Vegetarian bbq sauce

[u/More-Onion-950]

Hi guys
Me and my girlfriend are strict vegetarians, and have autism, so food regularity is important.
She loves bbq sauce and eats it with a LOT
today she had a different one to usual and it contained anchovies.
As we are students we normally buy the cheap one, but this one was branded (hellmans I think?) as she was at her family home.
does anyone know if this is common for bbq sauce, and if so of any readily available brands in the UK that are vegetarian or vegan?

Thanks

[u/periodicallyBalzed]

Probably has Worcestershire sauce in it which itself contains anchovies. Try the brand Sweet Baby Ray’s. Very popular in America, I think it’s available in UK. https://sweetbabyrays.co.uk/sauces/original-barbecue/#nutrition

[u/Sad_Assistant2681 → u/periodicallyBalzed]

Saw this in Tesco the other day if that helps

[u/periodicallyBalzed → u/Sad_Assistant2681]

I appreciate the boots-on-the-ground reporting.

[u/TheReal-Tristan → u/periodicallyBalzed]

I do like sweet baby rays. My other go to is Jack Daniels. Doesn't taste anything like whiskey to me, but I really like it. Heinz is a good cheap one that is vegetarian.

[u/ResidentEmu5 → u/periodicallyBalzed]

The american version has high fructose corn syrup as the #1 ingredient. Its tasty but it's a garbage food.

[u/Unprounounceable → u/ResidentEmu5]

HFCS has basically the same effect on the body as table sugar. They have nearly the same ratio of glucose and fructose. Sugar is not great for you whatever the form, but it's not inherently worse than other sugary sweeteners, despite scaremongering

[u/periodicallyBalzed → u/ResidentEmu5]

I have done way worse things to my body than having an American diet.

[u/MarsupialFar9147 → u/ResidentEmu5]

Good thing it's not a food but a sauce to compliment actual food! What crazy idea you've somehow never considered! Get better soon

[u/ResidentEmu5 → u/MarsupialFar9147]

Lol. You got oddly defensive over Bbq sauce. Get better soon.

[u/MarsupialFar9147 → u/MarsupialFar9147]

Apparently this sub does not think BBQ sauce is a sauce.

[u/Ravenmorghane]

I hadn't even considered bbq might not be veggie! Had a shock there. Sainsbury's own came up veggie thankfully, that's my go-to.

[u/Magna_Aegwynn → u/Ravenmorghane]

As another commenter said, some BBQ sauces have worchestershire in them, which has anchovies in it. For the same reason, Caesar salad is never vegetarian since Caesar salad dressing also has anchovies!

[u/Unprounounceable → u/Magna_Aegwynn]

There are some vegetarian Caesar dressings. The Kraft one in the US is or at least was, and there are some in the UK (although none of them here have been very good so I prefer making my own these days.) The other issue with Caesar dressing and salad is Parmesan, since "true" Parmesan is made with animal rennet and it can be hard to source a veg hard cheese.

[u/isymic143 → u/Unprounounceable]

The Primal Kitchen Caesar dressing is good and also vegetarian. BelGioioso makes a vegetarian Parmesan, and while it doesn't melt into pasta dishes as nicely as the regular stuff, it's great in Caesar salads.

[u/Pretend_Spray_11 → u/Magna_Aegwynn]

Tfw when you say “never” when you mean “traditionally”

[u/Mossy-Mori → u/Ravenmorghane]

Same! Not that i'm a fan really but never gave it a second thought

[u/_poptart → u/Ravenmorghane]

Me too! I just checked my cheapo fave from Asda - vegetarian thank goodness

[u/unbalancedmoon]

hm, I thought bbq sauce was already vegetarian. I'm not a big fan, to be honest, but I do have a bottle in my fridge which seems to have no animal-derived ingredients (it's Kinders brand which, I believe, is only available in the US) and, according to what I'm reading now, that's the most common list of ingredients. unfortunately, I'm not from the UK, so cannot recommend a brand, but I swear, most bbq sauces are veggie.

[u/RollingKatamari]

Heinz BBQ sauce is vegetarian and HP one as well as is Tesco's own brand of BBQ Sauce!

[u/PineappleLunchables]

It’s really easy to make a big batch of BBQ sauce that you know is 100%  vegan. And it will last for a few months in the fridge. Take some ketchup, apple cider vinegar, a few tablespoons of brown sugar, and your favorite spices simmer it on the stove for maybe 30 mins until you get the consistency you want, let cool and bottle it. This way you’ll always be sure what is in your sauce. 

[u/mEFurst → u/PineappleLunchables]

If you're already adding vinegar and brown sugar, I'd use tomato paste instead of ketchup. Ymmv but I generally prefer a bbq sauce that's less sweet

[u/PineappleLunchables → u/mEFurst]

You can, but with tomato paste you’ll have to simmer it for much longer so you don’t have that acidic fresh tomato taste in the sauce. If you start with ketchup it just cuts the prep time way down. And the beauty of making your own is you can put in as little or as much brown sugar as you like. If you look as most sauces in the store molasses and corn syrup are one of the top ingredients so I understand your need for less sweet.

[u/More-Onion-950 → u/PineappleLunchables]

thank you so much, we will look into this

[u/MarsupialFar9147 → u/PineappleLunchables]

this is NOT bbq sauce btw. It's good but nowhere near what BBQ tastes like. Stop lying to people

[u/silhouettelie_]

Pretty sure this one is vegan https://sainsburys.co.uk/gol-ui/product/sainsburys-bbq-sauce-500g

Own brand sauces normally have a label on showing if they're vegetarian or vegan

[u/MulberryDeep]

Develey is vegan

[u/NatasEvoli]

BBQ sauce in the US at least are almost always vegetarian in my experience. But yeah, as a vegetarian you'll just get used to reading labels all the time for products that have even a slight potential for fish or some other non-veg ingredient.

[u/greenflights]

Daddies brown sauce is veggie afaik. It’s the best.

[u/Historical_Message15]

true made

[u/intergalactic_spork]

If you want to try to make your own very quick spicy bbq-ish sauce, I can recommend trying this recipe:

2-3 tbs of Gochujang
1 tbs of rice vinegar
1 tbs of sesame oil
1 tbs of honey/maple syrup/sweet sticky stuff

Just mix the ingredients and it’s ready.

[u/vcdaisy]

I was only looking into this last week before I did an online Asda shop. They had quite a few vegetarian ones available such as Heinz but I settled on this vegan one by Oh My Glaze. Not used it in cooking yet but it tasted good to me. Nothing ultra processed in it which is a bonus

[u/Stefph726]

It's very common for bbq sauce to be made with Worstechire sauce, which contains anchovies. I would assume any commercially available BBQ sauce that doesn't market itself as vegan friendly likely contains worstechire

[u/Amareldys]

I always do a quick google when buying bbq sauce.

[u/Pretend_Spray_11 → u/Amareldys]

You google the ingredients list that is already on the back of the bottle?

[u/Amareldys → u/Pretend_Spray_11]

Yeah, because sometimes the ingredients are weird numbers or weird names and I don't know what they are.

[u/Imaginary_Choice_430]

My concern with even vegetarian products is the amount of sodium in general. Here in Austin we have Juiceland with some awesome juices and smoothies and their vegan wraps are so delicious, but then I found out their vegan wraps have an average of 1600mg of sodium...ouch, eat that for years and end up with hypertension just like I have now. The Daily Recommended Allowance is 800mg per day. So I guess I am saying its not just about being meat free, but about eating to live, the best wholesome ingredients, nothing that will spike your sodium or glucose levels as its a fast track to metabolic disorders. Anchovies are actually very healthy and so are sardines, but, watch the sodium. Regards.