Homemade Buffalo Sauce
Rich, spicy and tangy, this homemade buffalo sauce is wicked delicious and incredibly addictive. It's SO much better than any bottled version you've tried, and takes just 15 minutes to make.
Just like my garlic habanero hot sauce, once you make your own, you won't go back to store-bought.
I like to think of myself as a bit of a hot sauce connoisseur. I love trying out different homemade hot sauce recipes whenever I can, and my Schug hot sauce and Sichuan chili oil are my top favorites.
This time, however, I really wanted to try making a homemade version of a commercially available popular sauce, and that's when I thought- what could be better than a classic homemade version of everyone's favorite Buffalo sauce?
Quick Look
- 🔪Prep time: 0 minutes
- ⏲️Cook time: 10 minutes
- 👪 Servings: 8
- 📋Main ingredients: Butter, vinegar, garlic powder, hot sauce, honey, Worcestershire sauce.
- ♨️Cooking method: Melt butter with hot sauce 🡢 add honey and reduce heat 🡢 add remaining ingredients 🡢 cook 3–5 minutes stirring constantly 🡢 remove from heat.
- ⭐Difficulty: Extremely easy- one pan, 15 minutes.
- 🥣Serving ideas: Toss with wings, drizzle over pizza, use as a dip — pairs perfectly alongside my cowboy butter dipping sauce for a full dipping station.
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What's So Great About the Recipe?
- It's an elevated classic, not just hot sauce and butter. Each ingredient adds a distinct flavor layer that commercial buffalo sauces charge a premium for but can't quite replicate.
- Just like my homemade Schezwan sauce, this has the perfect mix of savory, salty, spicy and tangy flavors that makes it irresistible.
- 15 minutes and one pan. There's genuinely nothing technically difficult here- melt, add, stir, done.
Recipe Ingredients
- Hot sauce: Use your favorite brand, or even your favorite homemade hot sauce here. Tabasco and Sriracha work well too!
- Butter: I used salted butter here for that delicious, rich flavor.
- Vinegar: Just a dash, to balance out the kick of heat from the hot sauce. I used white vinegar here, but you can also use hot pepper vinegar for extra heat.
- Worcestershire sauce: For an extra bit of flavor.
- Garlic powder: For that savory, umami deliciousness.
- Honey: For a bit of sweetness, to tone down the heat and tanginess. Sometimes, I use my habanero hot honey.
See recipe card for quantities.
Substitutions & Variations
- Take the heat to the next level by adding some cayenne pepper, red pepper or jalapeno pepper flakes into the mix.
- To make extra hot buffalo sauce, add some ghost pepper flakes into the butter mixture.
- If you don't have Worcestershire sauce, feel free to skip it or just add a dash of your favorite BBQ sauce (I love using my homemade BBQ sauce) instead.
How to Make Homemade Buffalo Sauce
In a heavy bottomed pan, melt the butter and add in the hot sauce.
Then, add in the honey and turn the heat down.
Now add the rest of the ingredients.
Give this a good mix and allow it to cook for 3-5 minutes, then take it off heat.
💭Top Tip
Make sure you keep the temperature medium-low while making the sauce, and keep stirring continuously to prevent the sauce from sticking to the sides and burning.
Tips & Tricks to Nail the Recipe
- Cook the sauce on low heat and keep stirring continuously. High temperature may cause the sauce (and the butter) to burn.
- Use a heavy bottomed pan to ensure the sauce cooks evenly. I always do this when I make my Carolina Gold BBQ sauce.
- Taste as you go. The hot sauce can already be quite spicy, so start with a little, taste and then add more if needed.
- If the sauce has solidified in the refrigerator, you can let it sit at room temperature for a while to get back to the right consistency, or just reheat it in a pan over medium heat, whisking it continuously.
- Try different flavor variations by using different hot sauces as the base. I like to use my jalapeno honey or jalapeno butter here for an extra bit of depth and aroma.
How to Use Buffalo Sauce
Homemade buffalo sauce is perfect to use as a wing sauce. Simply toss freshly fried or baked wings in it straight from the oven while still hot, coating every surface generously. I love teaming it up with my Air Fryer buffalo chicken tenders and over my homemade buffalo chicken pizza.
If you're serving it for dipping, it works brilliantly alongside my nacho cheese sauce- just set both out with chips and a vegetable platter and you have an instant party appetizer spread. You can also drizzle it over your cottage cheese pizza bowls or your breakfast crispy fried eggs for some extra flavor.
Recipe FAQs
Yes, you can! Simply swap the butter in the recipe for vegan butter, and the honey for some brown sugar or white sugar, or just skip it entirely.
If your homemade buffalo sauce has turned too thin, you can thicken it by adding a simple slurry made using cornflour and water into it while it is still on heat, stirring continuously.
You can store your leftover buffalo sauce in an airtight container or a glass bottle in the refrigerator for up to two weeks, if not longer.
You can also freeze it if you want to. Transfer the sauce to freezer safe containers and freeze it for up to 3 months. You may need to reheat the sauce in a pan or in the microwave to get it nice and smooth again.
More Sauces & Spreads
Looking for other recipes like this? Try these:
If you tried this homemade buffalo sauce or any other recipe on my website, please leave a 🌟 star rating and let me know how it went in the 📝 comments below. Thanks for visiting!
Homemade Buffalo Sauce
Ingredients
- 1 cup hot sauce
- ½ cup butter
- ¼ teaspoon garlic powder
- 1 teaspoon vinegar
- 1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
- 1 teaspoon honey
Instructions
- In a heavy bottomed pan, melt the butter and add in the hot sauce.
- Then, add in the honey and turn the heat down.
- Now add the rest of the ingredients.
- Give this a good mix and allow it to cook for 3-5 minutes, then take it off heat.
Notes
- Cook the sauce on low heat and keep stirring continuously. High temperature may cause the sauce (and the butter) to burn.
- Use a heavy bottomed pan to ensure the sauce cooks evenly.
- Taste as you go. The hot sauce can already be quite spicy, so start with a little, taste and then add more if needed.
- If the sauce has solidified in the refrigerator, you can let it sit at room temperature for a while to get back to the right consistency, or just reheat it in a pan over medium heat, whisking it continuously.
Mmm! I gotta buy more wings just for this😅