This tangy, smoky Buffalo Sauce is what foodie dreams are made of. I’ve been sharing recipes made with it for years. But today, I’m finally showing you how to make homemade buffalo sauce, along with a few of my absolute favorite ways to use it.
If there’s anything on the table that involves Buffalo sauce – you can count me in! I love using for tacos, In quesadillas, or for slow cooker chicken to build low-carb meals like salads, power bowls, and lettuce cups.
What Is Buffalo Sauce
We all know it as the vibrant, orange sauce that coats chicken wings or all of these epic buffalo chicken recipes, but what exactly is Buffalo Sauce?
Its origin can be debated, but one thing remains true, and that’s the recipe. A mixture of hot sauce, vinegar, Worcestershire, butter, and seasonings creates this tangy sauce with a little kick of spice.
Is Buffalo Sauce the Same as Hot Sauce?
A lot of people tend to mistake hot sauce for Buffalo sauce, but they’re completely different sauces. Buffalo sauce includes hot sauce as one of its key ingredients, but it brings so much more to the table.
Buffalo sauce has a much smoother taste, thanks to the butter but it still has that tangy kick from the vinegar. It’s a much more user-friendly sauce for dipping, there’s a reason you don’t dip your wings in straight hot sauce!
How to Make Buffalo Sauce
If you can bring water to a simmer, then you can make this recipe. Yep, it’s that easy.
This homemade version takes less than 10 minutes and yields about 3 cups. Here’s how its done:
1. Combine
In a medium saucepan, combine hot sauce, butter, white vinegar, Worcestershire, cayenne pepper, garlic powder, paprika, and salt.
2. Simmer
While whisking constantly, bring the mixture to a simmer. Make sure all the ingredients are combined, and the sauce is smooth. Remove from heat.
3. Dunk, Dip, Pour
Now that the sauce is ready, it’s time to pour, drizzle, and dip! Whatever you don’t use right away can be stored in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 2 weeks.
What Goes In It?
As easy as the recipe is to make, the ingredients are even more simple, and I bet you have them all on hand. So before you run to the kitchen to make this, let’s go over the ingredients:
- Hot sauce – I like this one
- Butter
- White vinegar
- Worcestershire sauce
- Cayenne pepper
- Garlic powder
- Paprika
- Salt
Thickening the Sauce
If you remove the sauce from heat and notice it appears runny, don’t worry. As the sauce cools, it will thicken, thanks to the butter, so no need for a thickening agent. Just let it do its thing, and you’ll have perfect sauce.
Best Buffalo Sauce Recipes
I saved the best for last- all the amazing meals you can use with this homemade sauce! I am the QUEEN of Buffalo Sauce Meals, and here are a few recipes to prove it!
- Slow Cooker Buffalo Chicken
- Buffalo Chicken Tacos
- Buffalo Chicken Pizza
- Buffalo Chicken Salad
- Buffalo Chicken Quesadillas
- Buffalo Chicken Power Bowls
- Buffalo Chicken Hummus Dip
- Buffalo Chickpea Lettuce Cups
I recommend starting with the slow cooker buffalo chicken, it yields enough to make at least 2 or 3 of the other recipes, and that’s one less thing you have to think about for dinner!
Buffalo Sauce Recipe
Smoky, tangy buffalo sauce. Perfect for all things dipping, drizzling, and dunking!
- Yield: 3 cups 1x
Ingredients
- 1 1/4 cup hot sauce
- 1 cup butter, melted
- 2 tablespoons white vinegar
- 1 teaspoon Worcestershire
- 1/2 teaspoon cayenne
- 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1/4 teaspoon smoked paprika
- Salt, to taste
Instructions
- In a medium saucepan over medium-high heat, combine the hot sauce, butter, vinegar, and spices.
- Whisk constantly until smooth; bring the mixture to a simmer.
- Remove from heat and allow to cool before serving.
- Refrigerate leftovers in an airtight container for up to 2 weeks.