Full disclosure: at first, the judges greeted this bottle with an attitude of “I guess this could be an interesting niche product…” What a mistake! “Mmmm. Wow. Horseradish!” we said, passing the bottle around way more times than usual (or decent). The Jax Sauce Alabama White sauce is one of the biggest, best, and most exciting surprises of the competition. It was silky, tangy, and deliciously balanced. It made us crave a great piece of beef then and there. It will also be amazing on chicken, fish, egg dishes, cooked or raw veggies, in salads, or as a dressing for coleslaw. It’s bold enough to stand up in the smoker, BBQ on a grill, or when cooking in the oven (if you must). It will make an amazing dip at your next party. We couldn’t stop talking about this sauce, being inspired to dream up delicious uses for it, or fighting over who takes it home! Ushering a “niche” sauce into a most delicious mainstream, Jax Sauce Alabama White sauce is one of the biggest, boldest, and best surprises ever to hit the Sauce King NYC™ taste buds.

Like every offering from Dinosaur Bar-B-Que, whether a hot sauce or their variety of excellent BBQ sauces, the flavor is always clean, distinctive, delicious, and balanced. This winning sauce has great heat, but isn’t dominated by it. Instead, spice and flavor go hand in hand with heat, and that’s not an easy thing to craft. All judges agreed, taste the flavor explosion from Dinosaur Bar-B-Que’s Fire Garlic Chipotle Pepper Sauce for the ideal complement to nearly anything meat or veg, and enjoy that warming heat that sneaks up on you a few seconds later. Then pour on some more and go for the next bite!

Like its name, Walzy’s Hot Sauce gives you that “scold” of heat you know you want and deserve, but the main attraction is the intensely delicious flavor in harmony with the heat. Use for any meat, so many veggies, and dream tonight of slathering some on your eggs at tomorrow’s breakfast.

A+. Exactly what the judges look for in a go-to BBQ sauce: something intensely delicious yet also pleasingly familiar that would be very difficult to replicate in your own kitchen. Slather it onto a pork shoulder and then pour in some more after the cook. Try it out on your next slab of ribs or whole chicken. Jax Sauce Original Sweet & Smoky is far from “basic,” and it inspires us to reach for it from smoking to grilling to BBQ in the oven for that little extra burst of flavor, even for those who aren’t able to enjoy cooking outdoors.

Exemplary and Excellent. Pork Mafia’s Cochon Dippin’ Sauce is a fantastic and delicious marinade, baste, barbecue sauce, and also that rare versatile sauce for just unscrewing the cap and dipping, then double dipping, nearly anything into. (Just keep your fingers out of it – Paul!).

We can’t find enough accolades for this delicious Sauce King NYC™ 2025 winner.

Dinosaur Bar-B-Que’s Roasted Garlic Honey BBQ Sauce is straight up delicious. Tomato forward, but unlike so many sauces, it has that magical taste of FRESH tomatoes (way more difficult to achieve than you’d think). The honey is subtle and very welcome when compared to some sauces that rely too much on sugar for sweetness. Here, all the flavors flow in complete harmony.

YES! More please! The taste of real cherry is in Dinosaur Bar-B-Que’s Red Chili Sour Cherry Sauce, beautifully blending in the unexpected and welcome surprise of cumin to make this the antidote to ordinary BBQ sauce (and you’ll still reach for it as a new habit). Perfectly balanced, it’s great to see Dinosaur Bar-B-Que branching out so well in complementing its other recipes.

Finally, a sauce that does everything proclaimed on the label! Paragon Sauce & Spice’s Fire Brick Hot Barbecue Sauce really is a spicy, thick, zesty, savory barbecue sauce, which somehow achieved the platonic ideal of blending in banana peppers and mustard. Put one into your arsenal to make them pay attention at your next barbecue.

The Dark Horse Delight Award for Grand Champion really surprised and pleased every one of the judges. An Alabama white is rarely what you reach for by instinct. This one’s a game changing sauce that goes way beyond “niche.” Jax Sauce Alabama White BBQ Sauce is no namby-pamby tame and lame runny mayonnaisey white sauce. It rewards you with a thick sauce with just the right amount of horseradish blended to delicious, inspiring perfection. It’s the winner for nearly any use, from bold meats to delicate veggies. Get it. Now. And tell ‘em Sauce King NYC™ sent you!

We judge BBQ sauces by two criteria: flavor and uniqueness, meaning if it’s a “traditional” sauce, is it so damn great that we couldn’t begin to replicate it in our own kitchen? Chef Ray Sheehan’s Memphis Mop BBQ Sauce deliciously tells us – YES! Standing out way above ordinary Memphis sauce, not only for flavor but because it’s also thicker than most, this will make even less costly cuts of meat taste sublime. But don’t skimp. You only live once, so treat this sauce to the meat it deserves!

Each year, we look forward to what those cheeky Brits from Firefly Barbecue send to our shores to please and surprise us with additions to their already amazing line. But, come on guys, next year send MORE Firefly Barbecue Korean Chilli Crunch! Judges were injured fighting over this consummate crunchy and spicy chili sauce. The lucky victor went home with the jar, and the rest of us, licking our wounds, are forced to settle for the still-vivid memory of how damn delicious this is!

From Taiwan, Mama Rose Chili Sauce is a perfectly balanced chili sauce that will inspire you in all kinds of recipes. It’s hot in just the right amount, but like any Sauce King NYC™ winner, it’s the way the flavors work with the heat that matters to the tongues of these judges and brings smiles to our faces.

A go-to BBQ sauce is much more difficult to make than you’d think. There are too many sauces out there that are the same or maybe not even as good as the clearance sale of Kraft sauces at the 99 cent store. Thankfully, Dinosaur Bar-B-Que brings distinctive recipes to all of their sauces, elevating the idea of a go-to into something that’s always special. Dinosaur Bar-B-Que’s Roasted Garlic Honey BBQ Sauce takes the crown this year. The first thing that hits your palate is the brightness of the flavor of FRESH tomatoes. Then you get the creamy umami of roasted garlic, and just the right amount of sumptuous sweetness from just enough honey. All in perfect harmony. You’ll make it a habit to reach for it.

Exemplary and excellent. Pork Mafia’s Cochon Dippin’ Sauce is a fantastic and delicious marinade, baste, barbecue sauce, and also that rare versatile sauce for just unscrewing the cap and dipping, then double dipping, nearly anything into. (Just keep your fingers out of it – Paul!). It’s great on its own as a guilty pleasure, but you’ll feel more guilty if you don’t use it almost all the time.

The Best International Sauce also makes one of the Best Marinades or Dipping Sauces, too! We couldn’t leave it out as a winner in this category also.

Harmacy Hot Sauce Co.’s Ava Masala Pepper Sauce is a one of a kind, excellent sauce that balances curry spices and mustard with enough heat to make you reach for that ice water or cold beer while you’re planning all the different recipes you’ll use it for. It’s warm yet also bright. We couldn’t think of anything that wouldn’t be upgraded by this sauce, from a humble stick of celery to chicken, fish, pork, beef, a baked head of cauliflower, a crock pot of pinto beans, your breakfast eggs – you name it.

At first, we thought this might be weird, until we tasted Taste Flavor Co.’s Fiery Mango Habanero Dipping Sauce & Marinade. Not because of the flavor, which we were all looking forward to, but because the label promises “only 5 calories per serving.” Imagine the smiles on our faces when we were surprised at how much great mango flavor and heat you can pack into so few calories! Don’t dare think of this as a “diet” product! Instead, enjoy something delicious and if you also happen to be watching calories, well, you win twice.

Firefly Barbecue once again gets it right. Just a damn amazing rub! Don’t dare limit yourself to thinking this is for Indian dishes only. Firefly Barbecue’s Tandoori Masala Barbecue Rub is so versatile it will be great on anything – beef and pork and poultry and fish and veggie and egg dishes and even to sprinkle onto a salad. Be creative and learn your adventurous side. It even makes a fresh taste changeup to Mexican cuisine – one judge reportedly tested it out on a quesadilla and as a taco seasoning. The verdict? Excellent!

B.T. Leigh’s Sauces and Rubs has a fantastic line that we feel everyone should try, but this new one kind of blew our minds! Open the cap of B.T. Leigh’s Somethin’ for Autumn any time of year for a Proustian trip to the cherished Autumn days of your youth. It’s a sweet and savory rub that literally smells like Autumn (!) that’s just what you need for livening up meats and veggies and fruit, popcorn (!), and anything you can imagine that might benefit more from sweet than heat. But wait, there’s more! It’s indispensable for sprinkling onto cinnamon rolls, muffins or cookies before you pop them into the oven. One judge has already topped their annual fall pumpkin chocolate chip muffins with it, and it’s elevated their beloved recipe up an extra five notches!

If a voracious, yet beloved judge hadn’t walked away with this, we’d all be using it for meats, salads, and something very fun and different to top our popcorn with for bringing a little spark to those Netflix and chill nights.

There aren’t enough superlatives for this flawless Achilles Heat Smoked Chili Crisp, made in Brooklyn, NY! Beautifully-balanced umami – chili oil, just enough heat, and the awesome amount of crunch that makes you dip your spoon back into the jar. Versatile enough for endless possibilities for recipes, but you could merely dab a spoonful on a great piece of bread or savory cracker and be in culinary heaven. Mental note – buy at least two, they’ll go quickly! (We also urge you to try the Achilles Heat line of hot sauces, one for every level of heat enjoyment).

This is a crazy delicious salsa, with the heat you expect, but a very, very light sweetness that brings out its taste of fresh tomatoes as if it was born to do so. Don’t limit yourself to dipping chips or topping a taco. This salsa will make a great marinade or baste for any meat, fish, poultry or veggie. Needless to say, it will brighten up your breakfast eggs as well!

Exactly as it says on the label (as if you couldn’t see the bits of chili peeking from inside the bottle!), Jax Sauce Chili-Lime sauce is versatile for the grill and the kitchen, from meat to seafood to veggies. What a great balance of lime and ginger, which is just the right amount of zing.

Like his also-excellent Memphis Mop BBQ Sauce, Chef Ray Sheehan’s Kansas City BBQ Sauce is the platonic ideal of its category. Its perfectly blended flavors will liven up any barbecue, or make a great marinade for oven cooked dishes. The judges agree it’s a great go-to and an elevated take on a beloved traditional sauce.

An export from the shores of New Jersey, Dirty Jerz BBQ Sauce – Savory Style is delicious and deceptively simple. It’s fantastic on its own and as a marinade or baste for your BBQ dishes. It’s bright and clean, making it the ideal base for you to use to add your own heat or other flavors, maybe even pieces of mango or bits of tomato. The wide mouth jar will invite anyone to dip a chicken wing into it, too.

The Sauce King NYC™ 2024 Grand Champion Elfassy Traditional Moroccan Harissa has become a perennial favorite. A few years ago they started small with a gigantic flavor and continue to make our mouths water every year. Versatile, flavorful, the heat strong and tight but never overwhelming, most of our judges keep a couple of jars in the cupboard. Try it with that sheet pan harissa chicken meatball recipe going around the internet and you will, too. Elfassy has two levels of heat, mild or medium, to create the platonic ideal for any palate of what a harissa should be.