Cookbook Showdown: The Best BBQ Sauce Recipes, Tested

What is BBQ Sauce?

Barbecue sauce’s history is arsenic agelong and analyzable arsenic the arguments implicit which benignant is best. It’s apt been astir since the 17th century, erstwhile the archetypal written references to it tin beryllium recovered from the American colonies. Like overmuch of American culture, it comes from a operation of Native American, African, and European ingredients and techniques.

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Cookbook Showdown: BBQ Sauce

Patti LaBelle’s “Bodacious Barbecue Sauce”

LaBelle grew up successful Philadelphia, and her barbecue condiment doesn’t self-identify with immoderate peculiar region, but its ketchup basal aligns it with much of a Kansas City style. It’s sweetened with brownish sugar, spiced up with blistery condiment and crushed cayenne, balanced with cider vinegar, mustard, garlic, and citrus juice, and finished with a dash of liquid smoke. It’s simmered connected the stove to springiness the flavors a accidental to meld.

Patti LaBelle’s BBQ Sauce Scores

Flavor: 3.5/5 — To beryllium honest, it tasted a batch similar fancy ketchup, which it benignant of is? It’s mostly ketchup with immoderate add-ins. The liquid fume brings a bully complexity and the citrus compression brightens it up. Texture: 3.5/5 — Very thick, akin successful texture to ketchup. It’s bully and smooth. As a Marinade: 2/5 — Was the chickenhearted tasty? Yes. But the condiment burned portion cooking due to the fact that of its thickness and precocious sweetener content. As a Condiment: 3/5 — Much amended texture for dipping than basting, but it truly does sensation similar fancy ketchup. I would similar dipping fries successful this much than chicken. Difficulty: Easy — Combine a batch of easy accessible ingredients successful a condiment cookware and simmer. It’s decidedly an approachable look for each accomplishment levels. Overall: 3/5 — For a fancy ketchup, this is amazing. For a barbecue sauce, it doesn’t person the versatility I expect.

Carla Hall’s Soul Food: Everyday and Celebration by Carla Hall with Genevieve Ko

If you’re a instrumentality of foodie TV, you’ve apt seen Carla Hall competing connected Top Chef seasons 5 and 8, co-hosting The Chew, oregon judging assorted competitions connected Food Network. She’s known for her delicious psyche nutrient and for elevating classical flavors with cleanable execution. This cookbook is jam-packed with fascinating spirit combinations, household feasts, and vegetable-forward dishes. She made an awesome showing successful some the Fried Chicken and Mac & Cheese Cookbook Showdowns. When it comes to barbecue, I figured she wouldn’t fto maine down.

Carla Hall’s “Barbecue Sauce”

Hall was calved and raised successful Nashville, wherever the barbecue is chiefly flavored with adust hitch and served with a spice-heavy herb and vinegar condiment for topping and dipping. The condiment look successful Carla Hall’s Soul Food combines a batch of flavors with a ketchup and pome cider vinegar base. It starts with sautéing onion, garlic, and serrano chile, past brings the ketchup and vinegar unneurotic with cumin, coriander, brownish sugar, molasses, and mustard. There’s a just magnitude of crossover successful ingredients from Patti LaBelle’s recipe, but I recovered the last results rather different. Hall’s condiment is bladed capable to marque a large marinade oregon glaze but inactive heavy capable to usage arsenic a condiment. And without being blended, it’s got spirit bombs of onion, garlic, and serrano chile.

Carla Hall’s BBQ Sauce Scores

Flavor: 5/5 — This condiment is truly complex. You announcement a antithetic enactment each clip you effort it. It’s truly balanced crossed sweet, savory, and spicy without being astatine each boring. Texture: 4/5 — It has small bits of onion, garlic, and chile, truthful it’s not smooth, but it inactive worked good connected some grilled and fried chicken. As a Marinade: 4/5 — This condiment besides burned a spot portion grilling, but successful a mode that felt due for barbecue. A batch of the spirit came done successful the chicken. As a Condiment: 5/5 — Exactly what you privation successful a dipping sauce. Strong flavor, thick, and tangy. Difficulty: Easy-Moderate — It’s not a technically challenging recipe, but does impact a fewer much steps and ingredients than others. Overall: 4.5/5 — This is simply a fantastic, versatile condiment that works good with a assortment of flavors.

The Official Guinness Cookbook: Over 70 Recipes for Cooking and Baking from Ireland’s Famous Brewery by Caroline Hennessy

Who doesn’t emotion cooking with beer? And erstwhile it comes to brew arsenic a concealed ingredient, Guinness stout often packs the astir flavorful punch. This cookbook shows conscionable however versatile the assorted Guinness brews tin be, utilizing them successful everything from stews to ribs to cocoa barroom and more. It’s written by Irish cook and nutrient blogger Caroline Hennessy. And I’ll beryllium honest: I mightiness person been a small skeptical astir Irish barbecue sauce. I’m sorry! I’m not trying to beryllium prejudiced here! The 2 conscionable don’t truly spell unneurotic successful my mind! But did I springiness it a changeable anyway? Of course.

Caroline Hennessy’s “Foreign Extra Stout Barbecue Sauce”

This look calls for Guinness’s Foreign Extra Stout, which Hennessy says brings a roasted barley spirit and tons of bitter extent to the sauce. It’s cooked connected the stove, starting with chopped bulb and garlic, past deglazed with the beer. It besides includes ketchup, maple syrup, balsamic vinegar, brownish sugar, paprika, cumin, and cayenne pepper. It hits the aforesaid notes arsenic the archetypal 2 sauces — sweet, savory, spicy — but successful immoderate somewhat antithetic ways. The odor of the condiment portion it was simmering was incredible. And erstwhile I stole a taste, I realized instantly that I had nary concern judging Irish barbecue condiment arsenic lesser than.

Caroline Hennessy’s BBQ Sauce Scores

Flavor: 4.5/5 — Complex, bitter and sweet, nutty and astir chocolatey from the richness of the Guinness. Texture: 5/5 — This 1 was smoothed retired with an immersion blender and had a cleanable mean thickness. As a Marinade: 3.5/5 — This condiment besides burned rather a spot portion grilling, and since it already had a batch of bitterness, adjacent much of that came out. But inactive precise tasty! As a Condiment: 5/5 — I would perfectly usage this arsenic a dipping condiment regularly. It’s a large texture and operation of flavors for a assortment of dishes. Difficulty: Easy-Moderate — Again, not a ace challenging recipe, but it does impact immoderate other ingredients and tools. Overall: 4.5/5 — While the archetypal 2 sauces were much accepted successful presumption of BBQ condiment flavors, the Guinness successful this 1 gave it a unsocial twist I truly enjoyed.

Watermelon and Red Birds: A Cookbook for Juneteenth and Black Celebrations by Nicole A. Taylor

Can you judge it took until 2022 for accepted publishing to merchandise a Juneteenth inspired cookbook? It’s a vacation that involves a batch of delicious food, typically barbecue and Texas-centric dishes that clasp a peculiar spot successful African American history. Nicole A. Taylor, a nutrient writer and podcast host, crafted the recipes with a operation of humanities traditions, her ain household celebrations, and modern flavors. Even better, it includes a usher to BIPOC-owned nutrient brands! Although I was intrigued by the rhubarb barbecue condiment look successful the book, I chose alternatively to see Taylor’s vinegar-based condiment with figs for this cookbook showdown.

Nicole A. Taylor’s “Fig Vinegar BBQ Sauce”

Taylor, who grew up successful Georgia, created this look arsenic a play connected Carolina vinegar barbecue sauce, but sweetened with caller figs alternatively than brownish sugar. It’s got the shortest database of ingredients of immoderate look I tried: pome cider vinegar, water, herb paste, figs, salt, pepper, and reddish capsicum flakes. It’s besides the easiest to prepare: spot each the ingredients successful a jar and shingle it up. I emotion a look I tin marque successful lone a mates minutes! As I would expect from a vinegar-based sauce, this is the thinnest of the sauces I made, making it ace casual for a marinade and a small trickier arsenic a condiment.

Nicole A. Taylor’s BBQ Sauce Scores

Flavor: 4/5 — If you’re into a vinegary spirit profile, this 1 does it right! Sweet and spicy and nicely sharp. Texture: 2.5/5 — I deliberation this is an unavoidable conflict for vinegar-based sauces, but it’s truly thin. And with the floating figs and capsicum flakes, it was a small hard to pour. As a Marinade: 5/5 — This condiment made for the astir tender, juicy, delicious grilled chicken. I ideate it would besides beryllium unthinkable with different meats. As a Condiment: 2/5 — I did bask the spirit of this condiment portion dipping fried chickenhearted bites, but it’s truthful bladed that it soaked close into the breading and made it soggy. Difficulty: Easy — It truly doesn’t get immoderate easier than putting a fewer ingredients successful a jar and shaking it up! Overall: 3.5/5 — A winning marinade recipe, but doesn’t bring the afloat versatility I expect from a BBQ sauce.

Korean BBQ: Master Your Grill successful Seven Sauces by Bill Kim with Chandra Ram

Award-winning cook and restaurateur Bill Kim recovered the cleanable intersection of the nutrient from his upbringing successful Korea and the American Midwest: barbecue. In this cookbook, Kim combines Korean and American flavors and techniques to marque delightfully delicious dishes. It’s a sauce-forward book, including tons of sauces utilized arsenic gathering blocks for different recipes successful the book. I wanted to marque them all, but alternatively stuck with the classical Korean barbecue condiment close up front.

Bill Kim’s “Korean BBQ Sauce”

Kim’s barbecue condiment comes from a operation of the American barbecue condiment helium encountered arsenic a navigator successful Atlanta and his mom’s recipe. It’s got immoderate classical ingredients — onion, garlic, brownish sweetener — on with immoderate different ingredients not recovered successful the different recipes I tested, including soy sauce, toasted sesame oil, caller ginger, Asian pear, and kiwi. It’s made by throwing everything successful a nutrient processor and moving it until smooth. I could archer instantly that this is simply a condiment you person to shingle up earlier using; the fruity bits emergence close to the apical erstwhile it sits still. But I don’t caput a small shingle if it comes with big, juicy flavor!

Bill Kim’s BBQ Sauce Scores

Flavor: 5/5 — Wow! The soy sauce, caller ginger, and fruitiness punches you close successful the look (in a large way). Texture: 2.5/5 — The pear and kiwi didn’t afloat interruption down, giving it a spot of a grainy mouthfeel, and the condiment separates aft lone a infinitesimal of sitting still. As a Marinade: 5/5 — Truly, profoundly delicious grilled chicken. The toasted sesame and ginger travel crossed truly nicely. As a Condiment: 3/5 — While the spirit is large for dipping, the texture is simply a small unusual. It didn’t halt maine from going backmost for more, though. Difficulty: Easy — Throw it successful a nutrient processor and you’re done! Overall: 4/5 — This is simply a truly tasty condiment and fantastic for marinating, but I deliberation the texture mightiness beryllium improved by simmering it.

Final Reflections

Honestly, I loved each azygous 1 of these sauces, and each of them has astatine slightest 1 astonishing application. Patti LaBelle’s fancy BBQ ketchup is cleanable for fries oregon connected a meatloaf. Nicole A. Taylor and Bill Kim’s sauces marque stunning marinades. Carla Hall and Caroline Hennessy’s sauces are the astir traditionally barbecue-y, but I could easy adhd them to a wide assortment of dishes. So however to prime a winner?

Best BBQ Sauce for Marinating: Bill Kim’s “Korean BBQ Sauce” from Korean BBQ

The grilled chickenhearted marinated successful Bill Kim’s barbecue condiment packed specified a punch of flavor. You truly got each the notes, including the soy sauce, caller ginger, toasted sesame oil, Asian pear, and kiwi. It’s a existent dainty for the tastebuds. It’s utilized crossed galore recipes successful the cookbook, truthful if it was truthful delicious successful a elemental grilled chickenhearted breast, I can’t hold to spot however the flavors popular successful his different dishes.

Best BBQ Sauce for Dipping: Caroline Hennessy’s “Foreign Extra Stout Barbecue Sauce” from The Official Guinness Cookbook

With a creaseless but heavy texture and rich, analyzable flavor, Caroline Hennessy’s BBQ condiment kept maine coming backmost for more. I would usage this arsenic a condiment connected meat, potatoes, vegetables, and sandwiches. I mightiness adjacent devour it plain. This is definitive impervious that Guinness makes a large concealed ingredient.

Best BBQ Sauce Overall: Carla Hall’s “Barbecue Sauce” from Carla Hall’s Soul Food

Do you privation a barbecue condiment that tin bash it all? A existent Swiss service weapon of a sauce? This is the 1 for you. It’s incredibly versatile portion besides having a strong, analyzable flavor. That’s a hard equilibrium to strike, and Carla Hall pulls it disconnected with ease. And though I was a spot skeptical of leaving the chunks of onion, garlic, and chile successful the condiment alternatively of blending it, it really added thing to the acquisition and made it basal retired from store bought BBQ sauces. Carla Hall’s Soul Food is simply a cookbook that has impressed maine with each look I’ve tried truthful far.