Vegan BBQ Sauce (Sweet & Smoky)

Why buy a vegan BBQ sauce when you can make it at home? It tastes so much better than store bought: oh, and it only takes 10 minutes!

Barbecue sauce: make it yourself or buy it? While it’s obviously a little easier to buy store-bought barbecue sauce, we’ll be the first to say this vegan barbecue sauce will win you over. The taste is so sparkling and spicy that you will be won over from the first bite. Even better, it’s really easy to make: just throw a few things in a saucepan and simmer for 10 minutes. You already have most of the ingredients in your pantry! Alex and I were surprised at how much flavor these simple ingredients have…and it’s a relatively healthy barbecue sauce, too. If you’re ready, then we’re ready: let’s make this vegan barbecue sauce!

Try all the homemade sauces! Mustard Barbecue Sauce, Sugar-Free Barbecue Sauce, and White Barbecue Sauce.

How to make vegan BBQ sauce

For some of the reasons we love making our own vegan BBQ sauce at home. First the taste: which we covered above. Second, you can control the ingredients that go into your sauce so you don’t have too much sugar or preservatives. So this makes for a relatively healthy barbecue sauce. And finally, of course: It’s very simple. Just put a few things in a pot and bring to the boil and you’re done.

What Makes Barbecue Sauce Not Vegan? Well, it’s basically a spicy form of ketchup. The main ingredients that would not make a barbecue sauce vegan are honey and Worcestershire. To make this a vegan sauce recipe, we used maple syrup and soy sauce instead.

How to make vegan barbecue sauce:

1. In a saucepan, combine ketchup, vinegar (apple and cider), maple syrup, spices, hot sauce, and salt.
2. Simmer for 10 minutesuntil it thickens slightly.
3. Store in an airtight container in the refrigerator.

We liked to use organic or natural ketchup. Take a look at the ingredients on the container and make sure there’s nothing weird like additives, preservatives, or high fructose corn syrup.

Ways to use vegan BBQ sauce

Of course, there are countless ways to serve vegan BBQ sauce. Here are some of our favorite vegan recipes that could benefit from some barbecue sauce:

1. Perfect Vegan Black Bean Burger: Our perfect vegan burger is made even more perfect with barbecue sauce.
2. BBQ Bean Tacos with Pineapple Salsa: The BBQ sauce here makes a delicious sauce for the cooked pinto beans for this taco filling – you can substitute the sauce from the recipe for 1 cup of this BBQ sauce.
3. Grilled Mango Teriyaki Skewers These skewers are painted with teriyaki sauce, but they would be fabulous painted with homemade barbecue sauce, too!
4. Seasoned Baked Potato Wedges We don’t know about you, but we’d love to dip these baked potato wedges in barbecue sauce! (Use the vegan version of all olive oils here.)
5. BBQ Soy Curls: These soy curls may sound weird, but they’re the latest in whole-food plant-based protein! Topped with BBQ sauce, they have a texture that’s a bit like chicken: and they’re so addicting! You must try them.
6. Grilled cauliflower on the grill Because grilled cauliflower goes perfectly with a very good barbecue sauce.

Looking for more sauce recipes?

Aside from this vegan barbecue sauce recipe, here are a few of our favorite homemade sauce recipes:

This recipe is…

This recipe is vegan, vegetarian, gluten-free, plant-based, dairy-free, and refined sugar-free.