Summertime is finally here and barbecue season is among us! You have your vegan burgers and sausages ready to grill, but what would a plant-based BBQ be without the sauce?! Luckily, many BBQ sauces are already vegan, and you don’t need to make a special trip to the health food store to stock up. Plus, most grocery stores carry plenty of different choices depending on the flavor profile you’re looking for – whether you want a spicy marinade or a smoky rub, the options are endless.
Despite most sauces being inherently vegan, two sneaky ingredients sometimes make their way into some BBQ sauce recipes. Keep an eye out and always avoid honey and anchovies. These ingredients are oftentimes added to BBQ sauces for the sweetness from the honey, or for the salty, umami flavor from the anchovies, but they’re really not necessary to make a good marinade. These flavors can easily be achieved with plant-based ingredients, and lucky for you, we’ve listed a few of our go-to sauces for you to try out below!
Turn on your grill, chop up some veggies, and get ready to try some of the best vegan BBQ sauces out there.
1. Sweet Baby Ray’s original barbecue sauce
Sweet Baby Ray’s has a few vegan BBQ sauces to choose from, but their Original flavor is a classic that is widely available in the US. This sweet sauce has a perfect consistency – not too thick but not runny either. They also have Sweet Vidalia Onion, Sweet Golden Mustard, Sweet n’ Spicy, Hickory and Brown Sugar, and Hawaiian Style Barbecue Sauces that are all vegan!
2. sTUBB’S BAR-B-Q SAUCE
If you are looking for an easy-to-find sauce with a kick, you’ll want to try Stubb’s. Their Spicy Bar-B-Q sauce is tomato-based, with habanero and black pepper coming in hot! If spicy isn’t your go-to, Stubb’s also has Original, Dr. Pepper, Hickory Bourbon, Smokey Brown Sugar, Smokey Mesquite, Sticky Sweet, and Sweet Heat BBQ Sauces. All you have to do is pick your favorite!
3. Primal KITCHEN BBQ SAUCE
The ultimate cookout condiments for grill masters and sauce lovers alike, certified organic with no added sugars and bursting with flavor. Primal Kitchen offers 5 different sauces for you to choose from including their Classic BBQ Sauce, Organic Steak Sauce, Golden BBQ Sauce, Mango Jalapeño BBQ Sauce, and Hawaiian Style BBQ Sauce. You know you’re in for a sweet and tropical treat when the second ingredient is pineapple juice! Need we say more?
4. TRUE MADE FOODS BBQ SAUCE
True Made offers five authentic, regional, low, and no-sugar vegan BBQ recipes. Each BBQ Sauce represents one of the major barbecue traditions in America – Memphis, Kansas City, Eastern Carolina, Western Carolina (Red), and South Carolina (Gold). Ed Mitchell created these sauces to represent traditional American barbecue traditions, reducing and removing added sugars but keeping the sweetness and flavors by naturally sweetening their sauces with American-grown fruits and vegetables. Plus, with “hidden” veggies in most of their recipes, this is an ingredient list that we can get behind!
5. Bachan’s Japanese Barbecue Sauce
Bachan’s BBQ recipes are great as a sauce or marinade on veggies, rice & anything in between. The Original Japanese Barbecue Sauce has a “teriyaki-ish”, umami-full, flavor thanks to the savory-sweet recipe of soy, mirin, ginger, garlic, and green onion. Bachan’s also offers their Hot and Spicy Flavor, Yuzu Citrus, Hella Hot, and a Gluten-Free version original version made with tamari instead of soy sauce. Plus, all their recipes are made from clean, simple ingredients!
