The Best Grocery Brand BBQ Sauce Is Next-Level Smoky And Tangy

In the search for a store-bought BBQ sauce that will do your recipes justice, two of the biggest pitfalls are excessive sweetness and a dearth of smoky flavor. So many brands make up for a lack of complexity by piling on the sugar or honey, leaving your meaty entrees tasting more like dessert. But when we tried and ranked grocery brand BBQ sauces, we found one shining product that shakes up the status quo: Private Selection Texas Smokehouse BBQ Sauce, which won first place for its potent dose of smoky, tangy, savory, and sweet goodness.

Private Selection is one of Kroger's in-store labels, and its Texas Smokehouse sauce costs $4.49 per bottle, but we bet it could go head-to-head with any expensive craft condiment. After all, it beat seventeen other store-brand products to win our taste test. The most unique aspect of this not-too-sweet sauce are its notes of brisket burnt ends, which our tester definitely picked up on. It also lives up to its Texas Smokehouse moniker with prevalent smoky notes, rounded out by a balance of tanginess and spice. There's nothing better for your best rib recipes or pit-cooked beef than a sauce that already has meaty, smoky flavor built right into it.

Our taste tester noted that Private Selection Texas Smokehouse had the richest flavor of all our sampled sauces, which put it ahead of products that were plenty delicious, but not as complex. It turns out that other Kroger shoppers can't get enough of this outstanding sauce, either.

Reviewers on Kroger's website gush about the Private Selection Texas Smokehouse BBQ Sauce, with one shopper saying it's the only BBQ sauce they'll use. "I tasted a bit out [of] the bottle and immediately made BBQ chicken that very night!!!" they wrote. This sauce would indeed be amazing on a traditional or oven-baked BBQ chicken recipe, adding smoky complexity and a bold punch to the mild poultry. Two more Kroger customers also declared this sauce to be the best around, with one saying it's perfect for pulled pork.

Other reviewers agree with our taste test, saying this sauce is full of smoked meat flavor that makes it great for brisket, burnt ends, and other cookout classics. It's especially useful if you don't feel like breaking out the grill or smoker, but still want a meal with a hint of that campfire aroma.

The ingredient list of this Texas Smokehouse BBQ Sauce reveals why it's homemade-tasting and free of cloying, artificial flavors. The first ingredient is tomato puree, and it's sweetened with real brown and white sugars plus molasses rather than corn syrup. White vinegar and tamarind concentrate give it the proper tang, and a mix of spices like garlic and onion powder, black pepper, and cayenne enliven the taste. It even contains real beef bone broth, creating those savory brisket notes. You really can't go wrong using this on your kebabs, sandwiches, and even barbecue pork-stuffed cornbread.