Good Stuff Simple Swaps: Cleaner Ingredient BBQ Sauce
🌿 The Good Stuff Simple Swaps
Every week, I share a one-small-change tip to help you clean up your pantry without losing the flavors your family loves. You can find the full library of my “Better Than” swaps here.
BBQ sauce feels like one of those things you don’t really think twice about grabbing.
You toss it in the cart for pulled pork, burgers, chicken, meatballs… and move on with your life.
But if you’ve ever flipped over the bottle and realized your BBQ sauce starts with corn syrup (or has a bunch of ingredients you can’t pronounce), there are some easy swaps out there that use simpler ingredients.
We use BBQ sauce a ton, especially in the summer! This swap to a cleaner ingredient BBQ sauce doesn’t take any extra time, just grabbing for something with a little better ingredients.
What I usually try to avoid
When I’m comparing bottles, I usually try to skip ones loaded with:
- high fructose corn syrup
- corn syrup
- artificial colors
- preservatives
BBQ sauce brands I like better
Date Lady BBQ Sauce
This is sweetened with dates and has spectacular clean, real food ingredients.
Primal Kitchen
It’s sweetened differently than traditional sauces, so just know it tastes a little different.
Some people love it. Some people try it once and go right back to their usual brand. Fair enough.
Wellbee’s Honey BBQ Sauce
This is sweetened with honey and all of the ingredients are great and people rave about it!
Honorable Mention: Stubb’s
This one tends to have very simple ingredients-not perfect- but definitely better than most! This is probably the easiest swap because it’s available almost everywhere.
It still tastes like normal BBQ sauce (important if your family gets suspicious when you swap things), but it skips high fructose corn syrup.
You can also make your own
If you already keep ketchup, honey, vinegar, and spices at home, homemade BBQ sauce is surprisingly easy.
And you can make it sweeter, smokier, or tangier depending on what you like.
And let’s be honest-sometimes homemade happens. Sometimes we buy the bottle and move on. Both are valid.
Recipes to use BBQ sauce in
If you grab a bottle and need ideas, here are some of my favorites:
- Copycat Chick-fil-A sauce
- BBQ chicken sliders
- BBQ meatballs
- Pulled BBQ chicken sandwiches
- Sheet pan BBQ chicken recipes
This post contains affiliate links. Ingredient information is shared for educational purposes only. Product formulations can change.
You can find all the past swaps here and don’t forget to check back next Wednesday for the next Good Stuff Simple Swap!
