Homemade Steak Sauce

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Homemade Steak Sauce is tangy, barely sweetened, and just a little bit smoky. Perfect for steak dipping and burger topping, this sauce is all the best parts of A-1 and Heinz 57 sauce flavors, made at home.

You only need a couple of minutes to stir everything together, then it will simmer on its own. I served this sauce with these Steak Bites the first time I made it and there was hardly a bite leftover.

Homemade Steak Sauce Recipe

Homemade Steak Sauce

I know some steak lovers are purists and eschew sauce. Personally, I love the flavor a good sauce adds to meat.

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What I don’t love are overly sweet sauces. However, I also don’t want my sauce to be so sour I can hardly eat it. I’m a little bit high maintenance that way, I guess.

Give me a sauce that’s tangy, smoky, and vinegary with just a little sweetness to finish things off. This homemade steak sauce definitely fits the bill. It’s the only one you’ll ever need!

How to Make Steak Sauce

Have you been buying steak sauce in a bottle your whole life? You’ll love how easy it is to make it at home. You may never reach for the store-bought stuff again.

Don’t let the long ingredients list fool you. All of the ingredients are things you’re likely to have on hand in your pantry already and it couldn’t be any easier to mix them all together.

Steak Sauce recipe

The body of the sauce comes from a blend of ketchup, brown sugar, soy sauce, and vinegar. Both plain old white vinegar and white wine vinegar are delicious in the recipe. Use whichever you have on hand.

A little dijon mustard, garlic, and lemon juice add flavor and zest while the red pepper flakes give the sauce a touch of spice. Be sure to use dijon mustard, not the bright colored yellow stuff, for the right taste and texture.

steak sauce ingredients

After mixing the ingredients in a saucepan, you bring it to a boil and heat for about 30 minutes, stirring occasionally. Cool the sauce to room temperature then store in the fridge until ready to use.

This will keep nicely for a couple of weeks in the fridge and can also be stored in the freezer! Thaw frozen sauce to room temperature before serving. It’s delicious served warm or room temperature anywhere you would use A1 or Heinz Sauce.

Steak Sauce Recipe

  1. Combine ketchup, garlic, water, vinegar, lemon juice, soy sauce, brown sugar, mustard, and red pepper in a small saucepan and bring to a boil.
  2. Reduce heat to a simmer and cook for 30 minutes, stirring occasionally. The sauce will thicken and reduce slightly.
  3. Let cool and then transfer to an airtight container. Refrigerate until needed.

This recipe is lightly adapted from and with thanks to Jenn’s Food Journey.

Homemade steak sauce trumps store-bought every single time.

Steak bites are one of our most popular weeknight meals in my house and this sauce is perfect with them. Try it with Asian Steak BitesButtered Steak Bites with Mushrooms, and Indian Spiced Steak Bites.

The sauce would also be just perfect served with this Grilled Skirt Steak from The Noshery or as an alternative to barbecue sauce on Filthy Burgers.

I’d be just as likely to dunk potato wedges or Crisp Garlic Oven Fries into this sauce too!

Homemade Steak Sauce

For more homemade sauce recipes to try, be sure to check out Sweet and Spicy Homemade Barbecue SauceTangy Memphis BBQ SauceThe Best Homemade Ketchup and Honey Mustard Dipping Sauce and Salad Dressing.

Making your own dipping sauces is so simple, plus the freshness and taste can’t be beaten!

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Make your own Steak Sauce - it's so much better than homemade!

Homemade Steak Sauce

4.72 from 7 votes
Homemade Steak Sauce is tangy, barely sweetened, and just a little bit smoky. Perfect for steak dipping and burger topping, you're going to love it.
Prep Time: 5 minutes
Cook Time: 30 minutes
Total Time: 35 minutes
Servings: 12 tablespoons (about 2/3 cup)

Ingredients 

  • 1/2 cup ketchup
  • 1 large garlic clove minced
  • 2 tablespoons water
  • 2 tablespoons plain vinegar or white wine vinegar
  • 1 1/2 tablespoons lemon juice
  • 1 tablespoon soy sauce
  • 1 tablespoon light brown sugar
  • 1/2 tablespoon dijon mustard
  • 1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes

Instructions

  • Combine ketchup, garlic, water, vinegar, lemon juice, soy sauce, brown sugar, mustard, and red pepper in a small saucepan and bring to a boil.
  • Reduce heat to a simmer and cook for 30 minutes, stirring occasionally. The sauce will thicken and reduce slightly.
  • Let cool and then transfer to an airtight container. Refrigerate until needed. Enjoy!

Nutrition

Calories: 17kcal · Carbohydrates: 4g · Protein: 1g · Fat: 1g · Saturated Fat: 1g · Sodium: 183mg · Potassium: 35mg · Fiber: 1g · Sugar: 3g · Vitamin A: 64IU · Vitamin C: 1mg · Calcium: 2mg · Iron: 1mg
Tried this recipe?Mention @barefeetkitchen or tag #barefeetkitchen!

{originally published 9/23/14 – recipes notes and photos updated 5/24/22}

Homemade Steak Sauce beats store-bought!

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Mary Younkin

Mary Younkin

Hi, I’m Mary. I’m the author, cook, photographer, and travel lover behind the scenes here at Barefeet In The Kitchen. I'm also the author of three cookbooks dedicated to making cooking from scratch as simple as possible.

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  1. Anonymous says

    Great sauce. Hope you don't mind that I finished it off with butter. Thanks, Chef. Vicki.

  2. Maggie C says

    This is yummy!! I have an allergy to corn… which is in everything! This is great! I added more soy sauce but besides that left it as it is. Thanks !!4 stars

  3. Crystal says

    Made this because I was cooking steak for dinner and realized I didnt have any steak sauce and was searching for a recipe that didn’t require Worcestershire sauce (because I didn’t have any of that either) and found this one that had ingredients I did have in my fridge… My husband and I loved it I may never buy steak sauce again! It was a perfect blend of tangy and sweet (I used apple cider vinegar because that’s what I had)!5 stars

  4. Mary Ann Hanson says

    This was very tasty! I still felt like it was missing something when I compared it to my favorite sauce. I added a pinch of 5 spice to it and was like wow! That did it for me! I do not think I will be paying big bucks for steak sauce anymore! I enjoy this site so much!

  5. Christine says

    I made this tonight for my husband!! It’s our wedding anniversary and we had steak, roasted garlic potatoes and veg4 stars

  6. Frederickrabbit says

    Wow! Amazing! I am the kind of person that gets upset when anyone uses steak sauce on a perfectly cooked steak. I only made this because I know my kids. Anytime they see a steak on the dinner table they make a mad rush to the fridge to grab the steak sauce. I figured I should try something new and fresh and home made. I had no intention of using it for myself until I tasted it. It made the steak so much better, I still cannot stop thinking about it. Thank you so much for changing my mind about steak sauce!5 stars

  7. Alex says

    It was a straight up NO from me once I seen ketchup on the ingredients list. Those who have ketchup on their steak should be shot! 🤣

    • Mary Younkin says

      Thanks for the grin, Alex. There’s usually a ketchup (aka tomato) base in most steak sauce recipes. But steak sauce isn’t for everyone.

    • Mary Younkin says

      Kimberly – I honestly don’t know what the best substitute might be. I have heard of people using horseradish, mayonnaise and even turmeric but you will have to experiment to get the flavor profile that you enjoy.

    • Mary Younkin says

      Hi, Ken. Sorry to hear that the steak sauce was a bit too thick for your taste. I’m not sure how it thickened that much; did you happen to substitute/omit any ingredients?