Bachan's The Original Japanese Barbecue Sauce

Bachan's The Original Japanese Barbecue Sauce is unlike anything else in the store-bought BBQ aisle, and that is exactly the point. Founded in 2019 in Sebastopol, California by Justin Gill, the sauce is built on a family recipe passed down from his grandmother Judy Yokoyama, born in 1936, whose teriyaki-style cooking blended Japanese culinary tradition with California produce. The result is a soy-mirin-ginger-sesame sauce that tastes simultaneously ancient and completely of-the-moment for 2026's global-flavor trend wave. The flavor profile is umami-forward, lightly sweet, with warm ginger heat and a subtle sesame nuttiness that deepens on the palate. At 40 calories and 8 grams of sugar per tablespoon, it is comparable in sweetness to Sweet Baby Ray's but far more complex in flavor architecture. There is no HFCS — the sweetener is cane sugar — and the sauce is cold-filled without preservatives, certified vegan, and non-GMO. At roughly $0.56 per ounce for a 17-ounce bottle priced around $9.49, it is a premium product, but the per-serving cost is reasonable given how little you need to achieve big flavor. What separates Bachan's from every other sauce on this list is its versatility beyond the grill. It functions brilliantly as a beef marinade for ribeye or flank steak, a wing glaze caramelized under the broiler, a stir-fry sauce over rice, a seafood drizzle for grilled shrimp, and even a finishing sauce for noodle bowls. It works on every protein — chicken, pork, beef, seafood — and crosses over into weeknight cooking in a way that no Kansas City sweet sauce can. For grillers who want one premium sauce that earns its refrigerator shelf space three nights a week, not just on cookout days, Bachan's is the answer.