If you’re a fan of barbecue sauce, you have a plethora of options to choose from. It can be difficult to determine which brand is the best on the shelf. But fear not, we’re here to help. There is an art to barbecuing, and it starts with selecting the best cuts of meat. Equally important is choosing the right sauce to achieve the perfect balance of sweetness, smokiness, and acidity.
When it comes to finding the best barbecue sauce, there are many delicious options available, including those from small online manufacturers. To identify the best barbecue sauce in 2023, I personally gathered 15 bottles of spicy, smoky, sweet, savory, and tangy sauces, along with a few friends who are meat connoisseurs, to have some fun and discover the top barbecue sauce in the market.
What makes a great barbecue sauce?
It’s a subjective question, but most experts agree that balance is key in barbecue sauce. Most sauces are made with a base of tomato or vinegar, as well as other sweeteners like honey or molasses, and a heat component. From there, the sauces are expertly seasoned with spices and herbs like mustard, garlic, fruits, and smoke. Sauces that are overly heavy on one side or too simple without much complexity tend to fall short.
We sampled several Kansas City-style sauces, a rich Carolina vinegar sauce, a keto-friendly option, a popular Japanese sauce called Bachan’s, and a few Alabama white sauces to test their flavors. We tried them all on unseasoned chicken breasts, as it serves as a blank canvas that allows us to evaluate the sauces’ taste. We paid attention to factors like concentration, heat, sweetness, spiciness, and anything else that stood out, both negatively and positively.
Read more: Best Foods of 2023
Quick note: While sweet varieties dominate the sauce market in the North, my taste testers and I have a preference for vinegar-based sauces. So, we made sure to include several Carolina barbecue sauces (among other styles, such as Japanese BBQ sauce for umami or brown sugar-based recipes for a familiar sweetness) to create an inclusive and unbiased list.
It took a lot of taste testing to determine the best barbecue sauce in 2023. And here are the results.
Full Moon is a long-standing steakhouse in Alabama and Mississippi, dating back to 1986. You won’t find Full Moon’s amazing sauce on store shelves, but you can purchase it online for just $7.49 per bottle. This sauce has the perfect balance of flavor, smoke, tang, and spice.
If you want to pick up barbecue sauce from the grocery store, Stubb’s products are available at most supermarkets and are a superior choice to Full Moon. Like the winner mentioned above, Stubb’s strikes the perfect balance without one flavor overpowering the others. It’s thick yet smooth, deriving its flavor from brown sugar (no corn syrup) and featuring a delightful kick from black pepper.
