Homemade Vegan BBQ Sauce

This quick 5 minute vegan BBQ sauce recipe will have you wondering why you ever bought bottled BBQ sauce to begin with in your life! Easy to meal prep, gluten free and can be Top 8 Allergy Friendly! 

Y’all know we are all about some quick recipes over here.  Obviously, we make them longer when called for; however, we love quick because we know you love quick.   This vegan bbq sauce recipe is quick.  I mean it’s so quick I laugh at the thought of even calling it a recipe, but here we are. 

This vegan bbq sauce is absolutely delicious and will be amazing poured over everything from burgers to fries and onion rings or even dip your vegan nuggets in them! Perfect for a veggie wrap sauce too.  No matter how you use it, it will be delicious.  Shoot, we won’t even blame you if you lick it off the spoon! 

What ingredients do you need to make vegan bbq sauce?

We use just over a dozen ingredients to make this vegan sauce recipe; however, most are spices.  We worked really hard to make this recipe perfect and have just the right taste, so we don’t recommend making any swaps for the absolutely best vegan bbq sauce. 

• brown sugar
• apple cider vinegar
• ketchup
• garlic
• onion powder
• vegan Worcestershire sauce
• paprika 
• chili powder
• black pepper
• salt
• maple syrup
• liquid smoke
• lemon juice
• olive oil

Can you make any substitutions or omit ingredients from the list?

We understand you may not have everything on hand or depending on where you are it may not be easy to find.  Specifically, liquid smoke and vegan Worcestshire sauce.  While we believe that the ingredients combined together how e have it make the perfect vegetarian BBQ sauce, there are a few things to note.  Ketchup, brown sugar, and apple cider vinegar are the most important ingredients to making a homemade BBQ sauce.  The rest of the ingredients are usually spices or add-ins. 

You could definitely omit the liquid smoke and the vegan Worcestshire sauce and still have a great tasting BBQ sauce, but again, we just have to state that we think the recipe as written is the best! 

How do you make homemade vegan bbq sauce?

Heat oil in a sauce pan.  To that you are going to add your minced garlic.  Saute for just a minute, careful not to burn.  Then, add everything else into your pan at once.  Stir carefully and bring to a boil.  At this point, your sauce could be done. 

We do like to lower the heat, cover, and let it simmer for another 10-15 minutes. It gets a little thicker and allows the flavors to really develop. Remove from heat and serve or let cool and store in air tight container in the fridge. 

That’s it! That’s why I was saying it’s so hard to say this is a recipe because of how easy it is! 

WHERE CAN YOU BUY VEGAN WORCESTERSHIRE SAUCE?

We have started to finally find vegan Worcestershire in our local stores, but before that we found on Amazon or Thrive Market.  We used the Annie’s brand for this particular recipe. 

If you are not vegan and only dairy free, you can use a regular Worcestershire sauce. 

Can I make this Top 8 allergy friendly BBQ sauce?

As the recipe is written, there is soy and wheat in the recipe via the Worcestershire sauce. As stated above, you could just omit this; however, we’d love to find you an alternative instead.   

You could also purchase a gluten free version of the worcestershire sauce.  As far as the soy, I haven’t yet found a vegan version that you can buy that doesn’t contain soy; however, you could make your own homemade worcestershire sauce, like this one, and replace the soy sauce with a no soy soy free sauce. 

Can I prep this vegetarian BBQ Sauce ahead of time?

Absolutely.  This vegan BBQ sauce recipe can be made up to 3 weeks in advance.  If making to store, it needs to be kept in an air tight container in the refrigerator until used. 

What could I put this easy vegan BBQ sauce on?

We have tons of ways we use this homemade bbq sauce, but two of our for sure favs are our vegan black bean burgers  and these homemade french fries. Some other ideas are: 

• dip your vegan nuggets or vegan popcorn chick’n inside
• dip onion rings or tater tots into
• pour oven seitan (or other meat if not vegan)
• Make a veggie wrap and use as a dipping sauce
• Use as a sauce or dip for vegetables like these grilled brussels sprouts 
• Use as a pizza sauce (especially good with mushrooms and red onions)
• and so many more! How would you use?

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