Easy Homemade Buffalo Sauce
- PREP 5min
- COOK 5min
- TOTAL 10min
This homemade buffalo wing sauce recipe is easy! Use your favorite hot sauce (not bottled wing sauce) for this recipe. Our recipe makes a medium-hot sauce. Add cayenne pepper (a pinch or more) for a spicier sauce. Reduce the hot sauce by ⅓ cup to ½ cup for a milder sauce. I love this sauce for our Buffalo Hot Wings!
You Will Need
1 cup unsalted butter, 8 ounces (226g)
2 teaspoons garlic powder
1 ⅓ cups hot sauce, like Frank’s or Crystal (315ml)
1 teaspoon honey or more to taste, optional
Cayenne pepper, optional for a spicier sauce
Directions
1Melt the butter: Gently melt the butter in a medium pan over low heat (using low heat takes a little longer, but we want to avoid the butter separating to keep our sauce creamy).
2Finish the sauce: Remove the pan from the heat to prevent the sauce from breaking. Then, whisk in the garlic powder, hot sauce, and honey until a smooth, cohesive sauce forms, about 1 minute. Taste, then if you want the sauce spicier, add a pinch or more of cayenne pepper. Use immediately or store in an airtight container or mason jar in the refrigerator for up to 2 weeks.
Adam and Joanne's Tips
- Storing: Store homemade buffalo sauce in an airtight container in the fridge for 2 weeks. The sauce will harden in the refrigerator (because of the butter), but you can remove what you need from the jar with a spoon and then gently reheat the sauce over low heat before using it. If, as you reheat, the sauce separates, whisk or shake it back together. I do not recommend freezing this sauce.
- Fresh garlic: Instead of garlic powder, add 1 to 3 finely grated or minced garlic cloves to the butter and cook over low heat for 30 seconds. Remove the pan from the heat, then add the hot sauce. For the smoothest sauce, blend until smooth.
- Vegan buffalo sauce: Substitute the butter with plant-based butter.
- Honey: It balances the heat and rounds the flavor of the sauce nicely. I start with 1 teaspoon and add more as needed based on taste.
- The nutrition facts provided below are estimates. We assumed Frank’s red hot sauce.