Whole30 Buffalo Sauce Recipe

Hello to one of my favorite sauces EVER! Well, honey mustard is right up there too, but buffalo sauce is my jam. I legit put it on everything!! It can sometimes be hard to find a clean one in grocery stores, so I figured I would make my own. Homemade Whole30 buffalo sauce here we come!!

By now you guys should know sauces are my jam. I have some kind of form of it, whether it is homemade or just as simple as mustard or salsa, with all my meals. But buffalo sauce is probably my absolute favorite. I don’t know when I started to love it so much, but it was definitely at a young age.

I remember loving to get chicken wings and splitting them with my dad when we would go out to eat. From there, I just started to put hot sauce on anything and everything. And it’s still a huge habit of mine. Michael says I need to try the food before I douse it in buffalo sauce. I just can’t help it, everything tastes better with hot sauce on it!

What I didn’t know was that Frank’s (my favorite hot sauce) is actually different from buffalo sauce.

What is Buffalo Sauce made of?

Buffalo sauce is actually a mixture of hot sauce, butter, spices, vinegar, and Worcestershire sauce. By combining everything together, it creates a thicker and richer sauce than regular hot sauce.

While you can buy buffalo sauce at the store, it’s usually the best fresh, like covered in wings from your favorite local restaurant haha. I also find that store-bought ones are usually loaded with a bunch of junk – canola oil, thickeners, and natural butter flavor to name a few. So I figured let’s just make it at home!

To keep our homemade buffalo sauce recipe Whole30 approved, I swapped out the butter for ghee, omitted the Worcestershire sauce (I find this version doesn’t need it), and used lemon juice for some acidity. It is rich and buttery, has a good kick to it, and the lemon helps balance it all out. And it tastes like your favorite restaurant’s buffalo wings sauce!

Why do they call it buffalo sauce and where did buffalo sauce come from?

You might be wondering why buffalo sauce and buffalo wings are actually called buffalo since it has nothing to do with buffalos. Buffalo wings actually originated from Buffalo, New York and were first served at the Anchor Bar in 1964. The owner had an idea to fry up some chicken wings and serve them in a spicy hot sauce.

There are a few different varieties of the story and how they officially came to be, but either way, we all know what happened afterward. They were a huge success and are now served all over the world with many different variations.

Homemade Whole30 Buffalo Sauce Recipe

This homemade buffalo sauce recipe could not be easier to make and it requires basic kitchen staples you probably already have in your house. It has the perfect balance of heat and acidity. You will want to put in on everything! Here is what you need:

• hot sauce – I love Frank’s RedHot original flavor
• ghee
• lemon juice
• garlic powder
• cayenne pepper
• paprika
• salt
• pepper

First, add your ghee to a small saucepan and slightly melt. Add your remaining ingredients and whisk to combine. Cook until warmed, about 3 minutes or so, and all the flavors come together. Feel free to adjust according to your taste – add more cayenne for a spicier sauce, more ghee for a more buttery flavor, or more lemon juice for more zip.

It is really that simple!!

I like to store ours in a glass jar in the fridge for up to 2 weeks. It goes a lot faster than that, but it will keep that long. Since ghee hardens in cold temperatures, you will have to take it out of the fridge 10-15 minutes before you want to use it and allow it to come to room temperature. You can also just pop it in the microwave or back into a saucepan to heat up.

Do I have to use Frank’s hot sauce?

While you technically don’t have to use Frank’s RedHot, it is my favorite to use. It already has vinegar, cayenne peppers, and the perfect amount of spice in my opinion. Rumor has it, it was the original hot pepper sauce that was the secret ingredient used in the original Buffalo wings created in Buffalo, NY in 1964. It’s also naturally Whole30 approved!

If you have another hot sauce you enjoy, feel free to use that. It might alter the flavor a little though.

Ways to use Homemade Buffalo Sauce

Besides putting this Whole30 buffalo sauce recipe on anything and everything like I do, here are some things you can use it in:

• toss air fryer boneless buffalo wings in it
• use it in buffalo chicken burgers
• drizzled on eggs
• dipped in French fries
• drizzled overtop homemade popcorn
• mixed with rice (white or cauliflower)

More Whole30 Sauces

Here are some more of my favorite sauces that we use on the regular in our house!

• 6 whole30 sauces that aren’t mayo
• spicy avocado lime sauce
• burger sauce
• tzatziki sauce (use coconut yogurt to keep it Whole30)
• paleo cauliflower hummus (not really a sauce per se, but so so good!)
• spicy chipotle mayo