Gluten-free BBQ Sauce: Plus The Best Brands & FAQs

If you love barbecue, you might be looking for a gluten-free BBQ sauce that works with all your favorite chicken, beef, and wing recipes. Learn if barbecue sauce is gluten-free and what brands to look for at the store.

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If you love barbecue, you know that nothing beats getting the sauce just right for your burgers, wings, brisket, and anything else you toss onto the grill.

If you love to make your own BBQ sauce, then making sure it’s gluten-free is simple and straightforward. As long as the ingredients you put into your recipe are gluten-free, your sauce will be too.

However, if you’re like me and you don’t mind taking shortcuts from the grocery store once in a while, then you’ll want to be sure that the BBQ sauce you buy and use is safe for your gluten-free diet.

Whatever you love to slather it on, I have a great post for you all about this delicious, smoky, sweet tangy sauce that will help you determine what to pick up next time you’re at the grocery store.

In this post, we’ll cover what ingredients are in BBQ sauce, if BBQ sauce is gluten-free, and we’ll discuss your options for gluten-free barbecue sauce. Let’s get to it!

What ingredients are in BBQ sauce?

Depending on the brand or recipe, the ingredients in barbecue sauce can vary widely. However, these are some of the ingredients you’re likely to find in BBQ sauce with varying amounts to give each brand a unique flavor:

Distilled vinegar, apple cider vinegar, tomato paste, tomato sauce, ketchup, sugar or brown sugar, molasses, onion powder, chili peppers, liquid smoke, mustard, black pepper, Worcestershire sauce, hot sauce.

Depending on what recipe you use or what brand you buy, you may find some, all, or just a few of these ingredients in your barbecue sauce ingredients list.

Read on: Is mustard gluten-free?

What is gluten?

Gluten is a protein found in most wheat products, and acts as the “glue” that helps to hold wheat, barley, kamut, spelt, farro, durum, bulgur, rye, and semolina together to maintain their shape.

You can find gluten in whole grains, but also in many processed foods as well. If you purchase wheat bread, there will be gluten in it, because wheat by nature has gluten.

Many processed foods have hidden gluten in them in the form or gluten or wheat derivatives. These are also in the form of flavorings, binders to keep ingredients together, or other additives.

Is BBQ sauce gluten-free?

If you make your own BBQ sauce at home, it’s easy to make it using only gluten-free ingredients.

Using your own ingredients, you have full control over the quality and amount of ingredients and can make sure there is no potential for gluten. This is a great option if you have celiac disease or gluten intolerances.

If you buy store-bought BBQ sauce, you will find that some brands are gluten-free, while others aren’t.

You’re likely to find gluten in thickeners or coloring that are added to the barbecue sauce that contain gluten. You might also find beer or soy sauce in some brands, which can contain gluten, as well.

It’s important to review the ingredients list and package label before buying and look for any hidden names of gluten.

One of my little secrets is that I carry around a copy of my GFDF Take Along Cards so that I always have a point of reference when I can sneak a peek at the ingredient list of a food.

>> Get your copy of the GFDF Take-Along Cards to make this easy on you.

Gluten-free BBQ Sauce Brands

Since some brands of BBQ sauce contain gluten and others don’t, I’ve put together a list of brands and flavors that are safe for a gluten-free diet.

Note that this isn’t an exhaustive list of all gluten-free BBQ sauce brands available, rather a few options to look for at your grocery store.

Some of these brands of store-bought barbecue sauces are considered “gluten-free” while others contain no gluten-containing ingredients. I’ve marked those that have a gluten-free label, indicating less than 20ppm in the product, with an asterisk (*).

Those without an asterisk have no gluten-containing ingredients, however they may have been produced on the same lines as ingredients with gluten.

If you are very sensitive to even trace amounts of gluten, look for a brand that has a gluten-free label.

Annie’s BBQ Sauce*

Original BBQ Sauce
Organic Smoky Maple BBQ Sauce
Organic Sweet & Spicy BBQ Sauce

Bone Suckin’ Sauce*

Bone Suckin’ Sauce
Bone Suckin’ Sauce, Hot
Bone Suckin’ Sauce, Thicker style
Bone Suckin’ Sauce, Hot Thicker Style
Bone Suckin’ Wing Sauce, Honey & Habanero
Bone Suckin’ Wing Sauce, Teriyaki & Ginger
Bone Suckin’ Wing Sauce, Garlic & Honey

Read on: Is teriyaki sauce gluten-free?

Bull’s Eye BBQ Sauce

Original
Steak House
Tennessee Style Sweet Whiskey
Smokey Chipotle
Brown Sugar

Burman’s BBQ Sauce

Kansas City
Memphis
Texas
Carolina

Guy Fieri*

Kansas City
Carolina #6
Bourbon Brown Sugar
Pacific Rim
Sriracha
Root Beer
Apple

Read on: Is Sriracha gluten-free?

Hunt’s BBQ Sauce

Hickory Cracked Black Pepper
Mesquite Molasses
Cherrywood Chipotle

Jack Daniel’s BBQ Sauce

Original
Honey
Sweet & Spicy

Lillie’s Q BBQ Sauce

Zero Sugar Carolina
Hot Smoky
Smoky
Carolina
Gold
ENC
Ivory

Organicville Products*

Original
Tangy

San-J International*

Asian BBQ
Korean BBQ

Schultz’s Gourmet*

Original
Sweet Hickory
Sweet Mesquite
Smoky Chipotle
Sweet Heat

Sky Valley Organic

Korean BBQ

Stubbs Legendary Bar-B-Q Sauces

Dr Pepper
Hickory Bourbon
Original
Simply Sweet Reduced Sugar
Smokey Brown Sugar
Smokey Mesquite
Spicy
Sticky Sweet
Sweet Heat
Sweet Honey & Spice

Sweet Baby Ray’s Gourmet Sauces*

Original
Hawaiian
Sweet ‘n Spicy
Sweet Golden Mustard
Maple
Honey
Hickory & Brown Sugar
Honey Chipotle
Sweet Vidalia Onion

Read on: Is Sweet Baby Ray’s gluten-free?

Woodstock

Original
Hickory

Read on: 17 gluten and dairy-free condiments to stock your kitchen

Are my favorite brands of BBQ sauce gluten-free?

With a starting point list of some different barbecue brands you can look for at your local grocery store or online, you might be wondering if your favorite brands make the cut. Here are some popular BBQ sauce brands that you may be wondering about.

Is Sweet Baby Ray’s gluten-free?

All flavors of Sweet Baby Ray’s BBQ sauce are gluten-free, as indicated on their website. They offer sauces other than BBQ sauce that are not gluten-free.

This brand has a gluten-free label on the products that are considered gluten-free, so it’s easy to find them on the back of the packaging.

Is Kraft BBQ sauce gluten-free?

Kraft does a great job of labeling allergens on their food products. In the case of BBQ sauce, most of the flavors contain no gluten-containing ingredients, however they don’t have a gluten-free label.

Because they don’t have a gluten-free label, they may come into contact with gluten in the manufacturing process.

Since recipes change all the time, be sure to check ingredients lists before purchasing. And only buy it if you can tolerate trace amounts of gluten from cross contamination.

Is Jack Daniel’s barbecue sauce gluten-free?

Jack Daniel’s brand of barbecue sauce contains no gluten-containing ingredients, but doesn’t have a gluten-free label.

That means the recipe itself doesn’t have gluten, but it may come into contact with gluten during the manufacturing process.

Read on: Is Jack Daniel’s gluten-free?

Is Bull’s Eye BBQ sauce gluten-free?

Bull’s Eye BBQ sauce contains no gluten-containing ingredients, but the brand doesn’t make any gluten-free claims. It’s possible that this brand has the potential for cross contamination with gluten during manufacturing.

You can use your best judgement based on your body and level of sensitivity to determine if this is a brand you want to enjoy on your gluten-free diet.

Is Burman’s BBQ sauce gluten-free?

Burman’s BBQ sauce contains no gluten ingredients and they list these products as gluten-free on their packaging.

Is Ol’ West BBQ sauce gluten-free?

I wasn’t able to confirm on the James Valley Company (manufacturer of Ol’ West BBQ sauce) website whether or not this product was safe for folks on a gluten-free diet. They do not list ingredients or information about gluten on their website.

Is Stubb’s BBQ sauce gluten-free?

Stubb’s BBQ sauce is manufactured by the McCormick brand. This brand of barbecue sauce has a gluten-free label and is considered safe to enjoy on a gluten-free diet. Choose one of the options listed in this post to add to your favorite dishes.

Is Korean BBQ sauce gluten-free?

Korean barbecue sauce is generally not going to be gluten-free as it is made using a soy sauce base. If you want to make your own gluten-free version of Korean BBQ sauce at home, be sure to use gluten-free tamari soy sauce or coconut aminos.

If you love using barbecue sauce on all your favorite grilled and smoked foods, I hope this post has helped you find a brand and flavor that will work for you and your gluten-free diet.

Remember to check out ingredients lists before purchasing and look for any hidden names of gluten.

If you loved this post, I hope that you’ll share it with your friends on Facebook and pin it for future reference on Pinterest.

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