It’s always BBQ sauce season. And right now is a great chance to try new BBQ sauces, as families gather around tailgates across the nation for fall cookouts. While where you live used to dictate the BBQ sauce, today you can mix and match BBQ sauces from all over — thanks to the internet providing us with every BBQ sauce recipe imaginable.
But you don’t need every BBQ sauce at your family’s fall cookout. You only need a few dialed and delicious sauces that are sure to get your crew hyped. To that end, we’ve decided to call out and cook six iconic BBQ sauces found online. This is really good timing too, as I’ve just come back from judging the famed Jack Daniel’s World Championship Invitational Barbecue competition where I indeed judged BBQ sauces. I’m primed!
Below, I’m making sauces that span everything from classic Dr. Pepper-infused Texas barbecue to cheffed-up Korean sauce to Alabama white and South Carolina yellow. I’m even throwing in my own spicy apple bourbon BBQ sauce recipe. The key thing that you should take away from all of this is that while ketchup (or tomato) based sauces are popular, they’re not the be-all and end-all of BBQ sauce. There are a ton of unique sauces out there and they all offer something great for your next grill with the fam.
Let’s dive in!
- Wow Your Friends And Family With One Of These Awesome Hot Sauce Recipes
- We Tested Taylor Swift’s Viral Sugar Cookies Against The Internet’s Other Top Recipes
- Feed Your Whole Crew With This East-Asian Inspired Slow-Roasted Pulled Pork Recipe
- We Tested The Internet’s Best Burger Patty Recipes To Find The Perfect Date Night Burger
- Say A Final Goodbye To Summer The Boozy Way, With This Bourbon Peach Cobbler
Meat Church Dr. Pepper BBQ Sauce
Meat Church’s Dr. Pepper BBQ Sauce is a Texas-inspired tangy sweet sauce. It’s dark and ketchup-heavy, sure. But it’s also classically smooth, sweet, tangy, and just spicy enough to grab your attention.
Ingredients:
- 12 oz. Dr. Pepper
- 2 cups ketchup
- 1 cup brown sugar
- 1 tbsp. Worcestershire sauce
- 1 tbsp. Meat Church Holy Cow Seasoning (or any chili and garlic salt BBQ spice rub)
- 1 tbsp. coarse black pepper
- 1 tsp. crushed red pepper
A quick note on ingredients. If you can find the real-deal Texas Dr. Pepper made with pure cane sugar instead of high fructose corn syrup, use that. It’ll make for a slightly deeper flavor. That said, not using it won’t make or break this recipe.
What You’ll Need:
- Small pot
- Whisk
- Jar (for storage)
Method:
- Add all ingredients to a small pot and bring to a slow simmer while whisking together.
- Allow to simmer for 20-25 minutes or until the sauce is thick and sticky but still thin enough to spread with a brush.
- Cool and store in a jar.
Bottom Line on the Meat Chruch Dr. Pepper BBQ Sauce:
This is classic BBQ sauce from top to bottom. It’s wonderfully balanced between sweet, tangy, umami, and spicy. It’s thick and lush. It tastes exactly how you want a quintessential tomato-based BBQ sauce to taste with real depth.
Best Uses:
- Chicken (whole, quarters, wings)
- Pork (ribs, chops, pulled)
- Beef ribs
- Bison ribs
South Carolina Mustard BBQ Sauce
This is an iconic South Carolina Mustard BBQ sauce from the famed Lillie’s of Charleston via Southern Living. While this BBQ sauce has its fans and detractors, one thing you cannot deny is that it’s bold, unique, and tangy AF.
Ingredients:
- 2 cups yellow mustard
- 0.5 cups light brown sugar
- 0.5 cups honey
- 0.5 cups apple cider vinegar
- Pinch of cayenne pepper
- Black pepper (to taste)
The best part of this ingredient list is that it’s super easy to source and cheap. Yellow mustard is only a couple of bucks, and you’ll be left with a lot of great sauce.
What You’ll Need:
- Small pot
- Whisk
- Jar (for storage)
Method:
- Whisk ingredients together in a small pot over medium heat.
- Bring to a very low simmer and let just simmer for 10 minutes, stirring often.
- Remove from heat, cool, and store in a jar.
Bottom Line on the South Carolina Mustard BBQ Sauce:
I’m a big defender of South Carolina Mustard BBQ sauce. It’s a nice change from the overly sweet and tomato ketchup sauces that are on, like, everything else constantly (after judging a BBQ competition, I can assure you that cooks fall back on classic ketchup-based sauces too much).
The best part of this sauce is that it’s boldly mustard-forward while still offering that tange and sweetness from a classic BBQ sauce. There’s complexity here that sings on the palate while waking it up. It’s exciting.
Best Uses:
- Chicken (all)
- Pork (all)
- Duck (all)
- Whitefish (halibut, cod, sea bass)
- Shrimp/Prawns/Crawfish
- Eggs (smoke hard, deviled)
Big Bob Gibson’s Alabama White BBQ Sauce
Big Bob Gibson’s Alabama White BBQ Sauce is legendary. Alabama White BBQ Sauce is also a huge outlier in the BBQ sauce world. It’s way more tartar sauce-adjacent than anything else on the list. Moreover, the use of mayo means that when basting with this sauce, you’re adding a lot of wonderful fats to the meat — a big advantage this sauce has over tomato-based ones.
Ingredients:
- 1.5 cups mayonnaise
- 0.5 cups white vinegar
- 0.25 cups apple juice
- 2 tsp. horseradish
- 2 tsp. coarse ground black pepper
- 1 tsp. kosher salt
- 1 tsp. garlic powder
- 1 tsp. Worcestershire sauce
- 1 tsp. dry mustard
- 0.5 tsp. cayenne
If you’re making this with mayonnaise, you kind of have to use Duke’s. It’s the best mayo, for one, but it’s also just the right flavor for any Alabama White.
What You’ll Need:
- Mixing bowl
- Whisk
Method:
- Combine all ingredients in a bowl and whisk until fully integrated.
- Refrigerate for at least an hour before using the BBQ sauce.
Bottom Line on the Big Bob Gibson’s Alabama White BBQ Sauce:
This is probably my favorite sauce on the list. It’s very tangy, fatty, and full of goodness. It’s super lush and very tartar reminiscent, which hits my nostalgia receptors as a person who grew up in the Pacific Northwest and has very strong opinions about good tartar sauce.
Best Uses:
- Chicken (all)
- Turkey (all)
- Pork (loin, tenderloin, chops, cheeks, ham)
- Salmon
- Cod
- Corn
- Slaw
TikTok Kansas City BBQ Sauce
There are a gazillion ways to go BBQ sauce-wise on TikTok. So I decided to dial it into a single category: Kansas City. Kansas City BBQ sauce is made for ribs and is likely the sauce you’ll know best. It’s ketchup/tomato-based and has a zingy sweet vibe.
Ingredients:
- 1 14-oz. can of crushed tomatoes
- 1 cup ketchup
- 1 cup light brown sugar
- 0.5 cup molasses
- 0.5 cup apple cider vinegar
- 2 tbsp. paprika
- 2 tsp. black pepper course grind
- 2 tsp. chili powder
- 1 tsp. garlic powder
- 1 tsp. mustard powder
- 1 tsp. Kosher salt
What You’ll Need:
- Small pot
- Whisk
- Jar (for storage)
Method:
- Add all ingredients to a small pot and whisk while on medium heat.
- Once the ingredients are completely integrated, allow the sauce to simmer over very low for at least 20 minutes, stirring occasionally.
- Once dark and thick, the sauce is done. Cool, pour into a jar, and store in the fridge.
Bottom Line on the TikTok Kansas City BBQ Sauce:
Yeah, this is Kansas City BBQ sauce. It’s very sweet, tangy, and has a slight chili spice. Is it worth making on your own though? Sure. You can adjust the spiciness and sweetness to your palate at home whereas a lot of store-bought versions will be sickly sweet.
Best Uses:
- Pork (ribs, pulled, loin, chops)
- Beef (ribs, pulled, burger patties)
- Bison (ribs, pulled, burger patties)
- Chicken (quarters, wings)
- Turkey (legs, wings, necks)
- Lamb (chopped)
Korean BBQ Sauce
This is an amalgam of Roy Choi’s Kogi BBQ Sauce (that you can buy on store shelves nationwide) and classic Korean BBQ Sauce recipes that you find all over the internet.
Ingredients:
- 1 cup soy sauce
- 0.5 cup water
- 0.5 cup apple juice
- 2 cloves crushed garlic
- 1 inch grated ginger
- 0.5 cup pureed apple
- 0.25 cups gochujang
- 0.25 cups distilled white vinegar
- 0.25 cups maple syrup
- 0.25 cups molasses
- 1 tbsp. sesame oil
- 1 tsp. orange juice
- 1 tsp. lime juice
- 1 tsp. fish sauce
What You’ll Need:
- Small pot
- Whisk
- Jar (for storage)
Method:
- Add the ginger, garlic, and apple puree to the small pot and hit with high heat. Once fragrant (no more than a minute), add the rest of the ingredients and lower the heat to medium.
- Simmer the sauce for at least 15 minutes — stirring occasionally — until it starts to thicken.
- Cool and store in a jar in the fridge.
Bottom Line on the Korean BBQ Sauce:
This is the saltiest sauce on the list by a mile. It’s balanced with great spicy notes from the ginger and gochujang with a hint of funk and sesame. It’s very complex and has just the right amount of sweetness. Though, I might add a bit more molasses to my next batch (maybe double it).
Best Uses:
- Pork (all)
- Beef (ribs, chuck, brisket)
- Bison (ribs, brisket)
- Chicken (all)
- Turkey (all)
- Duck (all)
- Goose (all)
- Salmon
- Goat (ribs)
Zach’s Spicy Apple Bourbon BBQ Sauce
This is a non-tomato-based BBQ sauce. It’s a classic dark brown sauce that’s apple and onion-based (the caramelized onion helps it pop) that’s accented with bourbon, plenty of sweetness, and a fresh chili spiciness. It takes a little longer to cook than some of the others but is 100% worth the little bit of extra effort.
Ingredients:
- 1 apple (peeled and grated)
- Half of yellow onion (peeled and grated)
- 1 jalapeno (de-seeded and finely diced) — use a habanero if you want hotter heat
- 1 cup apple cider (freshly pressed)
- 1 cup bourbon
- 0.5 cups molasses
- 0.5 cups apple cider vinegar
- 0.5 cups brown sugar
- 1 tbsp. garlic powder
- 1 tbsp. smoked paprika
- 1 tsp. turmeric
- 1 tsp. black pepper
- 1 tsp. beef stock concentrate
- Pinch of cinnamon
- Pinch of cayenne
- 1 tsp. neutral oil
What You’ll Need:
- Medium pot
- Small pot
- Box grater
- Peeler
- Whisk
- Fine mesh strainer
- Jar (for storage)
Method:
- Peel and grate the apple and onion. Warm the oil in a medium pot and add the apple and onion. Cook until the onion starts to brown, about 10 to 15 minutes.
- Add the bourbon, apple cider, vinegar, and molasses to the pot and stir until fully integrated.
- Add the rest of the ingredients and bring to a slow simmer. Allow to simmer for 20 minutes.
- Strain the sauce through a sine mesh strainer into another small pot. Use a wooden spoon to make sure to push all the liquid through.
- Return the small pot to the heat and allow to simmer another 15 minutes or so until the sauce is reduced by half and nicely thickened.
- Cool, pour into a jar, and store in the fridge.
Bottom Line on the Zach’s Spicy Apple Bourbon BBQ Sauce:
This is a sticky, sweet, spicy, and tangy sauce that sticks with you. It’ll force you to get licking those fingers! The onion creates a meaty/umami base to the sweet apple and spicy bourbon with a good sense of classic BBQ sauce notes. It’s everything you want in a non-tomato-based BBQ sauce.
Best Uses:
Pork (all)
Chicken (all)
Turkey (all)
Duck (all)
Goose (all)
Lamb (ribs, leg)
Salmon
Scallops
Final Thoughts on the BBQ Sauces:
As you can tell, I didn’t rank these BBQ sauces. They’re just so different and each provides something too unique to rank them against each other.
I can tell you that I liked them all. But my favorites are the Alabama White (you can’t take the Pacific Northwest out of the boy and all that jazz), the Dr. Pepper Texas BBQ Sauce (it’s just quintessential), and my own (try it over a slow-smoked pork loin, trust me). I’m also a really big fan of the South Carolina mustard sauce but also recognize that it’s the more controversial of the list given its undeniable boldness. The Kansas City and Korean BBQ sauce are the two I can take or leave but both serve a purpose when needed. And they’re still good, don’t get me wrong.
My advice is to find the right BBQ sauce for the right moment (and right dish!) this fall and then wow your family at your next backyard cookout or tailgate party.
