10 best BBQ sauces to fire up your summertime cookouts

Best: Overall

Rating: 9.5/10

Hello, flavour! Even after tasting our way through dozens of sauces, this one really shone. Imported from the holy land of ‘cue – the United States – it has all that big flavour you want in a barbecue sauce, packing lots of zing to balance out the sweetness, and with rich spicing from cinnamon and cumin. With so much flavour, it can stand up to big cuts of meat and lots of charcoal smoke, even when used sparingly. In other words, this is a sauce that won’t shrink into the background. No wonder it’s such a favourite in the US, where the real pitmaster Stubb, whose face adorns the bottle, perfected both his barbecuing craft and this belter of a condiment.

Best: For ribs

Rating: 9/10

You can keep your chicken wings – we loved this artisan barbecue sauce so much that we’d happily eat it straight from the jar. It comes down to the nuanced, not-too-sweet flavour; a blend of warm spice from cloves, cumin, cardamom and cinnamon, and a delicate streak of Mexican honey. Tamarind paste lends it tang, while smoked chipotle brings a dark, rich note. While some barbecue sauces can taste artificial, this reminds us of a homemade one – in a really good way – and it’s an absolute stunner with ribs.

Best: Jerk-style sauce

Rating: 8/10

You may have seen this sauce on a few supermarket shelves, but don’t take its ubiquity to equal mediocrity. It’s seriously tasty. Although it won’t produce proper jerked meats on its own – for that, you’ll technically need to cook over a smoky pit fire, Jamaican-style – its full-on flavour gives the vibe. Loads of spice and bold fruity sweetness make it tempting to reach for again and again, especially as a condiment for pouring over sausages, chicken or burgers. It comes in at a great price point too.

Best: For gas cooking

Rating: 7.5/10

Founded in Suffolk in the 1980s, Keejays specialises in sauces of all kinds, so they know what they’re doing. And this, their smoky barbecue sauce, provides a rich, classic flavour profile that is easy to love. Because it’s infused with a smoke flavouring, it’s a good pick for gas barbecues, simulating that enticing charcoal character, without the need to fire up any coals. For the same reason, it’s a solid pick for rainy days when the British weather forces your planned barbecue into the kitchen.

Best: Hot and spicy sauce

Rating: 8.5/10

Somewhere between a chilli condiment, a wet spice rub and a barbecue sauce, this Louisiana-inspired concoction from boutiquey Chilli No 5 real is packed with flavour and heat. This is a sauce for anyone who loves a fiery profile in their grills. The character comes from a raft of yummy ingredients: bourbon, bacon flavouring, sweet potato, black garlic, honey and smoked paprika. Chilli No 5’s “thing” is that it also packs superfoods into each of its sauces, so there are traces of Peruvian maca, Korean ginseng and guarana here. Given the premium price point, we’d save it for a finishing glaze or dipping sauce for chicken, pork or prawns.

Best: For pork

Rating: 9/10

Since it’s a brand that makes grills and smokers, Traeger should know what a good barbecue sauce tastes like. And this, its classic ’Que sauce, doesn’t disappoint; it was one of our absolute favourites. The ultra-pourable consistency means that it glazes like a dream onto skewers, ribs and burgers – and stays there. With its tomato and Worcestershire sauce-based profile (and a gentle hit of apricot), we like it best with pulled pork, but it really will go with almost anything.

Best: Asian-inspired sauce

Rating: 8.5/10

This isn’t, strictly speaking, the most traditional Korean barbecue sauce that ever was. But put that fact to one side until you taste it because it’s delicious. With bountiful, super-fresh notes of ginger backed by soy, pear and mirin rice wine, it’s a light, zingy alternative if you’ve had your fill of heavy American-style pours. It’s one of the most versatile sauces on this list, too, being as great for marinating barbecued prawns as it is for dipping dumplings or stirring into a stir-fry – great addition to your kitchen cupboard.

Best: Fruity sauce

Rating: 8/10

Many fruity barbecue sauces are packed full of nasties, whether that’s excessive amounts of sugar or fake flavourings. But this delicious sauce is instead packed with real fruit: it’s a whole 30 per cent cherries. You can see it in the ruby hue, and you can really taste it – especially when you dollop the sauce onto beef ribs, brisket or burgers. It’s thick, luxuriously smooth, and the wee dash of bourbon gives it a subtle grown-up taste. The Great Taste Awards gave it a star in 2020, and it’s got a (rather sticky) thumbs up from us too.

Best: Non-traditional savoury sauce

Rating: 8.5/10

This technically isn’t a barbecue sauce; it’s an Asian-inspired ketchup. But having smothered it on our chicken and pork before grilling, we’re going to go out on a limb and say that it makes an excellent addition to any barbecue spread, especially if you’re into Asian flavours. It’s made with fermented black beans, shiitake mushrooms and seaweed, plus Korean gochugaru and tangy tamarind. You’ll get tonnes of umami as well as a good kick of heat. Yum, yum.

Best: Non-traditional hot sauce

Rating: 8/10

Much like the ketchup above, we’re slightly cheating by including this sauce on our list. But we’ve rubbed it over chicken thighs before grilling, and we can tell you that, barbecue sauce technicalities aside, it makes a superb star for your ‘cues indeed. Because it’s made with chipotle chillies, it already has a smoky-sweet character to it but also a nice tang from molasses, vinegar and agave syrup. Most of all, though, it’s got plenty of red chilli fruitiness, which is great if you’re looking for a sauce that has a proper lick of heat.