Easy Homemade Peach Barbecue Sauce

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This peach barbecue sauce is a sweet, smoky, tangy sauce made with fresh summer peaches, ketchup, apple cider vinegar, brown sugar, honey, and smoked paprika.  It comes together in one saucepan in 35 minutes and is perfect on oven baked ribs, grilled chicken, or pulled pork sandwiches.

Peach BBQ Sauce for Chicken, Pork, and Ribs

Peach season arrives in my kitchen like a small emergency. I buy way too many peaches at the grocery store, all of them ripen on the counter or in the fridge at the exact same moment, and then I am standing there at 9 p.m. deciding what to do with fruit that will not wait another day. Some of it always goes into a peach and blueberry crisp or a blackberry peach salad. And now, I found a new way to use too many peaches by turning this dessert fruit into something savory for dinner: my peach BBQ sauce!

I already have two barbecue sauces on the blog: tomato-based Kansas City BBQ sauce and tangy mustard-based Carolina Gold BBQ sauce. This peach BBQ sauce is the summer one. The moment I brushed this sauce onto a rack of ribs, I understood what I'd been missing. Peaches and smoke belong together. If you've already made my bourbon glazed pork chops with peaches, you know exactly the flavor I'm talking about!

My peach BBQ sauce keeps in the fridge for 1 week and freezes beautifully for 3 months, so I always make a batch when peaches hit their peak. It goes so well with my oven baked ribs and my grilled chicken breasts!

Tell Me More About This Peach BBQ Sauce

• One saucepan, 25 minutes: No roasting, no straining, no special equipment. You simmer everything together and blend it at the end. That's it.
• Fresh, frozen, or canned peaches all work: I make it with ripe summer peaches when I can get them, and with frozen peach slices in January. I explain the small adjustments for each below.
• Sweet, smoky, and tangy all at once: The peaches, brown sugar, and honey bring the sweetness, apple cider vinegar brings the tang, and smoked paprika adds that low-and-slow barbecue flavor without a smoker. Dijon mustard keeps it from tasting like fruit jam. 
• You control the heat: The cayenne is optional. Leave it out for a kid-friendly sauce, or double it if you like your barbecue with a slow burn. Same idea as my baked chicken wings, where you can dial the spice up or down without changing anything else.
• Naturally gluten-free (with one check): Everything here is gluten-free as long as you use a gluten-free Worcestershire sauce. Read the label, since some brands contain malt vinegar.

Ingredients and Substitutions

This recipe has 2 components: the peach base that gets simmered down, and the smoky seasoning blend that gets stirred in.

1) Peach Base Ingredients

• Ripe peaches: You need about 3 medium peaches, peeled and chopped, to get 2 cups. Choose fruit that gives slightly when you press near the stem. Underripe peaches will taste flat and starchy. Nectarines work as a 1:1 swap.
• Ketchup: This gives the sauce its body, color, and that familiar barbecue flavor. Use a good-quality one!
• Apple cider vinegar: The tang that keeps the sauce from being cloying. You can use a white vinegar instead.
• Brown sugar: Light or dark. Dark brown sugar has more molasses, so it gives a deeper, more caramel-heavy sauce.
• Honey: Adds sweetness and helps the sauce cling to meat. Maple syrup is a good substitute.

2) Smoky Seasoning Ingredients

• Worcestershire sauce: If you're gluten-free, check the label on this one! Or use gluten-free tamari or coconut aminos instead.
• Dijon mustard: Just one tablespoon, and it does a lot. It sharpens the sauce and keeps the peaches on the savory side. You can use yellow mustard if you don't have Dijon, but it tastes noticeably tangier and more like my Carolina Gold sauce.
• Smoked paprika: Don't substitute regular paprika here. The smoke is the whole point, and sweet paprika will give you fruit sauce instead of barbecue sauce.
• Garlic powder and onion powder: I use the powders rather than fresh, because they blend in smoothly and don't leave raw bits behind after puréeing.
• Black pepper: Freshly ground if you have it.
• Cayenne pepper (optional): I use ⅛ teaspoon for a gentle heat. Go up to ¼ or ½ teaspoon if you want it spicy.
• Salt: Just a pinch. Ketchup and Worcestershire already bring plenty, so I salt at the end after tasting.

How to Make Peach BBQ Sauce (Step-by-Step Photos)

This is a recipe overview. Scroll down for the complete instructions and ingredient amounts in the recipe card below.

• Start the base: Combine the chopped peaches, ketchup, apple cider vinegar, brown sugar, and honey in a medium saucepan. Stir over medium heat until it begins to simmer.
• Add the seasonings: Stir in the Worcestershire, Dijon, smoked paprika, garlic powder, onion powder, black pepper, cayenne, and salt.
• Simmer 20 to 25 minutes: Lower the heat and let it slow simmer uncovered, stirring now and then, until the peaches are soft enough to mash against the side of the pan and the sauce has thickened.

• Blend: Take it off the heat, cool a few minutes, then purée with an immersion blender until smooth. For a chunkier sauce, just pulse briefly or mash it with a spoon.
• Taste and adjust: More vinegar for tang, more brown sugar for sweetness, more cayenne for heat. Cool completely before jarring.

What to Serve With Peach BBQ Sauce

• Oven-Baked Ribs: My favorite use for it. Slather it on in the final 10 minutes so it caramelizes without burning.
• Grilled Pork Chops and Grilled Pork Tenderloin: Pork and peaches were made for each other.
• Grilled Chicken Breasts or Baked Chicken Wings: Toss the wings in the sauce right out of the oven.
• Grilled Salmon and Grilled Shrimp Skewers: A thin brush of it on seafood is surprisingly good, especially with a squeeze of lime.
• Grilled Flank Steak: Serve it alongside as a dipping sauce rather than a glaze.
• Pulled pork sandwiches: Pile it on a soft bun with coleslaw and pickles.
• Burgers and dipping: Use it in place of ketchup, or serve it with sweet potato fries and onion rings.
• Sides to round out the plate: Cowboy pasta salad, chicken and corn pasta salad, mac and cheese, or roasted sweet potatoes.

FAQs

1. Do I have to peel the peaches? I recommend peeling them for this recipe. Unlike my peach crisp, where I love the skins for texture, the skins here leave little flecks that don't fully break down when you blend. To peel quickly, score an X in the bottom of each peach, boil for 30 to 45 seconds, then drop into ice water. The skins slip right off.
2. Can I use frozen or canned peaches? Yes to both. For frozen, use 2 cups of slices straight from the freezer and simmer an extra 5 minutes to cook off the extra liquid. For canned, drain them well and use peaches in juice rather than heavy syrup, then cut the brown sugar back to 3 tablespoons and taste before adding more.
3. My sauce is too thin. What did I do wrong? Nothing. Peaches vary a lot in juiciness. Just simmer it uncovered for another 5 to 10 minutes, keeping in mind that the sauce thickens noticeably as it cools. If it goes the other direction and gets too thick, thin it with a tablespoon of water or apple cider vinegar at a time.

More BBQ and Grilling Favorites

• Kansas City BBQ Sauce
• Carolina Gold BBQ Sauce
• Oven-Baked Pork Ribs
• Grilled Pork Chops with Dijon-Honey Herb Marinade
• Grilled Pork Tenderloin (Best Marinade!)
• Grilled Flank Steak with Mango Avocado Salsa
• Grilled Salmon with Pineapple-Avocado-Tomato Salsa
• Grilled Marinated Shrimp Skewers
• Baked Chicken Wings
• Steak Marinade of Your Dreams