Guy Fieri's BBQ Sauces, Ranked Worst To Best

You can rely on your favorite enthusiastic chef Guy Fieri to create some magic in the kitchen. The enthusiastic celebrity chef's personality is just as intense as his brand, Flavortown, which includes cookware, tools, and other kitchen essentials in addition to food. Flavortown offerings include creamy aiolis as well as barbecue sauces to add delicious taste to smoked meats, sandwiches, and sauces to use for dipping. Many of the recipes are inspired by dishes whipped up in the kitchens of Guy's restaurants.

You may not find the entire Flavortown lineup on all of the grocery store shelves just yet. Walmart and Publix have partnerships with the brand, but if you don't have these stores nearby, Amazon remains one of the most accessible places to get your hands (and tastebuds) on one of these sauces. When shopping online, however, you have to rely on reviews to make your selection. we taste tested all of the barbecues as dipping sauces to get first-hand knowledge of which Guy Fieri cues are the best.

The Flavortown Mop Sauce is rich and dark, with a thin consistency to pour over meat on the grill. It's often applied with a mop, or at least a large brush, to keep the meat moist and tender, which is where it gets its odd name. For a dipping sauce, however, it doesn't work very well. It's vinegar-based, so you know it has plenty of tang. However, it doesn't have the rich umami taste that we hoped for and lacks in the spice department as well. Without some sweetness or smokiness for balance, it left us a bit disappointed when we tried it with chicken tenders.

It is the lowest in terms of added sugar in the Flavortown lineup, with only 6 grams of sugar in each 2-tablespoon serving. It has only 230 milligrams of sodium per serving, which is less than all but one of the barbecues from Flavortown. It includes molasses and brown sugar, but tomato paste and apple cider vinegar are more dominant in the flavor profile. This option does not include anchovy, which might be why it was noticeably less savory than some of the other Flavortown sauces. 

The honey in the Flavortown honey barbecue sauce makes it extra sweet but it wasn't the most balanced option from Guy Fieri. This is one of only two sauces that does not include anchovy in the ingredients list, which explained its lack of savory umami. The consistency was decent but it wasn't as thick as our favorite sauces, either. Overall, the sugary flavor and the thinner consistency made this a sauce we'd likely pass on next time.

It was one of the lowest for sugar content, which surprised us. There are only 7 grams of sugar in each 2-tablespoon serving. Given its ingredients list and sweet flavor, we expected a much higher number. If you want a sweet sauce that isn't loaded with added sugar, the honey variety is one to try. It's also lower than the top sauce for sodium, with 280 milligrams per serving. Otherwise, stick with something that has a bit more depth from smoky or spicy ingredients.

Guy teamed up with country singer Kane Brown for this take on barbecue. It brings in a sweet taste from the Tennessee-style sauce, plus a kick of spice. It was pretty hefty, although not as thick as some of those we ended up ranking higher. It's a traditional tomato-based barbecue, but the addition of chili pepper extract gives it that extra heat. The ingredients list is very similar to the hickory sauce and those were the two that were closest in flavor. The extra spice in the Tennessee version is the major difference.

This sauce has the lowest amount of sodium out of all of the Flavortown options with just 210 milligrams per serving. It has a lot of sugar, however, with 10 grams in each serving and includes both brown and white sugar in the recipe. Even with this high sugar content, we still really liked this sauce, and the combination of sweetness and heat give it a nice balance and deep flavor.

If you love mustard-based barbecue, you'll be a fan of the Flavortown Carolina BBQ sauce. Carolina gold-style cue originated in South Carolina but has made a name for itself as a delicious regional barbecue style and this sauce has plenty of zing, just like Guy himself. It was more mustard than vinegar, but still had elements of both ingredients, which is essential to good Carolina Gold in our opinion. The ingredient list includes anchovies, which is what gives it a deep savory element. It was thick enough to use for dipping, but we'd also put a nice coating on chicken before throwing it on the grill.

This sauce has a medium amount of added sugar compared to others on the list with 8 grams per serving. Unfortunately, it's the highest in sodium with 320 milligrams per a 2-tablespoon serving, so you might want to consider a different option if you're trying to keep your salt intake down. At a minimum, keep a glass of water handy because you'll definitely be thirsty after enjoying this sauce. Even with the salty flavor, this was one of our favorites.

The hickory flavor is strong in the Flavortown hickory barbecue sauce, just like Guy's signature hair. It has a sweet and smoky combination that you expect from most traditional barbecue. Not surprisingly, this recipe had anchovy in the ingredients list, which gave it a savory element. This was also the thickest of the ones we tried, so it got top marks for texture as well. From the very first taste, this was our favorite sauce as it hit all of notes we love in a barbecue sauce. It was sweet and savory at the same time, with added smokiness and a hint of tang to wake up our tastebuds. It clung to our chicken tenders without any dripping so we got to enjoy every drop.

We were less excited when we took a look at the nutrition facts for this sauce. It has a whopping 17 grams of sugar in each serving, which is 7 grams more than the Tennessee-style sauce, and more than double the Carolina Gold. If you're trying to reduce your sugar intake, this sauce is probably not one you want to use often. It had 270 milligrams of sodium per serving, which was in the middle of all the sauces we compared. For taste and texture, though, it hit it out of the park and earned the No. 1 spot.

For this ranking, we looked at customer reviews from online retailers, including photos of how customers used and enjoyed these sauces, as well as our own experience trying Guy Fieri's Flavortown barbecues. When testing, we considered taste and texture first, since a great barbecue sauce enhances meats with a deep savory flavor while also being thick enough to use as a dipping sauce. Our favorites had a nice balance of multiple taste attributes, whether it was sweet, savory, smoky, or spicy. Extra zing from vinegar or mustard were also nice notes in the sauces that rose to the top. We also considered nutrition factors, looking closely at both sugar and sodium in each sauce.