sweetness in the sauce. For more tang, use a bit more vinegar.

Worcestershire Sauce – This adds a lot of depth and savory richness to the sauce.

Liquid Smoke – For a smoky vibe. This isn’t strictly necessary, but if you like a smoky sauce, this is where that comes from.

Whole Grain Mustard – While you can use any variety of mustard here, we really like a grainy mustard.

Spices – Onion powder, garlic powder, salt, and pepper. You could also add a bit of smoked paprika for even more smoky flavor, or in place of the liquid smoke.

See the recipe card for full information on ingredients and quantities.

How to Make Bourbon BBQ Sauce:

Combine: Add everything to a sauce pan and give it a stir.

Simmer: Bring this to a boil and then reduce to a simmer and let the sauce cook for 15 minutes. During this time it should reduce a bit.

Cool: Let the sauce cool for the flavors to develop and the sauce to thicken. It’ll be best after at least 24 hours in the fridge, but is also fine to enjoy right away.

Helpful TipS!

This sauce can be stored in an airtight container (such as a mason jar) for up to two weeks in the refrigerator. Freeze for 2-3 months.
Swap the dark brown sugar for light brown sugar if that’s all you have. Stir in a tablespoon of molasses, if you have it, to compensate.
This sauce is great on just about everything. Beef, pork, poultry, whatever you are BBQing will go great with this sauce!

bourbon bbq sauce dripping off a spoon into a mason jar.

Is this sauce kid friendly?

While this recipe does contain bourbon, the alcohol should all cook out just leaving behind the flavor of the bourbon.

At the end of the day, it’s personal preference as to whether or not you’re comfortable feeding this one to the kiddos.

I will tell you that our kids enjoy this sauce and we don’t give it a second thought, same with our beer bread. 🙂

Leftover Hack!

Didn’t have a chance to finish up all of the sauce? No problem – just add a cup of sauce to a freezer bag along with a pound of chicken breasts. Seal and freeze for up to 3 months. Thaw overnight in the fridge and then dump in the crockpot and cook on low for 6-8 hours. Shred and serve on sandwich rolls.

More favorite sauce recipes!

I wasn’t kidding when I said I was a sucker for a good sauce. We have loads of sauces, dressings, and condiment recipes that are just begging to be tried!