Popular Amazon BBQ Sauces, Ranked

There's nothing like a great barbecue sauce to make a mouthwatering pulled pork sandwich, delectable burnt ends, or a slathered rack of ribs. Whether you like sweet and smoky Kansas City-style barbecue, tangy North Carolina BBQ, or something else completely, there's a sauce that has your name written on it. With so many options to choose from, it's hard to know which ones are the best, especially if you're shopping from your computer or app. It's hard to beat the convenience, however, and you can find plenty of great barbecue options from Amazon that you can get delivered right to your door.

All of these BBQ sauces have over 1,000 reviews from customers on the online retailer, but more importantly, they passed our own tests based on flavor, thickness, and unique profile. We also considered ingredient lists and overall value to see which sauce rose to the top. Many sauces have a lot of added sugar, which made us think twice before putting them too high on the list, even if they tasted great. We enlisted the help of testers of all ages, including our own elementary-aged kids with platefuls of chicken nuggets. As dedicated condiment enthusiasts, they had the most vocal opinions about which ones tasted good and which ones tasted great. Fortunately for them, none of the barbecue sauces got a hard pass after just one taste. That's hardly surprising since these are the best barbecue sauces on Amazon.

For something different than your standard tomato-based sauce, try We Love You Korean barbecue sauce. We have to preface our review by stating that we knew this would be distinct from other BBQ sauces, but with almost 1,500 reviews and 4.4 stars, we wanted to see how it compared. This umami-rich sauce has soy, ginger, and garlic for a unique flavor that works well with grilling, but would also be delicious for homemade Korean barbecue. You can use it as a marinade as well as a dipping sauce, which we paired with chicken. The versatility of this sauce moved it higher on the list than it might be just based on flavor alone. It also had a nice texture, with plenty of minced ingredients to make it a little bit more substantial than a basic sauce.

We tried the medium spicy version, which was heavier on the red pepper than the super popular original recipe. But it didn't have as much heat as we were expecting, even when we used it for dipping nuggets. Both have a strong ginger and garlic taste, thanks to plentiful granulated garlic, minced garlic, and ginger listed as ingredients. Soy sauce is the first ingredient, however, and definitely the dominant flavor in each bite. If you like Korean barbecue, this will be your next favorite condiment. But if you're looking for a traditional Western barbecue, this doesn't hit that mark.

Since moving to the D.C., Maryland, Virginia area, it seems like the Capital City mambo sauce is everywhere. When we discovered that not only was it available on Amazon but that it had 4.5 stars and almost 20,000 reviews, we knew we had to try it. It comes in a convenient squeezable container with a thin lid, which reduces spills, a common annoyance with other barbecue sauces. So we were pretty happy with this option before we even got it to the table.

It tasted like a sweet and sour sauce combined with barbecue and we could see ourselves using this in a variety of cooking styles. It is a super versatile sauce that you can use as a glaze, barbecue, or marinade, but we didn't love it as a dipping sauce. Maybe because we were expecting something with a bit more heat or smoky flavor, but the sweet and sour taste didn't work in place of traditional barbecue. The recipe includes soy sauce, which was a more dominant flavor than we wanted from this tomato-based option. It comes in a sweet-hot option as well, which includes habanero pepper extract.

At more than $8 for a 12-ounce bottle, this is one of the pricier options on the list, which bumped it down. It tasted delicious and we'd happily include this sauce in our cooking lineup, but it's hard to justify that cost when it's not an ideal dipping sauce.

We tested the Heinz Kansas City barbecue sauce, which promised to be "sweet and smoky." It definitely delivered on the sweet but wasn't as smoky as some of the other BBQ sauces we sampled. It tasted similar to Sweet Baby Ray's, which wasn't surprising since it had the second-highest amount of sugar per serving of the sauces we tried. It was particularly thick, which made it an ideal dipping sauce. It clung to every nugget and gave each bite an extra coating of flavorful sauce. But the taste wasn't anything out of the ordinary and given the high sugar content, we'd probably skip this sauce if we had other options available.

Heinz has a lot of other flavor options, which was nice to see since we like variety. All were labeled with the regional flavors they featured, from North Carolina mustard-based sauce to Texas-style bold and spicy BBQ sauce. If you want to put out a sampler of different dipping sauces, Heinz is a reliable option to order. But if you're looking for knock-your-socks-off sauce, you might be a bit disappointed with this pretty basic condiment.

Kraft barbecue sauce was one that surprised us with how well it tasted, which we put on par with some much more expensive options on the list even though it was one of the most economical. We've tried the original before and it was decent, but for this taste test we went with the super popular slow-simmered brown sugar recipe. With over 4,000 reviews on Amazon, we knew it was one we had to check out. It has a rich, sweet flavor thanks to the brown sugar but it's not as sweet as some others. Not surprisingly, it has 4 grams less sugar per serving than Sweet Baby Ray's, so we were okay with that slightly less sweet taste. It was more similar to the molasses-based sauces on our list than we expected, however, since it was marketed as a brown sugar variety.

This sauce was pretty thick and worked well with chicken nuggets. It coated each nugget like a dream with minimal dripping. At less than $2 per 18-ounce bottle, it's also a fantastic choice for your budget. This was a favorite with the younger taste testers because it had that sweet flavor that they like and wasn't spicy. Since they tend to go through condiments quickly, the fact that it wasn't expensive made the adults paying for the groceries pretty happy, too.

Bone Suckin' Sauce is advertised as a rib and wing sauce, but you can use it in any barbecue-style cooking. It comes in regular and thick versions, as well as one with added heat. We went with the regular Southern style sauce to see what all the hype was about and boy were we glad we did. The sauce is a great balance of sweet, smoky, and spicy, although the actual spicy version might be too much heat for some people. Even the regular version had a little kick. If you really love the flavor and want to incorporate it even more in your dish, give your meat a dash of the Bone Suckin' Sauce spice rub before grilling it in the sauce.

It's best to give the sauce a little stir before applying it to your meat, since it can be on the thin side. Bone Suckin' Sauce makes a thicker version, which we would recommend trying if you plan to use it as a dipping sauce. But the standard option is perfect for cooking, marinading, and glazing, as well as dipping if you're in a pinch. The only reason it didn't end up higher on our list was the thinner texture, although it was a close call even when compared to thicker sauces. But the $15 price tag for an 18-ounce jar was hard to justify when it didn't hit all of our marks for a phenomenal barbecue sauce that we could use for cooking and dipping.

Stubb's is another brand with a lot of flavor options and we went with the sticky sweet sauce. It's tomato-based, but includes plenty of sugar, brown sugar, and molasses. Stubb's makes thick barbecue sauce, perfect for slathering over a sandwich or mixing with pulled pork. It also works well to baste ribs, since it will literally stick to whatever it's coating. Rather than taste, it's this thick texture that sets Stubb's ahead of some other options on the list. We didn't love it as a dipping sauce because the sweet flavor was almost too much for our taste buds. But for ribs, this would be our go-to sauce for the nice taste and, more importantly, the thick texture.

We've tried the sweet heat recipe and prefer that to the sticky sweet option from Stubb's. The addition of chipotle chili sauce brings in a little bit of spice without overpowering the sweet flavor profile. It balances out the sauce much better and makes it more versatile. Sticky sweet pairs well with beef or pork ribs, but the sweet heat has enough depth of flavor to work with chicken as well.

Cattlemen's Carolina tangy gold BBQ sauce was the only Carolina-style sauce that we tried, so it was hard to compare it directly with others on our list. But most of the Cattlemen's sauces on Amazon were sold in bulk, making the Carolina gold one of the few that would work for a normal household. This lack of availability put this option lower on this specific list, since one of our criteria was how easy it was to order from Amazon, but when judging flavor, it was definitely one of our favorites.

The taste was fantastic and super flavorful, with both mustard and vinegar to make it extra tangy. It's made without high fructose corn syrup, but has a lot of sugar compared to some other options. We didn't expect this since it wasn't a particularly sweet sauce, so be aware if you're looking to cut your sugar content.

It was a little bit thinner than some of the super thick Kansas City-style sauces, but not as thin as the wing sauces or marinades. It worked as a dipping sauce, but we'd really like to give it a try when grilling pork chops. The sugar would help it caramelize nicely, giving the pork chops a nice crust, while the mustard would add flavor. It comes in a large 38-ounce bottle for less than $5, so it would make a nice BBQ sauce to use when cooking for a crowd without breaking the bank.

As the Sweet Baby Ray's motto suggests, this sauce truly is the boss when it comes to taste. It comes in multiple flavors but the original is by far the best. It's one of the sweeter sauces out there, but that works well with the tomato-based recipe. This is our go-to sauce when making pulled pork sandwiches because the sweetness pairs deliciously with salty pork. It's thick enough to stand up on its own as a dipping sauce and our kids seek it out from the fridge when we make chicken nuggets. The hickory and brown sugar formula has a bit more complexity thanks to the addition of the smoky flavor. We prefer that version when we're using this sauce for chicken or pork chops.

We've used this sauce for years because we like the sweet flavor, but when we looked at the nutrition facts and ingredients list, it gave us pause. A whopping 16 grams of sugar in each 2 tablespoon serving is a lot, especially when there were other sauces we liked just as much or more that had much less. If we're going off just flavor, this sauce would be high on the list, but the added sugar made us move this choice down a notch since we use this condiment frequently.

The 365 original barbecue sauce comes from Whole Foods' store brand but you can also order it on Amazon thanks to the partnership between the two retailers. It's tomato-based with molasses for deep flavor. You might expect a sweet flavor overall, but it hits more smoky notes than anything else. Spices in the ingredients list include cumin, cayenne pepper, coriander, garlic powder, and natural hickory smoke flavor. This gives it a nice complexity that went above and beyond other standard barbecue recipes. It's also quite thick and makes a nice dipping sauce. This barbecue sauce is tomato based, but the molasses tempers that acidity and gives it a nice flavor overall.

It's vegan-friendly and meets Whole Foods' strict quality standards, just like other items in the 365 line. It doesn't contain any high fructose corn syrup and is free of synthetic coloring as well as artificial sweeteners. Whole Foods also makes a Kansas City-style sauce that they call Kansas City Love. It's a bit pricier than the original but is made with all organic ingredients. The KC sauce is also on the sweeter side, if that's what you prefer.

The 365 sauce is a nice balance of great ingredients and great flavor. It's not heavy on sugar but still has a hint of sweetness, plus that delicious smoky flavor. For a great barbecue sauce that we can feel good about eating, this is our go-to choice.

Traeger barbecue sauces are super thick, something that we love, so this was a must-try in our comparison. It ranks at the top of our best grocery store barbecue sauces so we wanted to see how it stacked up against other Amazon favorites. We went with the original recipe, which has a nice molasses flavor to make it sweet and natural smoke flavor added for some extra depth. When looking at the ingredients list, we were surprised to see the addition of pineapple juice. You can't taste it in the sauce, but it does give a brightness that sets this sauce apart. The taste made this sauce one of our favorites overall.

The original recipe has a lot of added sugar, but some of the other flavor options, including our favorite apricot barbecue, have as much as 5 grams less per serving. The original recipe was good, but the apricot barbecue is phenomenal and one of our favorites to put on pork. The thick texture works for dipping as well as slathering on chops before grilling. It can also be used to reapply without making a huge mess in the pan or on the grill. This combination of taste and texture skyrocketed the Traeger sauce to the top of our list.

To figure out which options on Amazon were the best, we looked at the most popular sauces with over 1,000 favorable reviews and narrowed down the field from there. Many had dedicated followings to one or more flavor options, but a few were consistently praised across the board. We went with some of the most popular flavors or stuck with an original recipe. We sampled barbecue sauces from a variety of price points, considering them as a dipping sauce first and then thinking about broader barbecue-style cooking.

To rank them all, we considered texture, ingredients, price, and, of course, how well it tasted. We tested all of the top contenders with chicken nuggets to get a good idea of each flavor profile. The nuggets made a good base for us to sample flavor and get a good idea of the sauce's thickness. It didn't hurt that our own kids happily devour chicken nuggets, usually with barbecue sauce, and were ready to give their honest feedback about each one.