We love spicy food at our house, and we also love homemade sauces. Homemade Buffalo sauce recipes are all too often more complicated than they need to be. There are only a couple of ingredients needed for a classic wing hot sauce.
What to Gather
But I promise you, when you whip those two ingredients together, magic happens, but when you elevate the spicy pepper and vinegar aspects, it is pure bliss. A full list of ingredients with measurements is available in the printable recipe card below.
- Frank’s Hot Sauce – Sometimes referred to as Frank’s redhot, this original cayenne pepper hot sauce is elevated with just a few simple ingredients.
- Unsalted butter – You can always add more salt later if you need to, but I always prefer to start with unsalted butter.
- Cayenne pepper – Adding just a little extra cayenne pepper to Frank’s Red Hot is a great way to step up the spice.
- Apple cider vinegar – This is my secret ingredient for adding just a little extra tang to this homemade buffalo sauce.
- Salt – I use unsalted butter so that I can control the salt content in the buffalo sauce. If you feel that it needs more after tasting, some kosher salt is a great idea.
- Seasonings – Add some Old Bay seasoning seasoning for a taste of Maryland. This is great on top of Maryland Crab Cakes. Add crushed red pepper and/or cayenne or ground ghost pepper or chili pepper while whisking to up the spice level.
- Sauces – If you want a super heady sauce, try adding a few dabs of Worcestershire sauce to the mix. Add a bit your favorite BBQ sauce while whisking. This is my favorite sauce for wings!
- Swaps – You can add granulated garlic and/or a fresh garlic clove while whisking. Try adding a little bit of honey to this sauce for the perfect sweet and spicy combo.
- Senses – Homemade buffalo sauce is a fiery blend of tangy vinegar, rich butter, and bold heat. As it simmers, the sharp aroma of hot sauce and melted butter fills the air, making your mouth water.
Perfect Pairings
This versatile sauce can be used as a dipping sauce, in recipes and for drizzling.
And of course consider chicken tenders, shrimp, cauliflower bites, French fries, avocado toast, chicken tacos or anything else that needs a level of heat.
This easy buffalo sauce is great for dipping veggies into, slathering on buffalo chicken pizza, making buffalo chicken salads or even adding a few dashes to your eggs in the morning. The options are endless.
Homemade Buffalo Sauce Recipe
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup vinegar based hot sauce , we use Franks or Texas Pete
- 1/4 cup unsalted butter
- 1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper
- 2 teaspoons apple cider vinegar
Instructions
- In a small saucepan, whisk together the 1/2 cup vinegar based hot sauce and 1/4 cup unsalted butter over medium heat until fully incorporated.
- Add the 1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper and 2 teaspoons apple cider vinegar. Remove from the heat, cool and use in any recipe that requires buffalo sauce.
- If you’ve tried this recipe, make sure to come back, rate it and leave us a comments.
Notes
Jalapeno Buffalo Sauce- add 1 minced fresh jalapeno while whisking.
Super Spicy Buffalo Sauce- add 1 teaspoon crushed red pepper and/or 1/2 teaspoon of cayenne or ground ghost pepper while whisking.
BBQ Buffalo- Add 2 tablespoons of your favorite BBQ sauce while whisking.
Nutrition
Commonly Asked Questions
Buffalo sauce has hot sauce in it, so kinda yes but kinda no. All hot sauces are not buffalo sauce, but all buffalo sauces are hot sauces.
You can certainly make a tasty sauce for wings, but neither will make a true buffalo sauce. Both are a cayenne pepper sauce made with hot peppers, but Frank’s Red Hot Sauce is the most traditional. Diamond Crystal can also be used.
You can! The best way is to put it in an airtight plastic bag, releasing as much air as possible. It should be good for up to 6 months. Check out my tips on freezing food HERE.
Yes, in fact many folks do because it is more stable than real butter. Margarine is made with vegetable oil and doesn’t actually need to be refrigerated. You’ll find people use this in place of butter for many sauces, even movie theater popcorn
More Homemade Sauce Recipes
We like to keep it saucy! Check out even more homemade sauce recipes.
Absolutely loved this! Spicy, zingy and just perfect with my chicken wings. Thank you!
Love this Homemade Buffalo sauce recipe, easy and flavorful, will make it soon, my family loves wings with buffalo sauce. Thanks for sharing 🙂
my family loved the sauce and it goes well with my cauliflower wings too!
Simply irresistible! This homemade buffalo sauce packs the perfect punch of heat and flavor. I will try this tomorrow! Thanks for sharing this 🙂
So easy to make, and so good! I don’t know why I never tried it until now!