The Most Uniquely Searched BBQ Sauces in Every State, According to Google
Light the coals and spray that lighter fluid: The most American of seasons is here at last, and it’s the one where we all pretend we know how to cook over live fire (or at least over blasts of ignited propane pretending to be live fire.) Thankfully, the redeemer of all kinds of barbecuing snafus is the sauce. But what that barbecue sauce looks like depends on where in the country you live. That’s why Google went deep and found the most uniquely searched BBQ sauce in every state right now — and their findings might surprise you.
Some states were obvious — Alabama, for example, went with white, which is of course alternately called Alabama sauce. Many of its neighbors joined in: Georgia, Arkansas, Kansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, and Tennessee all favored the same, as did Indiana, although they searched it as “Alabama.”
The other leading state-named sauce was Carolina, which was big in the Eastern Seaboard: D.C., Maryland, Ohio, and Pennsylvania all looked for it. Of course, in both North and South Carolina they searched for the same thing, but called it vinegar barbecue sauce (Connecticut jumped on that bandwagon as well). The only other state sauce was Hawaii, which looked for its own version.
Colorado and Minnesota went in search of Korean, while California stayed closer to home, looking for Mexican barbecue sauce. Fourteen states weren’t even that specific — they all just looked for “homemade” barbecue sauce. The other common search was, unsurprisingly, for a popular diet: Eight states searched for keto sauce more than any other. Texas and Iowa may have been on a similar search, though, as they looked for sauces without sugar.
The most interesting states, however, might just be the ones that were outliers in what they want in their barbecue sauce: Delaware wants mustard, Rhode Island wants spicy, Oklahoma wants honey, New York wants chipotle, and New Jersey wants bacon. And Illinois — more power to them — is looking to include bourbon in theirs.
Maybe we can all just agree on a spicy chipotle honey bourbon bacon sauce that’s homemade, white, and keto-friendly.
Here’s the Full List
- Alabama – White
- Alaska – Homemade
- Arizona – Keto
- Arkansas – White
- California – Mexican
- Colorado – Korean
- Connecticut – Vinegar
- Delaware – Mustard Based
- Washington, D.C. – Carolina
- Florida – Guava
- Georgia – White
- Hawaii – Hawaiian
- Idaho – Homemade
- Illinois – Bourbon
- Indiana – Alabama
- Iowa – Sugar Free
- Kansas – White
- Kentucky – Homemade
- Louisiana – White
- Maine – Homemade
- Maryland – Carolina
- Massachusetts – Calorie Free
- Michigan – Keto
- Minnesota – Korean
- Mississippi – White
- Missouri – Keto
- Montana – Homemade
- Nebraska – Low Carb
- Nevada – Homemade
- New Hampshire – Low Carb
- New Jersey – Bacon
- New Mexico – Homemade
- New York – Chipotle
- North Carolina – Vinegar
- North Dakota – Homemade
- Ohio – Carolina
- Oklahoma – Honey
- Oregon – Keto
- Pennsylvania – Carolina
- Rhode Island – Spicy
- South Carolina – Vinegar
- South Dakota – Homemade
- Tennessee – White
- Texas – No Sugar
- Utah – Homemade
- Vermont – Homemade
- Virginia – Keto
- Washington – Keto
- West Virginia – Homemade
- Wisconsin – Homemade
- Wyoming – Homemade