13 Bachan's Japanese BBQ And Dipping Sauces, Ranked

You may have seen Bachan's Japanese Barbecue Sauce bottles at the store, but don't know what it is or how to use it. If so, no worries: I'm here to help you learn more about one of the fastest growing barbecue sauce brands in the U.S. To start, these are Asian barbecue sauces, meaning you're a long way from any Texas, Kansas City, and Memphis styles of sauce. In fact, if you go in expecting what you've always gotten from barbecue sauces, you'll likely end up disappointed.

Bachan's sauces are filled with traditionally brewed soy sauce, aged Japanese mirin (similar to sake), organic rice vinegar, green onion, garlic, and an array of other flavors. Consequently, these barbecue sauces are filled with umami – or the fifth basic taste beside sweet, salty, sour, and bitter.

With that in mind, I decided to set aside my familiar notions, and tasted 13 sauces from Bachan's for you. After sampling each variety, I ranked the various sauces based on flavor and ease of use. This list should help you decide if you want to try Bachan's sauces in your kitchen (and I think you will).

Some recommendations are based on firsthand impressions of promotional materials and products provided by the manufacturer.

When Bachan's says this is made for the garlic obsessed, it isn't kidding. Just opening the bottle, you get a sense of the garlic on your palate. Made with raw garlic, roasted garlic, and stone-ground sesame, this barbecue sauce is definitely made for garlic lovers. Of course, while I'm a fan of garlic, I'm not this big of a fan. Plus, while it's easy to find the raw garlic flavor, it's not as simple to taste the roasted garlic, keeping this from ranking higher.

There's a very apparent sweetness there, though it doesn't taste like the savory sweet you get when garlic is roasted. Additionally, the ground sesame gives this sauce a thick consistency, and resembled sauces I've been given with hibachi meals (which made things click for me). Taking that into consideration, the visual texture stopped bothering me, allowing my mind to wonder what I'd dip into this. Grilled shrimp, chicken, or possibly steak? Perhaps an egg roll or spring roll?

Unfortunately, the taste of garlic in this sauce was just too overwhelming for me. I don't mind an aftertaste, but I feel like this one would wear on for days. Since those are the kind of leftovers I'll pass on, this comes in last.

Much like the bottom-ranked barbecue sauce, this Bachan's option is very thick and easy to pour out. Made with soy sauce, ginger, and miso, it's akin to the brand's original barbecue sauce. But it doesn't compare in flavor as much as I would've liked, so it comes near the bottom.

There's a very thick miso profile that stands out at first taste — one that doesn't budge as it moves across the palate. If anything, it seems to grow stronger, almost crossing over into a blunt peanut taste that's unexpected (and seems out of place). While you can find the slight sweetness and savory aesthetic of the soy, it's fainter than I would've liked, and the ginger profile only comes through on the end.

If there had been a little less of the miso coming through, I feel like this sauce would have been much better balanced. But as it is, it just isn't one of my favorites from this brand, with only a single Bachan's sauce ranking lower.

In order to create a gluten free barbecue sauce, this one is made with tamari instead of soy sauce. Although both are considered soy sauces, tamari is fermented longer, is generally deeper in flavor, and doesn't contain the wheat of traditional soy sauce. Now, while I didn't really think I'd be able to taste much of a difference between this and the brand's standard original sauce, I was very surprised. In fact, I cannot say this barbecue sauce was bad; it only ranks this low because of the overall quality of the higher-ranked entries.

This sauce was saltier than expected. There was also a smokiness present that I didn't get from the other sauces, and a thinner taste than the original. But it also has a lovely Asian fragrance, along with a delightful sweetness that came through in taste. While it wasn't as rich in weight and flavor as the higher-ranked sauces, if I wasn't comparing it to the brand's other options, I'd probably have been very pleased. For those with a gluten intolerance, I feel they'll be satisfied.

This sauce is made with both white and red miso – and while I'd never before given much thought to what miso was, I know quite a bit now. Miso is a fermented soybean paste made with salt and koji (which is a fungus). It gets darker and changes color the longer it ferments, tasting different based on that and the ratio of ingredients used. White miso is generally sweet and mild in flavor, while red miso is more savory, and used with richer dishes (like meats and stews).

Now, when I tried this sauce on its own, it gave off a very salty and tart flavor that I didn't enjoy. But when I tasted it on chicken, that experience changed. The chicken — which I'd only brushed with oil for grilling — tasted savory and rich, and rather well seasoned. I noticed salt, pepper, and garlic flavors, as well as a touch of soy in the background. Thanks to umami, this sauce made very plain chicken taste delicious.

While I'll probably continue to season most foods the way I know best, this sauce would be pure magic to any who's unfamiliar with cooking and seasoning. Even though it ranks in the bottom half, this Bachan's sauce can act as a one stop spice rack if used alone on chicken or steak.

I found Bachan's sweet honey barbecue sauce to be thick and sweet, with an almost maple flavor. The taste of soy and ginger appeared in the background as a perfect accompaniment, cascading across my palate, and the texture was pleasingly clingy. While the taste profile seems quite robust, the flavor level remained on the subdued side. This allowed me to still taste the chicken, which got my mind turning.

Frankly, I could see becoming very adventurous with this sauce. I think it would be rather interesting added to a dessert of some sort, providing both a sweetness that's called for and a savory component that could take something to new heights (my grandmother's jam cake came to mind).

While this sauce would serve as an adequate base for something simple, it's ideally suited for experimenting with to reach higher levels of flavor in dishes that already provide a foundational profile of their own. I personally find those prospects exciting ... but I don't know that everyone will. Since this sauce seemingly needs to be added to something already flavorful to reach its true potential, I can't rank it higher.

This sweet and spicy dipping sauce is not as thick as the other dipping sauces, which I enjoyed (though I still found the texture to be kind of chewy). As far as the sweet and the heat this sauce highlights, they're incredibly subdued. The subtlety of these elements is only magnified more by the strong, yet savory, flavors of the soy and miso.

The red habanero is supposed to create a slow building heat, which I will admit it does. However, it never reached the height of heat that I wanted or expected from this sauce, which hurt its overall ranking.

Don't get me wrong: This dip isn't displeasing. It has a very manageable heat, which I think many people will really like. But I'd personally reach for the hot honey variety over this dipping sauce, which provides a lot of the same flavors with a higher heat level.

With this sauce, soy, sweetness, and green onion hit the tongue in a pleasant way right before the heat takes over — and it does take over. My entire tongue tingled with the heat of the habanero and jalapeño peppers. It only began to dissipate from the tongue about the time it hit the back of my throat, allowing all the palatable senses to experience it.

Now, as far as using this as something akin to a hot sauce, I feel like this would be extremely delightful. It brings in flavors of soy and ginger that are comforting before making you wince in slight, enjoyable pain. Then again, I would have to be in the mood for this in order to really enjoy it, so it ends up in the middle of this list. But when that mood strikes from this day forward, hands down, I'll now go to this sauce over Buffalo or Tabasco sauce.

This sauce had a very rich garlic and soy aroma that cannot be missed immediately upon opening it. When tasting it with chicken, I got the instantaneous sweet and savory that Bachan's was going for by using the roasted garlic. Unlike the other garlic sauce ranked towards the bottom, you can actually taste the difference between the roasted and raw garlic in this one, which helped its rank closer to the top half.

The rich sweetness this sauce carries makes it incredibly enjoyable and seems to balance out the garlic flavor. The soy adds an extra level of salty and savoriness, rounding out the profile. Right out of the gate, this sauce satisfies. It's simple enough to use as a dip, and was excellent on chicken wings. I imagine it would be a great if used as an all-around marinade for a variety of meats and vegetables. The one caveat is, of course, you need to really enjoy garlic.

You can smell the red jalapeño coming off this before it even hits your mouth. Once it's introduced to the palate, the jalapeño quickly says, "hello!" The heat of the jalapeño then ventured to the back of my throat, though it stayed low and dissipated quickly. However, before it disappeared completely, my tongue was invited to enjoy little pricks of spice across my tastebuds.

There's a sweetness and soy element that sit secondary to the pepper, helping keep this sauce balanced while enhancing the flavor of the pepper itself. Being able to actually taste the jalapeño — without paying dearly for it — was my favorite thing about this sauce, and ensured it came in fifth place.

While the name had me prepared for much more, it never went overboard spice-wise; rather, it was playful and fun. It brought the heat and some great tasting friends with it, and I think this has many more potential uses than the lower-ranked sauces and dips.

I was happy to see yuzu being used in this sauce as it's hard to find in the U.S. In fact, I haven't seen many products use yuzu fruit for flavoring in the past. While I anticipated a strong citrus aroma to immediately emanate from the bottle, I actually caught the fragrance of white pepper initially. It was intriguing and made me even more excited to dig in.

My first taste introduced an orange blossom flavor to the tongue, with a smoky and sweet aesthetic. The tartness from the yuzu then quickly came through, but wasn't overwhelming, and (as always) this sauce was accompanied by a salty aspect from soy to help it stay balanced.

This is a very light and refreshing sauce, which I think would be great in any warm weather dish. It would be an exceptional glaze to salmon and provide a crispy crystalized layer from the fruit. Additionally, I could see this flavoring a great cold rice or noodle bowl, so it takes the number four spot.

The sweet pineapple Japanese barbecue sauce from Bachan's gave off a salty soy aroma as soon as I opened the bottle, though it was oddly lacking any expected pineapple fragrance. And while the first thing I tasted was a smokiness, the sweet pineapple flavor quickly came breaking through, taking top billing at the show. Given that, this Bachan's barbecue sauce comes in third place.

Now, though pineapple commanded the lead, the flavor didn't go overboard, nor was it overly sweet. It even took a few moments to realize the slight sting of pineapple that I typically enjoy was missing. There was a little bit of heat that seemed to bloom on the back end but doesn't cling to the palate, and was only there for a moment. Simply put, even though this sauce is unassuming and subtle, there's something about it that I really enjoyed.

I kept going back bite after bite to find other flavors hidden within its depths. It was like repeatedly watching a great movie where each new experience added something I hadn't noticed before. This would make for a great sauce for meatballs served on a bed of rice, or when paired with chicken or fish. I can actually see it being something that would enhance a variety of vegetables as well. If looking for a sweet, fruity sauce, this would provide a lovely addition to most anything.

They say nothing beats the original, and in the case of Bachan's, that's almost true. This barbecue sauce is bursting with flavor — and a lot of it, hitting all of the taste profiles. It's easy to see how an entire barbecue sauce dynasty developed from this sauce alone, nearly earning it the top spot in these rankings.

The soy and ginger are first to greet the palate, right before the garlic appears. The mirin flavor follows, making a spicy announcement which teases the palate in a pleasing way. It only takes moments for the volume of the taste to become apparent, though it's so expertly balanced that nothing becomes too big or too small.

A sauce that's sweet, savory, and definitely umami, I can see how this would elevate anything from frozen chicken strips to burnt ends. Plus, the flavor profile lends itself to any recipe where you'd want a bit of flair — Asian or otherwise. Quite frankly, if this had been a bit spicier, it would have been number one on the list.

One of the first things about this sauce that won me over is that it's thicker than the others — perhaps because of the honey. Of course, the flavor is impeccable, too, taking the best of the original sauce and adding a savory, sweet heat. Bachan's is one hot honey brand I'll keep going back for, which is why this flavor comes in first place.

The heat from the red habanero flames across the tongue almost immediately upon tasting. But the honey flavor comes through the heat, too, offering a sweet balance. More than that, the honey is very bold and complex in this, particularly when compared to the sweetness offered by some other sauces.

My lips began burning from the inside out, but were also crusted with a sugary sweetness that was hard to resist (it hurt so good). After the heat and sweet subsided, a savoriness filled my mouth and cooled my temperament, making me want to experience everything all over again. This is a taste that has to be experienced to really be appreciated, but believe me: You're going to want to. On pizza, meats, vegetables, fries, even ice cream, this is a sweet, hot, Asian sensation for the palate.

I tried each of these sauces on chicken wings, which I marinated overnight, then grilled and glazed with more sauce before sampling. I also tasted each Bachan's sauce on its own, to ensure I really captured all of the flavors.

While these are ranked mainly on flavor, I also considered which ones I felt would make the most useful additions to any mainstream kitchen in the U.S. The sauces that rank near the bottom seem to have more of an Asian cuisine aesthetic, and would be much more difficult for the average home cook to utilize properly. Conversely, I believe the average person will find it far easier to use the higher-ranked sauces. And as we get to the top of the list, the sauces are so flavorful, they'd often be just as good on a large variety of foods — making them more valuable in the everyday kitchen.