Barbecue season is fully upon us, and whether you’re heating up your charcoal grill for a backyard cookout or just cooking up a nice dinner for yourself, it’s the perfect time to try out some tasty new barbecue sauces. Grab your favorite chicken, pork, steak, fish and veggies and prepare to get, well, fired up with these expert-recommended barbecue sauces sure to take your meal to the next level.
Types of barbecue sauces
When you think of barbecue sauce, you’re likely thinking about a dark brown, reddish-colored sauce. Traditionally, a Kansas City-style sauce, like that one you’re probably thinking of, is a tomato-based sauce balanced with other flavors like Worcestershire sauce, brown sugar or molasses. However, there are lots of other sauce varieties that vary regionally. Barbecue sauce from the eastern area of North Carolina is traditionally a vinegar- and red-pepper-based sauce that’s free of tomatoes and more clear in color. In areas of South Carolina, you’ll find a yellow mustard-based sauce, while in Alabama, you’ll see white, mayonnaise-based sauces often paired with chicken dishes or vegetables.
“People are definitely playing around with different formulas to find things that are new and different and aren’t just the traditional Kansas City style,” says Christie Vanover, an award-winning competitive pitmaster and founder of the site Girls Can Grill.
The introduction of international and experimental flavors has helped broaden the barbecue sauce scope, showcasing sauces with nontraditional bases made of ingredients like honey and chilis. Vanover says that with Korean barbecue sauces, a growing popular choice, you’ll find ingredients like gochujang, a fermented red chili paste, as a base.
While there are plenty of sauce options to choose from, there’s really no definitive “best” barbecue sauce for any one type of protein. “[It’s] up to whatever that person wants when they’re grilling,” says Vanover. “There’s no kind of set standard of what pairs best with what.”
A standard pre-grilling rub of salt, pepper and garlic will work as a good base for any dish, though you can help further elevate the flavor of your proteins by adding other herbs, spices and sweeteners to your rubs. As far as sauces go, you have more room to play around with different flavors during or after your grill to see what you might like best.
The type of sauce you use might also depend on the stage of the grilling process you’re in. A marinade is best used pre-grill to help tenderize the meat before it hits the fire. Grilling sauces are designed to be added to meat that is cooked quickly over high heat and tend to be thinner than regular barbecue sauces. They also contain fewer sweeteners, like sugars, that can more easily burn and turn bitter over high heat. Barbecue sauces are generally thicker in consistency and meant to accompany meat cooked slower, longer and at lower temperatures. You can also use a traditional barbecue sauce in the final minutes of your grill for a last kick of flavor, or finish your meats with a drizzle sauce when they come off the fire.
For help sorting through the best barbecue sauces on the market, we checked in with barbecue pros like Vanover as well as Adrian Miller, a James Beard Award winner and author of “Black Smoke: African Americans and the United States of Barbecue”; St. Louis-based Scott Thomas from The Grillin’ Fools blog; and Kita Roberts, who runs the Girl Carnivore food blog, to get their picks for the most flavorful and tasty sauces.
Best barbecue sauces
Miller calls this his all-time favorite commercial barbecue sauce. “Gates is one of the venerable African American-owned barbecue restaurants in Kansas City, Missouri,” he says. “They make a tomato-based sauce that’s not too thick, and it has a nice balance of tangy and sweet.”
When he wants something with more kick, Miller opts for hot and spicy sauce from Old Arthur’s. “‘Old Arthur Watts was born an enslaved African American in 1837,” he says. “Later in life, he became a renowned barbecuer, and his descendants are keeping his legacy alive. This slightly sweet, tomato-based sauce gives a slow, steady burn without overwhelming your palate.”
Vanover says she's been using this Code 3 Patriot Sauce for years. It's an award-winning St. Louis-style barbecue sauce you can slather on your ribs, chicken, pork and burgers, or use as a dipping sauce for an even more intense flavor kick.
“Found pretty much anywhere across the country, Head Country has a great arsenal of sauces, from chipotle — which is amazing on Instant Pot chicken for tacos — to apple habanero, which when tossed over smoked Brussels sprouts adds just the right amount of heat to the dish,” Roberts says. “It’s not too hot, not too watery and sticks to the food for a velvety rich coating. I keep an assortment of their entire line in my pantry all of the time and they are my go-to for hosting needs. They even have a keto-friendly barbecue sauce out recently that’s sugar-free — that on shrimp is exceptional.”
“I love to toss wings in this or brush it over burgers when I really want to spice things up,” Roberts says. “It comes out of the bottle super thick and packs the perfect punch for those who can handle a bit of heat.”
Add some umami flavor to your favorite beef dishes with this Bibigo Korean BBQ sauce, made with a blend of soy sauce, sesame, garlic and ginger. Vanover recommends the brand's BBQ drizzle, which you can use for finishing off meat and veggies, but you'll have to check to see if it's available in your local store.
A first-place winner at the 2020 National Barbecue and Grilling Association Awards of Excellence, Thomas says Whomp! is a go-to in his pantry and fridge. “It is simply an all-around fantastic sauce,” he says.
“The entire line of sauces is absolutely amazing and a mainstay on the competition circuit where the competitors are only guaranteed one bite from the judges,” according to Thomas. “When they use Blues Hog, they often get that second bite.” Sample four flavors — Original BBQ, Tennessee Red, Champions Blend and Smokey Mountain — with this variety pack.
Vanover also recommends this small-batch, honey-based sauce from FYR. "It's really good on wings," says Vanover. "It's just something that's a little bit different than the standard like Sweet Baby Ray's."
“This is from just across the river from St. Louis in Illinois and is sometimes confused with steak sauces that are used to dip the cooked steak into in order to mask the flavor of subpar beef or add liquid to an overcooked or dry steak,” Thomas says. “But that’s not what Andria’s is all about. It’s a marinade and basting sauce that I have been using now for close to three decades. Brush it on as the steak is cooking and you will learn just how addictive it is. It is also beloved by presidents. For decades, the White House has ordered a case of Andria’s every year.”
Leftover barbecue stir-fry anyone? This fan and editor-favorite Japanese-inspired sauce is great for adding a extra flavors to rice, noodles and vegetable in addition to your favorite grilling meat. You can grab this two pack in a mix of flavors from the original Bachan recipe to sweet honey, hot and spicy, miso and tangy yuzu.
Inspired by the barbecue flavors of Washington D.C., this mambo sauce works as a marinade, glaze, dipping sauce or finishing sauce. Grab this two-pack with their bestselling mild and sweet hot sauces, both with a tomato base that makes a great alternative to standard ketchup.
A grocery store favorite for less than $5, this Stubb's Barbecue sauce is inspired by Texas flavors. With ingredients like tomato, vinegar, molasses and black pepper, this makes a great addition to your favorite dry rubs or weeknight recipes.
Use this Kinder sauce for basting and brushing or adding a smokey-sweet flavor to your favorite side dishes or homemade pizzas.
For a sampling of the nuanced regional flavors of barbecue, grab this variety pack of three sauces from Lillie Q's. The lineup features a brown-sugar-based smoky sauce inspired by Memphis, tomato vinegar for Western Carolina flavors and a mustard-based gold sauce for a traditional South Carolina taste.