Transform Bland BBQ Sauce With This Punchy Ingredient

We may receive a commission on purchases made from links.

When you think of barbecue sauce, Kansas City-style probably comes to mind – thick, sweet, and syrupy, like the flavor on barbecue potato chips and corn puffs. But barbecue sauce is far more diverse than the folks at Frito-Lay would have you believe. There's the thin, vinegar-based North Carolina sauce and the mustard-forward South Carolina sauce. Venture further west, and you'll find Alabama's mayonnaise-based white sauce. 

Barbecue sauce has evolved over time and continues to do so, which is why you shouldn't limit yourself to set recipes. Use barbecue sauce as an opportunity to experiment and create something new. Crafting standout flavor is easier said than done, however. That's why The Takeout turned to champion barbecue chef Melissa Cookston, a judge on Netflix's "Barbecue Showdown," for tips on mastering full-flavored sauce with punchy ingredients. Her third cookbook, "Fanning the Flames," hits store shelves in April 2026. 

For an easy way to amp up the flavor, Cookston recommends swapping your standard garlic cloves for black garlic. "Black garlic is aged at very low heat for two to three weeks," she said. "It breaks down the garlic and removes its sharpness, giving it a molasses- or balsamic-type flavor. When you're looking to up your umami game, black garlic is one of the best ingredients to use."

Black garlic isn't the only flavor bomb in Cookston's arsenal. "Fish sauce is one of my 'secret weapons' when cooking and adds tons of umami to BBQ sauce and Asian-inspired dishes," she said. "Worcestershire sauce is mainly used in the U.S. and adds a lot of depth. But adding just a bit of fish sauce, soy sauce, and Worcestershire sauce to your recipe will make people love it."

Fish sauce might sound like an odd addition, but many brands of Worcestershire sauce include anchovies. By adding fish sauce, you're just amping up the flavor that's already there. It's an especially useful addition if you want to create a sauce that leans savory. You can even add it to syrupy-sweet store-bought barbecue sauce to balance the flavor.

Barbecue fans who want to replicate that bold flavor at home, but without the fish sauce, still have plenty of opportunities to experiment. Add jelly to your barbecue sauce or take after Bobby Flay, who uses Pepsi to give his barbecue sauce a caramel flavor. Raid your pantry. Who knows, you could end up inventing a new style of your own.