The One Bottled Buffalo Sauce We're Not Leaving Behind On The Grocery Store Shelf

When it comes to game day, there's no flavor that hits quite like Buffalo sauce. Even if you're not a sports fan, if you like heat, tang, and buttery deliciousness (who doesn't?), you'll most certainly get hit with an intense craving for the stuff from time to time. For those days, it's great to have your favorite Buffalo sauce on hand to make your own classic Buffalo wings, use as a veggie dipping sauce, or add a spicy kick to a decadent dish like mac and cheese. That way, there's no need to rush out to your nearest sports bar and overpay for wings that might very well disappoint.

Chowhound set out to find the very best Buffalo sauce available, and we're proud to report that the winner knocked it out of the park. Writer Lauren Bair ranked 12 store-bought Buffalo sauces from worst to best, tasting every brand she could easily find at local grocery stores and pitting them against one another in an all-out Buffalo brawl. Taste, texture, and color all came into play, but the deciding factor was the zing — the flavorful kick that separates the Buffalo all-stars from the Buffalo bench-warmers.

Bair's champion pick was Wing-Time's Medium Buffalo Wing Sauce, an underdog surprise that went from a complete unknown to what she enthusiastically deemed "the best Buffalo sauce of all time!" With a balanced, "true medium" heat level and a flavor that immediately brought on a bleu cheese craving, Wing-Time was deemed worthy of the winner's circle — and a spot in your kitchen.

Not only does Wing-Time have Chowhound's stamp of approval, it also garnered 4.5 stars on Amazon, with some satisfied customers calling it the "best (store-bought) wing sauce [they'd] ever had" and the "gold standard" of Buffalo sauce. Though the brand is certainly not as well-known as stalwarts like Frank's RedHot or flashy newcomers like the "Hot Ones" branded Buffalo sauce, it makes a lasting impression on anyone able to get their hands on a bottle.

Wing-Time was founded in 1994 by Terry Brown, a born-and-raised resident of Buffalo, New York, with the passion for wings to match. The company operated out of Brown's adopted locale of Colorado Springs, Colorado, for many years before it was bought by Massachusetts-based specialty food purveyor Panorama Foods, Inc. in 2013.

Lauren Bair particularly enjoyed the Wing-Time sauce's texture, which she compared to that of a "hearty pasta sauce" that's "thick but pourable" and sticks to wings (or saucy nuggets) with ease. With an almost Pavlovian influence, the sauce made Bair reminisce about bleu cheese, as though it was a flavor note in the sauce itself. Plus, its appearance was nice and authentic-looking, with flecks of real spices that kept it from appearing unnaturally neon like some other contestants. The verdict is clear — whenever you're craving a kick of tangy, peppery flavor, this is the Buffalo sauce to bring it.