9 Best Barbecue Sauce Recipes

Get ready for grilling season (or anytime you need a saucy addition to dinner) with this collection of our favorite barbecue sauces. From sweet to spicy to vinegary and all combinations thereof, we’ve got you covered. Or slathered, if you prefer.

A platter of ribs covered with Texas-style barbecue sauce, and a glass of extra sauce on the side.
We’ve spent years testing Texas Style barbecue sauces, and this tomato-based version is our favorite by far. We keep the spices mild, but the depth of flavor is no less intense.
Recipe
Several open glass bottles of barbecue sauces, including a vinegar barbecue sauce.
This vinegar barbecue sauce, made Carolina style, calls for cider vinegar, brown sugar, hot sauce, and has a distinct and acidic-in-a-good-way tang. Use it to douse your BBQ ribs, chicken, pulled pork, or anything you pull from the grill or smoker.
Recipe
A basting brush with chipotle maple barbecue sauce
This chipotle maple barbecue sauce is made by slowly simmering crushed tomatoes, maple syrup, brown sugar, chipotle peppers, white vinegar, Worcestershire sauce, garlic cloves, and dry mustard. It’s perfect on ribs, chicken, and pork.
Recipe
A person squeezing North Carolina barbecue sauce from a plastic bottle onto a sandwich.
This North Carolina barbecue sauce is made with a handful of ingredients, including apple cider vinegar, brown sugar, tomato paste, and cayenne. You’re gonna want to slather it on everything.
Recipe
A small pot with a small amount of spicy bourbon barbecue sauce left in it and a spoon resting inside.
This sauce couldn’t be any easier to make. It makes a bold statement with a hint of spicy, Southern-style, while a lick of bourbon gives it an edge.
Recipe
A spoonful of Alabama white bbq sauce above a jar of it.
This Alabama white bbq sauce is a tangy condiment made with mayonnaise, vinegar, apple juice, mustard, horseradish, lemon juice, and cayenne. It’s ideal for slathering on grilled chicken or pork, and is a phenomenal dip for French fries.
Recipe
Bobby Flay's barbecue sauce being poured from a pot into a white bowl.
I created this barbecue sauce to top the Wyoming burger, but it's also an ideal dipping sauce for French fries. After you've made this quick and easy sauce once, you'll want to slather it on grilled chicken, steak, pork chops…you might never go back to the bottled stuff.
Recipe
A small pot filled with North Carolina barbecue sauce with a brush resting inside.
Sauces vary by region, and this one is from the eastern reaches of North Carolina. It's a vinegar-based sauce, nicely acidic and seasoned with red flecks of ancho and cayenne chile powders.
Recipe
A glass jar filled with Korean barbecue sauce, with some greens beside it.
This Korean bbq sauce is easy and authentic, and if you're into canning, you can make a big batch and enjoy it all year long.
Recipe

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