We Tried 17 Sweet Baby Ray's Sauces, And This One Was The Absolute Best

We may receive a commission on purchases made from links.

Let's set things straight first: We're not here to disparage Sweet Baby Ray's sauce lineup. Many consider it a staple in the kitchen pantry and we gave it high marks when ranking the best barbecue sauces the grocery store has to offer, too. But in a battle between 17 Sweet Baby Ray's flavors, some had to be dropped to the bottom of the list while others rose to the top. And at the top of our list stands a tried and true champion: Sweet Baby Ray's Original Barbecue Sauce, the sauce that started it all. To us, this sauce has all the makings of a star, and we're not alone in thinking so.

Take a look at the back of your Sweet Baby Ray's Original bottle and you'll see some ingredients typical in barbecue sauces, like distilled vinegar and tomato paste. You'll also see molasses, pineapple juice concentrate, sugar, tamarind, salt, mustard flour, celery seed, and a whole lot of spices. In just one list, you can already see that the Original flavor strikes that perfect balance between sweet, salty, tangy, and savory that a good barbecue sauce needs. The texture is thick and luxurious, making it great for dipping, spreading on sandwiches, and of course, marinating your barbecue meats. At its price point, it's also dang affordable, so you're winning all the way down.

The biggest issue with this ranking is honestly the fact that many of Sweet Baby Ray's sauces aren't geared toward barbecue. The Honey Mustard Dipping Sauce, for example, is tasty in its own right, but just doesn't stand up to the bright pops of flavor you get from a vinegary marinade or sauce. The wing sauces also suit an entirely different purpose, though we loved the well-balanced flavor profile of the Mild Buffalo Wing Sauce. Sweet Baby Ray's just tends to nail the ratio of sweet, salty, savory, and tangy in almost every sauce blend it makes, but none does it better than the Original.

It also stands out in versatility. Some of these sauces suit one purpose really well, but fall flat in other areas, like the mustard-based dressings and sauces that suit pork or poultry best. The Original sauce, on the other hand, makes for a delectable marinade regardless of what meat (or plant-based ingredient) you're cooking up. Its versatility reflects in its shopper stats, too. A little known fact about Sweet Baby Ray's is that the Original and Sweet n' Spicy are the brand's top selling sauces, and honestly, we're on board. Grab yourself a bottle next time you're at the store and maybe you will be, too.