Asian BBQ Sauce
This Asian BBQ Sauce recipe is sweet, spicy, sticky and packed with savory umami flavor from gochujang, garlic and sesame oil. It comes together in about 10 minutes and works beautifully as a glaze, dipping sauce or marinade for chicken, ribs, salmon and more.
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The Gochujang BBQ Sauce You’ll Want On Everything
Use It Up! [Gochujang]
This recipe is part of our Use It Up! series, all about finishing half-used ingredients and reducing food waste.
If you bought gochujang to try Korean Meatballs and it’s lingered in your fridge ever since, this Gochujang BBQ sauce brushed on Asian Spare Ribs is what you should make next. The sauce uses 1/2 cup of gochujang, so you may even finish the rest of the tub!
A lot of homemade Asian BBQ sauce recipes fall into one of two camps. They’re either overwhelmingly salty, or they taste like somebody stirred soy sauce into ketchup and hoped for the best.
This gochujang BBQ sauce hits the sweet spot (pun intended) between sticky, spicy, savory and tangy. The honey smooths out the fermented chile flavor of the gochujang, while rice vinegar lightens the mood and keeps the sauce from feeling gloppy and heavy.
We’ve used this sauce on Grilled Chicken Wings, pork tenderloin, beef, salmon and even roasted vegetables. If dinner needs a little extra flavor, this sauce is ready for the job.
Why You Will Love This Asian BBQ Sauce
- The flavor is nice and balanced. A lot of recipes lean too sweet or too salty, but this combination of gochujang, honey, soy sauce and rice vinegar is just right.
- It thickens into a sticky glaze without needing a cornstarch slurry. The ketchup and honey naturally create a sort of lacquered BBQ texture.
- It tastes like something you’d get from a really good Korean-inspired restaurant, but uses easy grocery store ingredients and comes together in about 10 minutes.
Asian BBQ Sauce Recipe Ingredients
A full recipe card, including exact ingredient amounts, appears at the bottom of this post.
- garlic – you can’t beat fresh garlic to start the flavor building for this sauce.
- gochujang – this Korean fermented chile paste is the star of this recipe for Asian BBQ sauce. Gochujang paste tastes savory, slightly sweet, fermented and mildly spicy all at once. It’s deeper and more complex than hot sauce, with almost a miso-like richness underneath the heat. Different brands vary in spice level, so feel free to adjust slightly after tasting. Our favorite brand is Mother In Law’s. It has the perfect amount of spice without being too hot. Sriracha is not a substitute here.
- honey – honey softens the fermented funkiness of the gochujang while also helping create that sticky barbecue sauce texture. We tested this with brown sugar and coconut sugar as well, but honey gave the sauce a smoother finish.
- ketchup – before anybody gets weird about ketchup in barbecue sauce, hear us out. It adds acidity and a little pectin for thickness, which helps the sauce cling to grilled meats.
- rice wine vinegar – this keeps this Korean bbq sauce from tasting too heavy. Apple cider vinegar works in a pinch.
- soy sauce – adds salt and savory depth of flavor. Use regular soy sauce for the best flavor. Low sodium and tamari work too, but you may want an extra pinch of salt later.
- sesame oil – toasted sesame oil gives this homemade Korean bbq sauce a nutty flavor that is signature in so many Asian sauces.
- ginger – fresh ginger brightens everything up and cuts through the sweetness. A microplane works best for grating it fresh, but we also like the jarred minced ginger from The Ginger People for an easy shortcut.
How To Make Gochujang Barbecue Sauce
- BOIL. In a small saucepan, combine the garlic, gochujang, honey, ketchup, rice vinegar, soy sauce, sesame oil and ginger. Bring the mixture to a low boil over medium-high heat, whisking until smooth.
- SIMMER. Reduce heat to medium-low and cook 2 to 3 minutes or until slightly thickened. The sauce should lightly coat the back of a spoon but still have a loose consistency in the pan.
- COOL + STORE. Remove the sauce from the heat and cool completely. It will thicken considerably as it cools, so don’t keep simmering it until it’s super thick on the stove, or it’ll end up overly sticky. Transfer to an airtight container and refrigerate up to 1 week.
Recipe For Asian BBQ Sauce Home Chef Tips
- If your gochujang is especially spicy, add an extra teaspoon or two of honey to balance it.
- This Korean barbecue sauce burns faster on the grill than traditional American BBQ sauce because of the honey, so brush it onto grilled meats during the final few minutes of cooking.
- Want a thinner sauce for drizzling over rice bowls? Stir in 1 to 2 tablespoons warm water after cooking.
Make Ahead And Storage
- Refrigerate: Transfer the sauce to an airtight container and place it in the fridge uncovered for a few hours until it is fully chilled, then cover it with the lid and keep in the refrigerator up to 1 week.
- Reheat: Warm gently in the microwave at 50% power or in a small saucepan over low heat, stirring occasionally. If it thickens too much in the fridge, stir in a splash of water before reheating.
- Freeze: Freeze in a freezer-safe container up to 3 months. Thaw overnight in the refrigerator and whisk well before using, as slight separation can occur.
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Gochujang Honey BBQ Sauce
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Ingredients
- 3 cloves garlic minced
- ½ cup gochujang
- ⅓ cup honey
- ¼ cup ketchup
- 2 tablespoons rice vinegar
- 2 tablespoons soy sauce
- 1 tablespoon sesame oil
- 1 teaspoon grated fresh ginger
Instructions
- In small saucepan, heat garlic, gochujang, honey, ketchup, vinegar, soy sauce, sesame oil and ginger to low boil over medium-high heat.
- Reduce heat to medium-low and cook 2 to 3 minutes or until slightly thickened.
- Remove from heat and cool completely. Sauce will thicken further as it cools. Makes about 1-1/4 cups sauce.
- Store in airtight container in refrigerator up to 1 week.
