The Best Barbecue Sauce in the Country
It's a dirty job, but someone has to test out all of the small-batch BBQ sauce that have been cropping up in restaurants and smokehouses from coast to coast. Feast your eyes on the 11 winners our lips were lucky enough to taste.
Want great summer recipes? We've got them all here!
Big Butz Original B-B-Q Sauce
This Wisconsin Ya Butz sauce gets its mild, tangy-sweet flavor from vine-ripened tomatoes, molasses, and red peppers.
($9.90 for 2 pint jars; bigbutzbbqsauce.net)
Roasted Garlic Honey
Founded by three bikers in Syracuse, New York in 1988, Dinosaur Bar-B-Que now sells their popular sauces and slatherings, including Roasted Garlic and Honey, to fans nationwide.
($3.50 for a 19-ounce jar; dinosaurbarbque.com)
Fire in the Hive
Not for the fainthearted, this spicy sauce from California's Cahoots Catering Co. relies on smoky chipotle and jalapeño peppers for its intense heat.
($6.95 for a 13-ounce jar; cahootscatering.com)
Try this sauce as an accompaniment to our tasty BBQ brisket.
Strong and Bold
A blend of hickory, honey and secret spices gives Big Jake's of Minneapolis, MN its smoky, charred flavor.
($6.35 for a 15-ounce jar; big-jakes.com)
Pork Barrel Sweet
Created by two Senate staffers from Virginia, this Ashman Manufacturing Co. sauce has nearly 40 ingredients, including chipotle, ginger, and cayenne.
($5.99 for a 12-ounce jar; ashmanco.com)
Big & Tangy
Although Sauce Goddess is produced in San Diego, it is made Carolina-style, with apple cider vinegar and a blend of spices and peppers.
($8 for a 13-ounce jar; saucegoddess.com)
Who says vegetarians can't have BBQ? Give this sauce a try in our recipe for barbecued-tofu buns!
Angry Nephews
Jolokia ghost peppers, the hottest chili pepper in the world, make Raleigh, North Carolina's Angry Nephew's BBQ Sauce rank off the charts when it comes to heat!
($6.49 for a 16-ounce jar; nephewsbbq.com)
Bone Suckin' Sauce
Sweetened with honey and molasses you'd expect for sauce makers in Raleigh, NC, Fords Gourmet Foods' includes horseradish, mustard and a secret spice blend.
($6.79 for a 16-ounce jar; bonesuckin.com)
Want to have your own cookout? Look at photos from this perfect Texan barbecue!
Sweet Life BBQ Sauce
Made in small batches in Sorrento, Florida, Sweet Life Sauce Co.'s sauce features raisins, Granny Smith apples, and nutmeg.
($18.49 for two 16.5-ounce jars; sweetlifesaucecompany.com)
Memphis Original
Founded by three friends in Mt. Pleasant, South Carolina in 1992, Sticky Fingers Smokehouse is famous for their distinctively sweet, tomato-based sauce.
($3.99 for an 18-ounce jar; stickyfingers.com)
Chipotle
Based on a secret 1927 family recipe, Blender's sauce from Kansas can be used as a marinade or dip. A portion of the proceeds benefit children's charities, like the Big Brothers Big Sisters program.
($6.99 for a 19.5-ounce jar; blendersbarbequesauce.com)
This smoky sauce is perfect for barbecued corn. Get the recipe here.
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