The Best Barbecue Sauce, According to Our Taste Test

Since moving to the South, I’ve learned that the only thing more intense than people’s barbecue sauce opinions is staring down the towering wall of bottles at the grocery store. Whether you’re hosting a game-day gathering or just trying to grab a reliable bottle for weeknight grilling, choosing the right one can feel overwhelming. 

We tasted through a lineup of 11 sauces and decoded the flavor differences so you know exactly which bottle to break out for your barbecue needs. 

Sauce selection process 

For our masked taste test, we selected 11 original and classic flavored barbecue sauce brands from grocery stores and online retailers based on their popularity and availability. Since barbecue styles vary by region, we narrowed our scope to Kansas City barbecue sauces, which are the most popular type found in stores. 

How we tested

As with all our brand-concealed tests, we established clear criteria for a best-in-class barbecue sauce. Kansas City barbecue sauces are primarily made of three key components: a tomato base, sweeteners like sugar or molasses, and vinegar. Their flavor should strike a balance between sweet and tangy, with moderate acidity that’s less sharp than Carolina-style sauces. Notes of smokiness or spice are welcome, but they shouldn’t overpower the sweet and tangy foundation. Texture matters too: a thick, glossy sauce that clings to the back of a spoon is ideal.

Most importantly, we wanted an all-purpose kind of sauce — versatile enough to work on everything from barbecue staples like baby back ribs and pulled pork to loaded baked potatoes and pizza.

For the test, we tried the sauces plain, by the spoonful. We cleansed our palates with pretzels and plenty of water in between samples. 

As we worked through the lineup, it was clear just how different these sauces were, despite all falling under the same style. The colors ranged from deep, roasted coffee brown to bright, crushed tomato red. Some were thick and opaque, others shiny and translucent, and a few were freckled with black pepper. The flavor notes were all also over the map. One sauce reminded testers of a spicy marinara, while another less fortunate brand was described as having a “distinctly Band-Aid flavor.” 

Eleven sauces and (surprisingly) zero shirt stains later, these are the four sauces we recommend buying for your next summer barbecue.  

Best overall: Sweet Baby Ray’s Original Barbecue Sauce

Sweet Baby Ray’s was our clear winner for best sweet barbecue sauce — and it also took home the prize for best overall. There’s no denying it: this is a sweet barbecue sauce. It contains pineapple juice, tamarind, and yes, high-fructose corn syrup. And you know what? It’s still ridiculously tasty. For all those sweet notes, this sauce has a balancing tang, wisps of smoky flavor, and a delicate heat on the finish to tie it all together. Testers praised its classic, nostalgic flavor, but also noted its understated complexity. If we had to pick one sauce to slather on ribs, swirl into baked beans, or even dunk our chicken nuggets into, this would be it. 

Most versatile: Kinder’s Original BBQ Sauce 

As a Bay Area native, I’ll admit barbecue isn’t our strongest culinary flex. But Kinder’s, originating in San Pablo, California, just 20 miles north of San Francisco, is a true barbecue beacon. What began as a meat market in 1946 has since grown into a nationally available brand of sauces, spice blends, and marinades. 

While testers found Kinder’s flavor to be mild in comparison to other sauces, this wasn’t necessarily a bad thing. This sauce had the widest array of serving suggestions — tasters suggested slathering it on everything from a big slab of brisket to pulled pork sandwiches to fries. Although still considered a Kansas City barbecue sauce, this sauce has a looser texture because of the absence of molasses or corn syrup, which makes for easy brushing and basting.

Best smokiness: Bull’s-Eye Original BBQ Sauce

Smokiness was a sneaky pitfall for many of our barbecue sauces. Almost all of the sauces we tasted use a smoke flavoring agent, including this one. However, while the other brands tipped into charred, or even acrid territory, the hickory notes of Bull’s-Eye enhanced the sauce’s tomato puree base instead of overpowering it. Executive editor Karen Shimizu noted its “pleasant smokiness,” and I personally found the flavor similar to a barbecue potato chip.

We’d recommend this sauce to anyone looking for a smoky edge that still delivers all the hallmarks of a classic barbecue sauce. Try this on a bacon burger and thank us later.

Tastes homemade: Jack Daniel’s Original BBQ Sauce

Jack Daniel’s might already be a staple on your bar cart, but we encourage you to make room for its barbecue sauce in your pantry. Made with “old-time” kettle cook methods, this sauce is simmered in small batches to allow the ingredients to better meld together. The result is a barbecue sauce that tastes like you made it in your own kitchen. F&W recipe developer Anna Theoktisto especially enjoyed the contrast between the sauce’s rich brown sugar notes and its punchy vinegar tang. We’ll drink to that.

The full list of contenders, from highest to lowest ranked

1. Sweet Baby Ray’s Original Barbecue Sauce
2. Kinder’s Original BBQ Sauce 
3. Bull’s Eye Original BBQ Sauce 
4. Jack Daniel’s Original BBQ Sauce 
5. Montgomery Inn Sweet & Tangy Original Barbecue Sauce
6. Stubb’s Original Barbecue Sauce
7. Buc-ee’s Premium Recipe Original BBQ Sauce
8. Blues Hog Original Barbecue Sauce
9. Kraft Original Slow-Simmered Barbecue Sauce
10. Kosmos Q Original Competition BBQ Sauce
11. 365 by Whole Foods Market Original Barbecue Sauce