Homemade Buffalo Sauce

5 from 8 votes

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My homemade buffalo sauce has the perfect balance of lip smacking, go back for more flavor. Make this recipe for a spicy chicken wing sauce!

closeup: spicy wing sauce dripping off spoon into glass jar


I don’t care if it’s a game day tailgate, the 4th of July, or New Year’s Eve, buffalo chicken is the perfect party food. There’s something about messy finger foods that draws in a crowd.

Homemade buffalo sauce

A simple sauce like this adds so much flavor, and it couldn’t be any easier to make. Melt some butter, whisk in 4 pantry staples and you’re good to go.

Don’t limit its use to just chicken, though. Use it to add a kick of spicy heat to smoked meatloaf, pasta, or even turkey burgers.

overhead: platter of spicy chicken wings with celery, carrots and blue cheese dipping sauce

Ingredient notes and substitutions

For the perfect, smooth consistency, this homemade condiment starts with melted butter that gets seasoned to perfection.

  • melted butter– salted butter is my preference, but unsalted works, too. Using butter in buffalo sauce adds a creaminess that you can’t get from hot sauce alone. It’s the combination of the spicy hot sauce AND the fat in the butter that makes the sauce thick enough to cover the food, too.
  • hot sauce of choice – Cholula, Frank’s, or whatever strikes your fancy.
  • Worcestershire sauce– If you don’t have any on hand, soy sauce is a good substitute for Worcestershire.
  • honey– The majority of buffalo wing sauce recipes I’ve seen call for vinegar. I use honey for a nice sweetness to balance the acidity of the hot sauce.
  • cayenne powder– Use as much or as little of this as you’d like. For kickin’ homemade buffalo sauce, you can use a full teaspoon, but watch your taste buds!
overhead: collage image with steps to making buffalo wing sauce

Buffalo wing sauce recipe notes

  • To use the sauce, place your fried or baked chicken wings in a bowl. Pour the sauce over them, then use tongs or gently shake the bowl to coat the chicken.
  • Refrigerate the buffalo sauce in a glass jar or other covered container, and use it up within a few weeks. I’d like to say it will keep for months, but it’s never around that long when I make it.

NOTE: Hot sauce can stain clothing and plastic containers. So, if you don’t have a glass jar, it’s best to store the wing sauce in a container that you don’t mind turning a little orange in color.

  • Feel free to double or triple the recipe. – The recipe as written below yields just over a cup of sauce. That should be plenty to coat a batch of wings for 8 people, but I like to make extra so people can use it as a dipping sauce.

By the way, another great way to prepare chicken wings for a crowd is on a smoker. Everyone loves these honey garlic smoked chicken wings. Oh, and have you ever tried them with a pickle brine? Dill pickle chicken wings are SO good!

pouring homemade buffalo sauce from pitcher onto bowl of chicken wings

Serving Suggestions

Honestly, it may be fantastic on chicken wings, but buffalo sauce is great on much more than just wings! Try it drizzled over chicken tacos, and grilled pork chops too.

Oh, and I also incorporate the chicken wing sauce into my recipes for buffalo chicken mac and cheese and crunchy buffalo chicken meatballs – the meatballs are fantastic New Year’s Eve appetizers!

Serve the buffalo sauce over your chicken wings with sides of Blue Cheese Dip, sliced celery and carrot sticks . Now you have yourself the perfect food for any celebration or game day tailgating party.

dipping buffalo chicken drumette into blue cheese
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This post, originally published on Kevin is Cooking March 6, 2020, was last updated with new content Dec 4, 2021.

closeup: spicy wing sauce dripping off spoon into glass jar

Homemade Buffalo Sauce

5 from 8 votes
My homemade buffalo sauce has the perfect balance of lip smacking, go back for more flavor. Make this recipe for a spicy chicken wing sauce!
Servings: 8
Prep: 2 minutes
Cook: 3 minutes
Total: 5 minutes

Ingredients 

Instructions 

  • Melt butter in a small saucepan over medium heat. When butter has melted, whisk in the remaining ingredients, then allow sauce to simmer for a minute.

Notes

  1. Use more or less cayenne for the spicy heat you prefer.
  2. This recipe yields just over 1 cup wing sauce. Nutrition shown is for 2 tbsp.

Nutrition

Serving: 2tbsp | Calories: 129kcal | Carbohydrates: 7g | Protein: 1g | Fat: 12g | Saturated Fat: 7g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 1g | Monounsaturated Fat: 3g | Trans Fat: 1g | Cholesterol: 31mg | Sodium: 634mg | Potassium: 44mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 7g | Vitamin A: 491IU | Vitamin C: 15mg | Calcium: 6mg | Iron: 1mg

The information shown is an estimate provided by an online nutrition calculator. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.

Course: condiments, Sauces
Cuisine: American
Have You Made This Recipe? Let Me Know on InstagramTag @keviniscooking or tag me #keviniscooking!
titled: best chicken wing sauce

Kevin

Whether in the kitchen or on the grill, you’ll find me cooking American favorites with a love for BBQ, Mexican and Tex Mex. I’m passionate about making tasty food because life’s too short to be bland!

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