A sol–gel method is employed for preparing high quality lead-free glass-ceramic samples (1 −
x
)BCZT-
x
BBS—incorporating Ba
0.85
Ca
0.15
Zr
0.1
Ti
0.9
O
3
(BCZT) powder and Bi
2
O
3
-B
2
O
3
-SiO
2
(BBS) glass-doped additives with different values of
x
(
x
= 0, 0.05, 0.1, 0.15). Systematic investigations are performed to comprehend the structural, dielectric and energy storage characteristics using X-ray diffraction, field-emission scanning electron microscopy, impedance and ferroelectric analyser methods. With appropriate BBS doping (
x
), many fundamental traits including breakdown strength, dielectric loss and energy storage density have shown significant improvements. Low doping-level samples
x
< 0.1 have retained the pure perovskite phase while a second glass phase appeared in samples with
x
≥ 0.1. As the doping level (0.1 ≥
x
> 0) is increased, the average grain size decreased to become better homogeneous materials with improved breakdown energy strengths. Excessive addition of BBS (
x
= 0.15) causes negative effects on microstructures and other traits. The glass-ceramic sample 0.95BCZT-0.05BBS exhibits excellent dielectric permittivity and temperature stability, with the highest energy storage density of 0.3907 J cm
−3
at 130 kV cm
−1
. These results provide good reference to develop lead-free ceramics of high energy storage density.