Our Taste Test of Supermarket Barbecue Sauce
Tasting expert Jack Bishop challenges Bridget to a tasting of supermarket barbecue sauce.
Buy our winning supermarket barbecue sauce:
ABOUT US: Located in Boston’s Seaport District in the historic Innovation and Design Building, America’s Test Kitchen features 15,000 square feet of kitchen space including multiple photography and video studios. It is the home of Cook’s Illustrated magazine and Cook’s Country magazine and is the workday destination for more than 60 test cooks, editors, and cookware specialists. Our mission is to test recipes over and over again until we understand how and why they work and until we arrive at the best version.
If you like us, follow us:
I live in Austin and Stubb’s BBQ is below avg BBQ and more of a tourist trap kind of place. The OG version of the sauce (they make a bunch of diff varieties) leaves a chemical after taste to me. A better executed version of this tomato forward, central TX style sauce is Franklin BBQ, but I don’t know if it’s sold in stores outside of TX.
I'm not a BBQ sauce fan at all – its all too sweet and artificial smoke flavor usually grosses me out. Blech!. Pass the Texas Pete or Sriracha and I'm good. Korean BBQ is an exception. Truly yummy stuff.
I like stubs
He got that backwards, Stubbs is a mop sauce for the grill, not for dipping.
Famous Dave’s sweet & spicy. Their pickles are spicy and awesome as well!
take 50% sweet baby rays and 50% ken davis bbq sauce MIX them and then send me a thank-you card
Well hi fructose corn syrup is not good to have in your diet. If I see it on anything that I’m purchasing I put it right back on the shelf. Thanks for sharing
Dang. I would have liked to have seen Cattleman"s in the test…other taste tests have ranked it above Bullseye. My favorite is Little Pigs, from Memphis. It is not sweet, though, so it is not for some people…and not nationally available. It is the bomb on ribs!
You know you're dealing with Yankees when they say "Carolina-style sauce." There are at least four different "Carolina styles."
I used to like Bullseye a lot many years ago, but the modern version doesn't taste as good to me. I'm finding that with many different corporate food products these days. Maybe it's because I am getting older, but personally I think it's because the ingredients being used are much lower quality.
Yuck to all of them
Not a bullseye fan. Too much smoke.
If you can find it, Kinder’s is amazing!!
Real bbq don't need no sauce in my opinion 🤫
When I was a kid we used to make barbecue chicken by first pressure cooking it and then putting it on the grill to finish with brushed-on barbecue sauce. We would glug a whole bottle of Kraft in the pressure cooker because it was cheap, expendable swill. For the final stage, which mattered a lot more, we initially used Bull's Eye but later switched to Sweet Baby Ray's Honey-Barbecue. These days I don't eat barbecue sauce very much at home, but when I do I go for the no-sugar Ray's (apparently it's not "Sweet Baby" unless it has sugar). I also just have to plug Ray's no-sugar honey mustard dipping sauce, which is THE best honey mustard dressing I've ever found, sugar or not. Ultra impressed with it.
🖤
My bottle of Stubb's had one spin around my grill and then a short trip to the trash bin.
Try Saz. I hate sweet bbq sauce
Sweet baby rays is most popular
Stubbs regular sauce is ok, but Stubbs sweet bbq sauce is amazing! Always buy
They did not taste test my sauce, its a winner and i still recommend and use for the last 51years and by the wsy tx. Ssuce is not vinegary period.
Bulls Eye is the best. I pay $1.00 a bottle
I'm gonna give Stubbs a shot. I love the vinegar and I'm always looking to cut down on my sugar intake.
My personal favorite is Sweet Baby Rays Sweet & Spicy. Sweet up front with a hell of a nice kick at the end.
What do I think..All the stuff tested was P.U. Aldi's Kansas style is the best
Stubbs is the best. I prefer savory over sweet. These Yankees don’t know what good sauce is.
I worked in the kitchen of a bar and grill. Their barbecue sauce was made of ketchup, beer, and brown sugar.
I don't like it sweet
Open pit original
Sweet baby Ray's brown sugar it will always be my favorite
Guy Fieri KC : exceedingly good. Then Cattleman’s and KC Masterpiece and Bullseye Smoky.
You should have tested Head Country bbq sauce. It perfectly fits the description of what aspects you were looking for.
Stubb's all the way, I do not prefer sweet bbq sauces