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Alongside ketchup and mustard, barbecue sauce wears the crown as summer’s saucy royalty -- and unlike its more basic cousins, barbecue sauce knows how to party. Whether you’re slathering it on grilled ribs, dunking air fryer wings or just “accidentally” licking it off your fingers, there’s really no wrong way to enjoy it.
I hauled in 15 bottles of barbecue sauce to see which ones deserve a slot in your fridge door this season. David Watsky/CNET
The only hard part? Choosing one. The sauce aisle is a smoky, spicy jungle filled with bold claims, regional pride and enough award-winning bottles to fill a trophy case. The best barbecue sauces hit that magical trifecta of sweet, tangy and smoky -- or sometimes go rogue with bold heat or molasses-laced sweetness. Finding your go-to bottle may take some taste-testing, but hey, what a delicious problem to have.
To find the best BBQ sauces available, I gathered more than 15 bottles of sauce and some hungry friends to help taste. It took a lot of napkins to find the best barbecue sauce in 2025. Here they are.
Read more: Best Meal Kits of 2025
A quick note: Up north, sweeter varieties dominate the sauce market, but my taste testers and I all enjoy vinegar-based sauces too, so we included several Carolina barbecue sauces (among other styles, like a Japanese barbecue sauce for umami, or brown-sugar-based recipes for that iconic sweet flavor) to make this list as inclusive and unbiased as possible.
Best BBQ sauces for 2025
Full Moon Photo Gallery 1/1 Full Moon Best overall barbecue sauce Full Moon Bar-B-Que sauce Full Moon is a regional chain of barbecue restaurants in Alabama and Mississippi that's been in operation since 1986. You likely won't find Full Moon's incredible sauce on store shelves, but it can be purchased online for $7.49 a bottle. Thank goodness for that, because this classic-style sauce has a near-perfect balance of sweetness, smokiness, tang and spice. ... Show more Get it now $25 at Amazon $7 at Full Moon
Tamarind Heads Photo Gallery 1/1 Tamarind Heads Best spicy BBQ sauce Tamarind Heads BBQ sauce If you like your sauce with warm spice and fiery heat, Tamarind Heads' sauce will scratch both itches -- and then some. This sweet and spicy sauce is made from a tamarind base with no tomato or vinegar. The recipe doesn't slouch on chili and even the "medium" will have you loosening your collar after a few bites. Despite its higher Scoville score, the tamarind spice and chili heat are balanced nicely with some sweetness from brown sugar and toasted notes from sesame. ... Show more Get it now $13 at TikTok Shop $13 at Tamarind Heads
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