Julie Clark
Updated:
Homemade Buffalo Sauce Recipe (No Greasy Sauce, Ever)
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This homemade buffalo sauce comes together in about 10 minutes using Frank’s RedHot, real butter, and a handful of pantry spices. The result is smooth, rich, and just spicy enough, nothing like the thin, vinegary sauce from a bottle.
Creamy, Smooth Buffalo Sauce
The secret is one simple technique: add the butter after you take the pan off the heat. It melts in smoothly and creates a creamy, emulsified sauce without any greasiness.
Use homemade buffalo sauce on classic buffalo wings, toss it with buffalo chicken dip, drizzle it over smashed potatoes, or swirl it into buffalo chicken pasta. This hot sauce goes on appetizer recipes and dinner recipes. Once you make it homemade, store-bought doesn’t cut it.
What goes into homemade buffalo sauce?
Classic buffalo sauce has five components: a cayenne-based hot sauce (Frank’s RedHot is the standard), real butter, white vinegar, Worcestershire sauce, and spices like garlic powder, cayenne, and paprika.
The butter is what separates homemade from store-bought. It adds richness and rounds out the heat so the sauce coats food instead of running off it.
A note on Frank’s: it has a specific tang-to-heat ratio that most other hot sauces don’t replicate exactly. You can substitute another cayenne-based sauce, but the flavor will shift. See the FAQ below if you want a version without Frank’s.
How to Make Buffalo Sauce (The Right Way)
The steps are simple, but the order matters.
Step 1: Take the butter out of the refrigerator and cut it into tablespoon-sized pieces. Room-temperature butter melts faster and more evenly.
Step 2: In a saucepan over medium-low heat, combine the Frank’s, vinegar, Worcestershire, cayenne, garlic powder, and paprika. Warm until the mixture steams and just barely begins to simmer. Do not boil.
Step 3: Remove the pan from heat. Immediately add the butter pieces and whisk vigorously until fully melted and smooth. The residual heat does the work so you don’t need the burner on.
Step 4: Taste the buffalo sauce, add salt if needed, and serve warm.
If the sauce looks greasy or oily, the hot sauce mixture was too hot when the butter went in. It still tastes good, but next time pull the pan off the heat a few seconds earlier.
Storage
This homemade wing sauce recipe makes enough to cover 5 pounds of wings with several layers of sauce and then still have dipping sauce leftover. Store any leftovers in an airtight container in the refrigerator.
If the buffalo sauce separates and becomes “chunky”, it’s just from the butter hardening. All it takes is a few seconds in the microwave to soften that butter and make a smooth sauce again.
You may also love our blueberry bbq chicken wings!
What to use buffalo sauce on.
- Chicken Fingers (this is a gluten free recipe and is great for paleo diets!)
- Buffalo Chicken Pinwheels
- Or drizzle on grilled chicken, pulled pork, backyard burgers, pan fried chicken tenders and even in sauce like on our firecracker shrimp.
- Also try it on Pulled pork, Wings in the crockpot and Chicken burgers.
Frequently Asked Questions
What two ingredients make buffalo sauce?
At its most basic, buffalo sauce is hot sauce and butter. Frank’s RedHot plus melted unsalted butter gives you a classic buffalo sauce. The additional spices in this recipe build more depth, but the two-ingredient version is completely legit for a quick fix.
What was the original buffalo sauce made of?
The original buffalo wing sauce, credited to Teressa Bellissimo at the Anchor Bar in Buffalo, New York, was made from Frank’s RedHot sauce and butter. The spice variations and add-ins came later as the recipe spread.
Can I make buffalo sauce without butter?
Yes. Substitute melted coconut oil or a vegan butter for a dairy-free version. The texture will be slightly different, but it still coats well and tastes great. Avoid olive oil since it has too strong a flavor and doesn’t emulsify the same way.
Why does my buffalo sauce turn out greasy?
Greasy sauce means the butter broke. Which means the fat separated instead of emulsifying. This happens when the hot sauce is too hot when the butter goes in. Always remove the pan from heat first, then add butter and whisk immediately.
Can I make buffalo sauce thicker?
To thicken buffalo sauce, add a small amount of cornstarch slurry (1 teaspoon cornstarch dissolved in 1 tablespoon cold water) before heating. Some recipes use honey, which adds sweetness and body. Try stirring in 1 to 2 tablespoons if the heat level is too sharp.
Can I make buffalo sauce without Frank’s RedHot?
Yes, but use another cayenne-based hot sauce like Cholula, Crystal, or Louisiana Hot Sauce. Avoid Tabasco as the primary sauce because it’s thinner and more vinegary. Sriracha works in a pinch but adds garlic sweetness that changes the flavor profile. Whatever you use, stick to a cayenne base and you’ll get close to the classic result.
Homemade Buffalo Sauce Recipe
The best homemade buffalo sauce recipe. Made just as you like it with the right amount of spice. Perfect for buffalo wings, pulled pork, burgers and chicken fingers.
Servings 16 servings
Prep Time 3 minutes
Cook Time 5 minutes
Total Time 8 minutes
Ingredients
- 1 1/3 cup Frank's RedHot sauce
- 3 tablespoons white vinegar
- 1/2 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
- 1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper
- 1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1/4 teaspoon paprika
- 1 cup unsalted butter (2 sticks) room temperature
- salt to taste
Instructions
- Take the butter out of the fridge, unwrap and cut it into tablespoon pieces. Set aside. 1 cup unsalted butter
- In a saucepan over medium-low heat, combine the hot sauce, vinegar, Worcestershire sauce, pepper, garlic powder and paprika. Allow the mixture to warm through and allow it to start to steam, but don't let it boil. Stir it often. 1 ⅓ cup Frank's RedHot sauce, 3 tablespoons white vinegar, ½ teaspoon Worcestershire sauce, ½ teaspoon cayenne pepper, ¼ teaspoon garlic powder, ¼ teaspoon paprika
- Once the sauce heats and starts to steam, and barely start to simmer, remove the pan from the heat. Add the butter to the hot sauce and mix quickly with a whisk to stir while the butter melts.
- The sauce will cool slightly as the butter melts, but it should be warm enough to completely melt the pieces of butter. Add a dash or two of salt if you'd like, to taste. salt to taste
- Serve the warm sauce over wings, on pulled pork or as a dipping sauce.
Video
Notes
The key technique: Always add butter off the heat. If the butter goes in while the pan is still on a hot burner, it breaks and turns greasy. Pull the pan first, then whisk.
Yield: About 3 cups which is enough to coat 5 pounds of wings with extra for dipping.
Storage: Refrigerate in an airtight container for up to 2 weeks. The butter will firm up in the fridge; reheat in 15-second microwave increments and whisk before using.
Too spicy? Stir in 1 to 2 tablespoons of honey to balance the heat without losing the buffalo flavor.
Dairy-free: Replace butter with an equal amount of vegan butter or refined coconut oil.
The calories shown are based on the recipe serving 16, with 1 serving being 1/16 of the sauce. Since different brands of ingredients have different nutritional information, the calories shown are just an estimate. **We are not dietitians and recommend you seek a nutritionist for exact nutritional information. The information in the nutrition box are calculated through a program and there is room for error. If you need an accurate count, I recommend running the ingredients through your favorite nutrition calculator.**
Nutrition
Calories: 104kcal | Fat: 11g | Saturated Fat: 7g | Cholesterol: 30mg | Sodium: 532mg | Potassium: 32mg | Vitamin A: 415IU | Vitamin C: 14.9mg | Calcium: 5mg | Iron: 0.1mg
Great recipe, but it needed considerably more heat! I only made a half batch, as we are “empty nesters” (YAY!) and made enough sauce for a dozen full air fried wings – 24 pieces. I ended up adding two tablespoons of “El Yucateco” red habañero hot sauce to give it the painful, blistering, endorphin fueled rush I love.
I love buffalo sauce flavor but it’s neveractually HOT, so needed my own take. This was the perfect “everyone gets a trophy” recipe. I dont love Frank’s so dug up another recipe to make my own pepper sauce base, rounded 1/4 up to 1/2 mostly to accomodate my 1/2 tsp min. Sauce is better than I anticipated & happily sweating from endorphins that think my head is being attacked by fire breathing buffalo’s. Thanks so much!
You actually want the dry spices to “bloom” in the hot butter. The water in the hot sauce and vinegar is the issue.
The reason your sauce is broken in every picture is because you simmer the butter and hot sauce. Butter and pan need to be just warm, if not cooler when you add hot sauce and other ingredients. You’ll get a smooth, consistent and non-oily sauce
Could you use red wine vinegar rather than white vinegar?
This is the best buffalo sauce I have ever encountered. When I made this batch for the first time I tasted it and thought oh my Loki I need to double the batch so I could use it for tomorrow’s lunchboxes for my husband and kids! And guess what, I still have to make extra batch because they devoured everything! Even when the extra chicken were gone they just poured it on top of white rice and ate that! Thank you so much for this recipe. This is going to be my go to recipe for buffalo sauce from now… Read more »
This sauce is amazing! LOVE IT! Simple and uses common ingredients. Great flavor. Kiddos loved it as well! A keeper in my recipe box/Pinterest board. Thank you!
Made this for the first time tonight. As much as I love heat, I was a little worried as to how hot it was going to be. But it was perfect. Served then with a homemade ranch dressing. Will definitely be making this again!!
How long does it keep for in the fridge?
What would be the serving size????
I do a dry rub first, then marinate them for 2-6 hours depending on my timeline. And I use Sweet Baby Rays hot sauce for a reason and garlic, red pepper and seasoned salt for the dry ingredients. Season and sit. Then do wet sauce marinade before baking. We fried in the restaurant I worked in, then tossed them in sauce. Both are good, but I like letting the sauce infuse in to the skin at home. You never get restaurant flavor at home so you’ve gotta figure out your own!
Delicious! I followed the recipe almost exactly – but left out the paprika. (because I was in a hurry)
Loved it! So did my son. Saving this one! Thanks!
This really is the best buffalo sauce. I love to make my own marinades and sauces instead of buying them pre made and we happened to have had all the ingredients already at home. We made the sauce with Louisiana Hot Sauce and dipped the raw chicken wings in then baked on 375 in a glass pan with some sauce on the bottom for 10 mins, then grilled 2 mins on each side, then baked some more for 25 mins and then finished it off with custom broil set at 500 F for 5 mins. My fiance said it was… Read more »
I’m right with you on the butter, it’s almost my favorite part. My boyfriend tells me all the time how he doesn’t like buffalo sauce (what???). I’m pretty sure he’s just never had a good one. I’ll have to give this a shot and show him how delicious it is!
My son has high cholesterol AND he doesn’t like butter, so I try to avoid it for those reasons. However, he LOVES Buffalo Sauce and has a difficult time finding ones that don’t taste buttery (I love the butter, as well!). Would Canola oil work in place of the butter?