Korean BBQ Sauce
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Say hello to your new favorite flavor-booster, this Korean BBQ Sauce recipe is sweet, savory, tangy, and totally delicious! Made with a blend of soy sauce, garlic, ginger and brown sugar, this easy homemade sauce brings bold, authentic Korean flavor to grilled meats, chicken wings, bulgogi, rice bowls and veggies. It’s ready in just 10 minutes and way better than anything you’ll find in a bottle!
Why this Korean bbq sauce is the best
This Korean bbq sauce recipe first appeared on the blog in 2015 in this recipe for Korean BBQ Chicken Tacos. Since then, I’ve added it to pizza, brushed it on grilled chicken, tossed it with chicken wings, drizzled it over short ribs, and basically added it to anything and everything.
This sauce is so delicious, you’re going to want a dozen recipes to use it in, and lucky for you, I’m sharing them in this post! Here’s what makes this the best Korean bbq sauce recipe out there.
- It has so many layers of flavor! The brown sugar makes it sweet, the soy sauce makes it salty, the rice vinegar adds acidity and the chili paste adds spice. Combine all of these ingredients and you have a sauce that has layer upon layer of flavor!
- It’s so versatile. This barbecue sauce is seriously delicious on everything from chicken to steak to veggies, and pizza to rice bowls to tacos. It’s so versatile, you can make a batch over the weekend, then use it in a variety of meals throughout the week!
- It’s quick and easy to make. It only takes 10 minutes and 10 ingredients to whip up this simple sauce that will add so much flavor to your meals!
Ingredients
Here I explain the best ingredients for this Korean BBQ sauce recipe, what each one does, and substitution options. For the exact ingredient measurements, see the recipe card at the bottom of this post.
- Brown sugar – the sweet base of the sauce.
- Soy sauce – the salty base of the sauce. To make this recipe gluten free, use tamari instead of soy sauce. To make the recipe without gluten or soy, use coconut aminos instead of soy sauce or tamari.
- Rice vinegar
- Mirin – this is a Japanese cooking rice wine. It’s found in the Asian section of most grocery stores. It adds a slight sweetness, tang and umami flavor to the sauce. If you can’t find mirin, you can use additional rice vinegar in it’s place.
- Chili paste – sambal oelek is a spicy Asian paste made with a mixture of ground chilies. If you’d like to use a Korean chili paste instead, you can replace this chili paste with gochujang paste. This fermented red pepper chili paste is not as spicy as sambal oelek and will add a unique umami flavor to the sauce.
- Sesame oil
- Ground black pepper
- Fresh ginger – I always recommend keeping a knob of fresh ginger in an airtight container in the freezer. It’s so much easier to grate from frozen using a microplane, and you don’t even have to peel the ginger first!
- Fresh garlic cloves
- Cornstarch – to thicken the sauce.
Instructions
I’ve included step by step photos below to make this recipe easy to follow at home. For the full detailed recipe instructions, scroll to the recipe card at the bottom of this post.
- Combine the ingredients in a saucepan. Add brown sugar, soy sauce, mirin, water, rice vinegar, chili paste, sesame oil, black pepper, garlic and ginger to a medium saucepan on the stove. Turn the heat on the stove up to high and bring the mixture to a boil. Cook for 5-7 minutes, stirring occasionally.
- Thicken the sauce. In a small bowl, combine cornstarch and water to make a cornstarch slurry. Pour this mixture into the boiling sauce after 5 minutes. Whisk this mixture into the sauce until it’s fully combined. Reduce the heat on the stove to medium and cook for 3-4 minutes, stirring regularly until the sauce is cooked down to your desired thickness.
Remove the sauce from the stove and use it immediately in a recipe or let it cool to room temperature, then store it in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 2 weeks.
Ways to use it
Since 2015, I’ve used this Korean barbecue sauce in almost a dozen different recipes. They’re all delicious and I can’t wait to see which one you try first!
- Korean BBQ Short Ribs (pictured above)
- Korean BBQ Burgers (recipe coming soon!)
- Grilled Korean BBQ Chicken
- Korean BBQ Grilled Salmon
- Korean BBQ Cauliflower Rice Bowl
- Slow Cooker Korean BBQ Chicken Tacos
- Korean BBQ Beef
- Korean BBQ Chicken Pizza
- Korean Fried Cauliflower
- Slow Cooker Korean BBQ Meatballs
- Korean BBQ Beef and Noodle Bowl
You can also toss smoked chicken wings or air fryer chicken wings in the sauce. It’s also a delicious dipping sauce that you can use anytime you’d use traditional American-style barbecue sauce. Dip fries or chicken strips in it, or toss it with smoked pulled pork.
Use the sauce as a marinade for beef, pork or chicken. Or drizzle the sauce over roasted or grilled vegetables. The possibilities really are endless with this Korean bbq sauce recipe!
Spice level
The flavor of this sauce is more on the sweet side and mild on the spicy side. If you’d like to spice it up, you can add an additional 2-4 tablespoons chili paste. Once the sauce is prepared, you can taste it and always add more spice if you’d like.
More sauce recipes
Looking to level-up your sauce game? Try the most popular sauce recipes on the blog!
Korean BBQ Sauce
Ingredients
- 1 ½ cups brown sugar
- 1 ½ cups soy sauce, Tamari for gluten-free
- ½ cup mirin
- ½ cup water
- 2 tablespoons rice vinegar
- 3 tablespoons chili paste (sambal oelek)
- 1 tablespoon sesame oil
- 1 teaspoon ground black pepper
- 1 tablespoon fresh ginger, grated
- 6 cloves garlic, crushed
- 2 tablespoons cornstarch
- 2 tablespoons water
Instructions
- Add brown sugar, soy sauce, mirin, water, rice vinegar, chili paste, sesame oil, black pepper, garlic and ginger to a medium saucepan on the stove. Turn the heat on the stove up to high and bring the mixture to a boil. Cook for 5-7 minutes, stirring occasionally.
- In a small bowl, combine cornstarch and water to make a cornstarch slurry. Pour this mixture into the boiling sauce after 5 minutes. Whisk this mixture into the sauce until it’s fully combined.
- Reduce the heat on the stove to medium and cook for 3-4 minutes, stirring regularly until the sauce is cooked down to your desired thickness.
- Remove the sauce from the stove and use it immediately in a recipe or let it cool to room temperature, then store it in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 2 weeks.
Notes
- Spice level: the flavor of this sauce is more on the sweet side and mild on the spicy side. If you’d like to spice it up, you can add an additional 2-4 tablespoons chili paste. Once the sauce is prepared, you can taste it and always add more spice if you’d like.
Nutrition Facts
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