This Homemade Barbecue Sauce combines smoky chipotle peppers in adobo sauce with brown sugar – perfect for chicken, ribs, and pulled pork. It’s both sweet and spicy and is the best Spicy Chipotle BBQ Sauce Recipe!
We’ve been watching a lot of cooking shows lately, so when we saw an episode where they made barbecue sauce during a cooking competition, I remembered that I had been working on a barbecue sauce recipe to serve with my husband’s crockpot pulled pork recipe.
I got back to work on our recipe and added some canned chipotle peppers to it like they did on the show – it was the perfect touch!
This sauce is not shelf-stable, but it sure is delicious. It’s a little spicy, but we don’t mind the spice! If you don’t tolerate spice well, I would leave out the cayenne and cut back the chili powder. I would not leave out the chipotles in adobo sauce because that is a huge part of what flavors the sauce!
Ingredients in Chipotle BBQ Sauce
This is just a quick overview of the ingredients that you’ll need for the best chipotle BBQ sauce recipe. As always, specific measurements and complete cooking instructions are included in the printable recipe card at the bottom of the post.
- Butter
- Bacon – I like to use thick-cut smokey bacon.
- Onion
- Brown Sugar
- Chipotle Peppers in Adobo Sauce – Use the leftovers to make tortilla soup or freeze them for later!
- Garlic Powder
- Chili Powder
- Ground Cumin
- Sweet Paprika – To make it extra smoky, you can use smoked paprika. (Or add a splash of liquid smoke.)
- Kosher Salt
- Black Pepper
- Cayenne Pepper
- Ketchup
- Water (Optional)
- Apple Cider Vinegar
How to Make Chipotle BBQ Sauce
- Dice up the onions and bacon.
- In a medium saucepan, melt the butter over medium heat, then add the bacon.
- Cook the bacon until it starts to get crispy, then add the onions. (You don’t have to drain the grease unless there is an excessive amount.)
- Cook the onions until they soften and become translucent.
- Add the brown sugar, and cook for about two minutes. You want it to get a little syrupy and delicious.
- Then add the salt, paprika, chili powder, cayenne, garlic powder, black pepper, cumin, and diced chipotle peppers with a little of the liquid from the can.
- Add the ketchup and optional water. Water will make the sauce thinner, so if you want your sauce to be really thick, you can leave it out.
- Cook the sauce for another few minutes, then add the vinegar.
- Cook for a few more minutes, then finish it with a sprinkle of salt.
- Finally, let the sauce cool for a bit, then blend it up using an immersion blender, a food processor, or a blender. You can keep it a little chunky or make it very smooth.
- If desired, after blending you can return the sauce to the stove to simmer for 5-10 more minutes.
How to Store Homemade BBQ Sauce
Once cooled, store the sauce in the fridge in an airtight container or jar.
I like to freeze leftover sauce in smaller portions (½ to 1 cup portions) to have for when we are making ribs, grilled chicken, or pulled pork!
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Ways to Use It
You can really use this sauce on anything that you grill, smoke, bake, or roast that could use a tasty BBQ sauce. The smoky flavor is great on chicken and pork.
- Crockpot Meatballs
- Slow Cooker Pulled Pork
- Crock Pot Country Style Boneless Ribs or Instant Pot Country Style Ribs
- Oven Baked Baby Back Ribs
- Instant Pot Chicken Breast
- Crockpot BBQ Chicken
Have You Tried This Recipe?
Please rate it and leave a comment below. I would love to hear what you think!
Spicy Chipotle BBQ Sauce
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon salted butter
- ½ onion diced
- 2 slices bacon diced into ½-inch pieces
- 3 tablespoons light brown sugar
- 1-2 tablespoons chipotle chile peppers in adobo sauce finely chopped, include some juice
- 1 ½ teaspoons garlic powder
- 1 teaspoon chili powder
- 1 teaspoon ground cumin
- 1 teaspoon sweet paprika
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- ½ teaspoon black pepper
- ¼ teaspoon cayenne pepper
- 1 ½ cups ketchup
- ¼ cup water optional
- ¼ cup apple cider vinegar
Instructions
- Dice up the onions and bacon.½ onion, 2 slices bacon
- In a medium saucepan, melt the butter over medium heat, then add the bacon.1 tablespoon salted butter, 2 slices bacon
- Cook the bacon until it starts to get crispy, then add the onions. Don't drain the grease unless there is a lot.½ onion
- Cook the onions until they soften and become translucent.
- Add the brown sugar, and cook for about two minutes until it becomes a little syrupy.3 tablespoons light brown sugar
- Add the salt, chili powder, paprika, cayenne, black pepper, cumin, garlic powder, and diced chipotle peppers with a little of the liquid from the can.1 ½ teaspoons garlic powder, 1 teaspoon chili powder, 1 teaspoon ground cumin, 1 teaspoon sweet paprika, 1 teaspoon kosher salt, ½ teaspoon black pepper, ¼ teaspoon cayenne pepper, 1-2 tablespoons chipotle chile peppers in adobo sauce
- Add the ketchup and optional water. Water will make the sauce thinner, so if you want the sauce to be really thick, you can leave it out and cook the sauce down.1 ½ cups ketchup, ¼ cup water
- Cook the sauce for another few minutes, then add the vinegar.¼ cup apple cider vinegar
- Finally, let the sauce cool for a bit, then blend it up using an immersion blender, a food processor, or a blender. You can keep it a little chunky or make it very smooth.
- If desired, after blending you can return the sauce to the stove to simmer for 5-10 more minutes.
Notes
How to Store Leftover BBQ Sauce
- Once cooled, store the sauce in the fridge in an airtight container or jar.
- Freeze leftover sauce in smaller portions (½ to 1 cup portions) to have for making ribs, chicken, or pulled pork!
Special Equipment Needeed
Nutrition
Nutrition information is approximate and is automatically calculated, so should only be used as a guide.
