The Best Barbecue Sauce for Ribs Is…
The one you think is best. But we'll tell you which one that should be.
The best barbecue sauce for ribs is the sauce you think is best. Whether it's store-bought, homemade, or somewhere in between, don't waste your time or ruin your meat with something you don't actually like. That said, we'd like to offer some pointers for your taste experience — and a firm opinion at the end. The rest is up to you.
How Sauce Taste Actually Works
Taste experts will tell you that you don't recognize every ingredient in a sauce at the same moment. Some things register in your brain quickly; others take a little more time. As near as we can tell, sauces with sweet, sour, and spicy elements all in them will be recognized in this order: first you taste the sweet part (sugars, syrups), then the sour part shows up (Worcestershire, citrus, vinegar), and lastly the spicy heat kicks in (garlic, mustard, peppers).
While some sauces skip one of these elements, most contain all three — the only difference being what ingredient is chosen for each element and how strong the effect is. You end up with a million varieties of sweet barbecue sauce, sour barbecue sauce, and spicy barbecue sauce, with plenty embracing more than one.
Tastes Over the Land — Regional BBQ Sauce Styles
Just as there are different definitions of barbecue across America, there are different definitions of barbecue sauce. In the Carolinas alone, the base changes depending on where you stand. One county uses vinegar. The next uses mustard. The next uses tomato. Some make it spicy; some make it sweet. All of this in just two states.
Kansas City and Texas both favor tomato-based sauces — but Kansas City goes thick and sweet, while Texas goes thinner and spicier. Kentucky is home to a black dip made of Worcestershire sauce and vinegar. Alabama's sauce is white, made of vinegar with mayonnaise. Several factors maintain these "sauce zones": availability of local ingredients, the predominant type of barbecue meat, and the cultural weight of ancestral recipes brought over by immigrants.
If you enjoy discovery, find out about the different regional sauces and try making a few. We have seven regional recipes ready for you here.
So What Does Piggy Ribs Actually Recommend?
Our pick
We maintain that the pig is the quintessential Southern barbecue creature, and that ribs offer more enjoyment in preparation and consumption than any other part. Though we occasionally go against our better judgment and try vinegar-based or mustard-based sauces, we always come back to the same assertion: the best barbecue sauce for ribs is the thick, sweet, smoky, slightly spicy sauce that Kansas City is known for. It covers all three bases — sweet, sour, and spicy — and it leans toward sweet, which is the natural tendency of well-done ribs to begin with. The sauce completes what the rub and smoke started.
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