The Worst BBQ Sauce On Shelves Comes From A Grocery Giant

Billed as one of the worst foods you can eat at a backyard barbecue due to its high salt and sugar content, we still adore a generous slathering of barbecue sauce on chicken wings and ribs. This trusty sauce is still the ultimate champ when it comes to rescuing a dry steak or a burnt brisket, and it has a certain vibe that other condiments simply don't bring to the table, regardless of its nutritional issues. The challenge? Finding a brand that strikes the perfect balance of flavor and texture. While many grocery stores carry their own line of barbecue sauces that are both tasty and inexpensive, some simply don't cut the mustard when it comes to their mouthfeel and tanginess. Case in point? Great Value original barbecue sauce from grocery giant Walmart. 

The loser in our taste test of 12 store-bought barbecue sauces for chicken, we singled it out for its gloopy and unappetizing texture. We reckon that the best barbecue sauce should be thick enough to cling to a chicken drumstick but not so viscous that it has a jelly-like feel. Unfortunately, Great Value barbecue sauce has a gelatinous consistency, which means it isn't useful for drizzling straight from the bottle.

Aside from its gooey viscosity, the flavor of Walmart's barbecue sauce was also lacking. Instead of it having a complex taste that straddled both realms of sweet and tangy, it was intensely smoky and had an artificial note to it. The ingredients list mentions natural smoke flavor, which is a key feature of many barbecue sauces. However, in this case it was too powerful and overwhelming for our taste buds to discern the presence of the other ingredients. The only positive that Great Value has going for it is its affordable cost. Priced at $1.22 a bottle, it's over $2 cheaper than the winner in our taste test, Kinder's Gold BBQ sauce, which costs $3.98. As it has a squeeze tip, Kinder's bottle of sauce is far easier to drizzle, and has a slightly thinner consistency and a well-balanced but subtle flavor. 

Another store-bought barbecue sauce you won't see us adding to our cart is Stubb's Smokey Mesquite Bar-B-Q Sauce. Packed with salt and sugar, this sauce also contains guar gum, which can cause stomach discomfort if consumed in large amounts. For a cheaper alternative that avoids the grocery store altogether, you could make your own barbecue sauce with tomato paste, Worcestershire sauce, and vinegar (a dash of smoked paprika lends it a smoky aroma and depth).