Trader Joe's BBQ Sauce Showdown

Being from the south, BBQ is a staple. Growing up in Kentucky, I got used to certain style of smoked meats, usually pork, chicken, and uniquely mutton. The sauces were always on the side and usually a vinegar based. As an adult through traveling around the US and living in Colorado, I have been exposed to every other style out there from Kansas City Style to Memphis to North Carolina and Texas.

While shopping for the 4th of July Weekend, my husband and I came across Trader Joe's selection of BBQ sauces. We were planning on smoking some meats at my brother's house. Our job was to find sauces to try so we decided to try 4 different sauces from TJ's, as pictured below. (I think they might even have 1 or 2 more)

The first one is the closest to home style for me. Carolina Gold is sweet and mustardy that is used for dipping or as a glaze at the end of grilling. 

The next one up is, Brown Sugar BBQ Sauce. This one seems the closest to Kansas City Style sauce. This sauce is thicker with a sweet and mild heat to it. You can slather this on your meats and let it carmalize while grilling.

The third one we tried was the Kentucky Bourbam BBQ Sauce. It is similar to the previous one but darker in color and flavor due to molasses. This sauce also has a smokey, sweet flavor with a mild to medium heat. Ideally, this sauce is meant to used in basting and slathering meats while grilling. 

The last one that we tried is the Siracha and Roasted Garlic BBQ Sauce. This sauce is sweet, spicy, and garlicky. We have used this sauce numerous times, although I find it too spicy for myself. It has been a hit at cookouts and pizza parties over the past few years. We used this sauce with leftover chicken and made a killer BBQ pizza, but our friend has used it to make an awesome vegetarian version pizza. 

Originally, I thought I would post a favorites list of what we all thought but they were all so tasty in different ways that it was a 3 way tie. Ironically, the least favorite for this Kentucky based group was the  Kentucky Bourbon BBQ Sauce.