The Grocery Store Barbecue Sauce We Can't Get Enough Of

With its exceptionally rich and powerfully piquant flavors, barbecue sauce has the potential to make or break a meal of smoky-sweet short ribs or juicy beef brisket. To help us all avoid a disaster at our next cookout, Chowhound's Emily Alexander snagged all the classic sauces she could find at the grocery store and rounded up the best and worst barbecue sauces to buy at the grocery store. According to her findings after analyzing each pick's unique flavor and textures, she determined that the absolute best grocery store barbecue sauce to buy is Traeger 'Que Classic BBQ Sauce. 

Compared to all the other options on her list, Alexander put this sauce at the top because it comes packed with flavors all across the barbecue spectrum. "It's sweet, tangy, and perfectly acidic," she wrote. Simply put, it's full of all the flavors you could ask of a classic barbecue sauce, all packed into one balanced bottle. While some options were more affordable, such as Kroger's This Is the Original BBQ Sauce or Stubb's Original Legendary Bar-B-Q Sauce, their "okay," "boring," or "competent" flavors did not come close to that of this exceptional sauce. 

Luckily, this delicious sauce is available at many major retailers. So, if you're opting for a store-bought barbecue sauce in lieu of a homemade option, go for Traeger 'Que Classic BBQ Sauce.

According to Emily Alexander's findings, "the bottom five brands aren't even in the same galaxy" as the Traeger 'Que Classic BBQ Sauce. (And if you happen to like this choice, there are plenty of other flavors to try beyond the Classic, such as the Apricot or Texas Spicy BBQ Sauce.) Still, because this is a pricier option compared to many others on the list, coming in around $6.95 to $7.99 for a 16-ounce bottle, let's talk about some other options that are worth a try. 

Per Alexander's ranking, the classic choice of Sweet Baby Ray's Barbecue Sauce is the second-best option on her list. This option even beat out the Traeger 'Que Classic in terms of texture thanks to its addictively thick makeup. Coming in at $2.50 a bottle, this is a much more affordable alternative. If this option isn't available, Alexander dubs Kinder's Mild BBQ Sauce as another solid choice thanks to its deep, sweet taste, as well as the Kansas City-style Famous Dave's Rich & Sassy BBQ Sauce, which she says bears a striking resemble to the taste of Sweet Baby Ray's. 

With some bottled barbecue sauces you've got to add vinegar or tomato paste to balance out the flavor, but the Traeger 'Que Classic BBQ Sauce does it all for you. So, if you really want to give your barbecue a boost, don't be afraid to splurge on the best.