The reason your buffalo sauce turns out runny
A reader named Kathy left a comment on this recipe a few years back that I still think about. She’d made it exactly as written, and hers came out thin and runny.
Here’s what nobody tells you about buffalo sauce: melted butter is liquid, so a freshly whisked batch is going to be liquid too. Give it fifteen minutes on the counter and it thickens up on its own as the butter cools.
That’s really the whole trick to this Buffalo Sauce: four ingredients, one bowl, no saucepan, and a little patience at the end.
The honey is the part I’d argue hardest for. It’s optional, but one tablespoon takes the sharp vinegary edge off the Frank’s without making the sauce taste sweet.
It’s the sauce behind almost every buffalo recipe on this site, from Baked Buffalo Chicken Wings to Slow Cooker Buffalo Chicken Meatballs. Kathy, if you’re still out there, this one’s for you.
Ingredients and Substitutions
For the exact measurements and detailed instructions, please see the recipe card below.
- Butter: Melting the butter will make it easier to whisk the ingredients together. If you are vegan, use a vegan butter substitute, or swap it out for olive oil.
- Hot sauce: You want to select your favorite hot sauce for this recipe, since it makes up the majority of the sauce. Frank’s RedHot Original is the classic pick, Crystal is a Louisiana-style sauce with a brighter, sweeter taste, and sriracha runs spicier and sweeter for an Asian-style wing.
- Garlic: A little bit of garlic goes a long way to add even more flavor. Substitute dried garlic powder if you’d rather not mince fresh, or let a garlic press do it for you.
- Salt: Yet again, you only need a little. Most hot sauces are a bit salty so make sure you taste between each small addition.
- Honey: This is totally optional and it tastes great with or without it. The floral sweetness really helps to balance out the spicy flavors, and agave nectar or pure maple syrup work if you’re vegan.
How to Make Buffalo Sauce
Please see the recipe card below for the full instructions, ingredient amounts, and a printable recipe.
Melt the butter.
Put the butter in a microwave-safe bowl and heat it in short bursts until it’s completely liquid. Melted butter blends in evenly, whereas softened butter leaves streaks.
Pro Tip: Use the microwave, not the stove. You want the butter just melted, not hot, since butter that gets too hot can separate when the hot sauce goes in.
Whisk it all together.
Add the hot sauce, garlic, salt, and honey to the melted butter. Whisk until the sauce is smooth and one even color, with no oily ring left around the edge of the bowl.
Pro Tip: A whisk really does beat a spoon here. A fork or spoon leaves the butter sitting in little droplets on top instead of blended all the way through.
It saves SO much time!
Since it’s super important to get the garlic pretty small for this recipe, a garlic press like this one is a lifesaver!
It’s easy to use, finely minces the garlic, and does it in a fraction of the time as chopping it up by hand.
Let it thicken, then use it.
Give the sauce about fifteen minutes on the counter before you pour it over anything. It thickens as the butter cools, which is exactly what you want so it clings instead of running off.
Pro Tip: One batch makes about a cup, which coats 3 pounds of wings or meatballs. Double it if you’re feeding a crowd and want extra for dipping.
Oops! Why is my buffalo sauce runny?
My sauce came out thin and runny. That’s just the melted butter, and it thickens on its own as the butter cools. Give it about fifteen minutes on the counter before you decide anything went wrong.
The butter separated and pooled on top. The butter got too hot before the hot sauce went in, which splits it instead of blending it. Whisk hard for another thirty seconds and it usually comes back together.
I want it even thicker. Chill it, since cold buffalo sauce is noticeably thicker straight from the fridge. It loosens right back up at room temperature or with a few seconds in the microwave.
It’s too spicy. Whisk in more melted butter a tablespoon at a time until the heat backs off. The honey helps here too, so add it if you skipped it the first time.
It’s too salty. Most hot sauces are already salty, so this usually means the added salt went in too fast. Whisk in a little more melted butter to stretch the batch, and next time salt in small pinches, tasting as you go.
FAQs
Hot sauce is the base, and buffalo sauce is hot sauce with butter whisked into it. The butter is what makes buffalo sauce thicker, milder, and creamy enough to coat a wing instead of running straight off it.
Classic buffalo sauce is not just bottled hot sauce. To get a delicious and creamy sauce, the main ingredients you need are hot sauce (like Frank’s RedHot) and butter. These are sometimes mixed with other things you can easily find at the grocery store, like white vinegar, Worcestershire sauce, honey, or garlic. But store-bought sauce can have a lot of additives.
Buffalo sauce and wing sauce are two terms for the same condiment. They’re a mixture of hot sauce, butter, and sometimes vinegar and seasonings.
While you can go crazy and add in a ton of different ingredients, the easy homemade version you’ll find here is a great basic recipe without a lot of extras. You’ll only need 4 ingredients with an optional fifth.
Yes. Swap in a vegan butter substitute for the butter, and use agave nectar or pure maple syrup in place of the honey.
Made without the honey, this sauce comes in at 1 gram of carbs per tablespoon, so it fits a low-carb or keto plan. The nutrition on the recipe card below is calculated without the honey.
Pour the sauce into an airtight container or a mason jar and refrigerate for up to 2 weeks. It firms up when it’s cold, which is completely normal. Sealed in a freezer-safe container, it keeps for up to 6 months. It will look separated when it thaws, so whisk it back together and it’s good as new.
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5-Minute Buffalo Sauce Recipe
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Equipment
- Large Mixing Bowl
- Whisk
Ingredients
- ½ cup hot sauce such as Frank’s Original
- 6 tablespoons butter melted
- 1 clove garlic crushed
- 1 tablespoon honey optional
- ¼ teaspoon salt to taste
Instructions
- Combine Ingredients: In a medium-sized bowl whisk together ingredients until smooth.½ cup hot sauce, 6 tablespoons butter, 1 clove garlic, 1 tablespoon honey, ¼ teaspoon salt
- Use or Store: Store buffalo sauce for up to 2 weeks in an airtight container in the refrigerator. Use in your favorite Buffalo Chicken Wings, Buffalo Chicken Meatballs, or Buffalo Cauliflower Wings recipes.
- This recipe makes enough sauce for 3 pounds of wings or meatballs.
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Notes
- Yield: This recipe makes 1 cup of sauce, enough to coat 3 pounds of wings or meatballs.
- Substitutions: A vegan butter substitute makes this dairy-free and vegan, and agave nectar or pure maple syrup can stand in for the honey. Use ½ teaspoon of garlic powder in place of the fresh garlic.
- Heat level: The hot sauce you choose sets the heat. Frank’s RedHot Original lands around a 5 out of 10, and a dash of cayenne pepper takes it higher.
- If it seems runny: That’s the melted butter. Let the sauce sit about 15 minutes on the counter and it thickens as the butter cools.
- Make ahead: This sauce can be made a few days or even a week before you need it.
- Storage: Place in an airtight container or a glass mason jar in the refrigerator for up to 2 weeks.
- Freezing: Seal in a freezer-safe container for up to 6 months. It will look separated when it thaws, so whisk it back together before using.
- Nutrition: Calculated for 1 tablespoon of sauce, without the honey.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
What to serve with buffalo sauce
This is the sauce that turns a plain batch of wings into the thing everyone crowds around. Pour it over Baked Buffalo Chicken Wings or Crispy Air Fryer Chicken Wings and you’re basically done.
For a party spread, it’s the base of Crockpot Buffalo Chicken Dip and Slow Cooker Buffalo Chicken Meatballs. Both of those mostly cook themselves, which is the whole point on game day.
Buffalo Cauliflower Bites and Buffalo Chicken Celery Sticks are the ones I put out when the table needs something lighter next to all the fried stuff.
It also works as a spread, not just a dunk. Try it on Buffalo Chicken Taquitos or a Buffalo Chicken Flatbread Pizza.
And every buffalo plate is better with something cool next to it. Keep a bowl of Homemade Ranch Dressing on the table for dipping.
Never broken down a whole wing before? How to Cut Chicken Wings walks you through it in about two minutes.
More Homemade Sauce Recipes
Once you’ve made one sauce from scratch, the bottles in the fridge door start looking pretty sad.
What did you do to make yours thicken? I made it just like you said and it’s runny!
Hi Kathy! It should begin to thicken up once the butter cools slightly. Hope you saw that on your end 🙂