What is delicious southern barbecue without some sauce? Well, it’s incomplete. There are all kinds of barbecue sauces all over the country and it plays an important part in each step of the barbecue. For extra saucy smoked meat, you marinade the meat before cooking, paint the meat while cooking, and then put even more barbecue sauce on the meat while you’re eating it – there’s no such thing as too much if you enjoy it.
Sweet, spicy, tangy, or all of the above, the best barbecue sauces enhance the taste of the smoked meat. Texas is well-known for its barbecue and other southern states like Kansas, Tennessee, and both of the Carolinas have their own unique styles in the way they prepare their smoked meat and the sauces to pair with it. You can try every style of southern barbecue and taste the different subtleties in each barbecue sauce recipe.
There are some people with delicious barbecue sauce recipes with a special secret ingredient that only they know, while others are kind enough to share some, if not all, of their recipe secrets. Try and make your own barbecue sauce from scratch and taste the difference with some of these “world’s best” BBQ sauces recipes:
Dallas BBQ Sauce
This Dallas-inspired sauce combines a touch of sweetness with a touch of heat to its barbecue flavors. When you grab all the ingredients, you’ll understand why it’s so good!
Kansas BBQ Sauce
Kansas barbecue is known for its burnt tips and its tomato-based, sweet, spicy and tangy barbecue sauce that goes with it. Try your hand at this Kansas barbecue sauce recipe when you prepare your own smoked meat with burnt ends.
Memphis BBQ Sauce
Memphis barbecue comes in two ways: dry or wet. Dry barbecue is prepared with a spice rub before cooking and eaten without sauce. Wet barbecue requires covering the meat with sauce before, during and after. Barbecue sauce from Memphis is known for its thin consistency and its tomato and vinegar base mixed with different kinds of spices. Use this recipe for some wet style Memphis barbecue!
Must-Have North Carolina BBQ Sauce
Both Carolinas have their own distinct styles when it comes to barbecue and even more that vary by region. Eastern North Carolina barbecue sauce is vinegar based mixed with spices, which is usually just cayenne pepper. Western North Carolina barbecue sauce also uses vinegar mixed with different amounts of tomato – just like this one made from this recipe!
(South) Carolina Mustard BBQ Sauce
South Carolina, unlike its northern counterpart, has three distinct regions with their own style of barbecuing. Western South Carolina barbecue sauce is similar to eastern North Carolina barbecue sauce with a peppery tomato-base. The coastal, Pee Dee region uses a spicy, watery, vinegar-and-pepper flavored sauce and usually barbecue the whole hog. Carolina Gold BBQ sauce fares from the Midlands and uses yellow mustard, vinegar, brown sugar, and other spices. Have some Carolina Gold for yourself with this sweet and tangy recipe.
Make this grilling season the best one yet with your very own homemade barbecue sauce!
