BBQ Sauce

One US cup of BBQ sauce weighs 288 grams (10.2 ounces). Going the other way, 100 grams is about 0.35 cups.

Also called barbecue sauce, barbeque sauce, Bar-B-Q sauce, bottled BBQ sauce, BBQ sauce original.

Tomato paste, puree, sauces, canned tomatoes, juice and ketchup compared: cup weights side by side, the source behind each, and why they differ.

Condiments and sauces compared: cup weights side by side, the source behind each, and why they differ.

BBQ sauce weighs 288 g per US cup (10.2 oz) and 36 g per 2 tablespoons, a density of 1.217 g/mL. USDA's half-cup portions, and the Sweet Baby Ray's, Kraft, Bull's-Eye and KC Masterpiece labels, all land at 280-288 g, within 3%.

Bottled barbecue sauce in the American sweet style is a tomato base, usually ketchup or paste, cooked with sugar, molasses or corn syrup, vinegar, salt and spices. Sugar is most of what is in it besides water: USDA's generic barbecue sauce is 55% water and 41% carbohydrate, 33% of it sugars, and its Sweet Baby Ray's record is 50% water with 38% sugars. That is more sugar than ketchup carries, and it makes barbecue sauce heavier.

USDA SR Legacy "Sauce, barbecue, SWEET BABY RAY'S, original" (FDC 171827) lists a half cup at 144 g and a tablespoon at 18 g, both 288 g per cup, and a cup at 280 g. The generic "Sauce, barbecue" record (FDC 174523) lists a half cup at 143 g (286 g per cup), a cup at 279 g and a tablespoon at 17 g. Sweet Baby Ray's, Kraft and Bull's-Eye label 2 tablespoons at 36 g, and KC Masterpiece at 35 g. Unlike shredded cheese, these labels weigh a fixed volume: FDA's reference serving for barbecue sauce is 2 tablespoons (30 mL), and the label must give its weight.

The small differences inside USDA's records are rounding. A tablespoon is only about 15 mL, and a weight rounded to the whole gram, 17 g, could be anything from 16.5 to 17.5 g, a window of 264-280 g per cup. The half-cup portions, 143-144 g, are ten times larger and pin the figure much more closely, and they agree with the labels.

The physical check agrees too. Dissolved sugar raises a liquid's density by roughly 0.04 g/mL for every 10% it makes up. A sauce that is about 40% sugars and other carbohydrate, plus a couple of percent of salt, should weigh about 1.21-1.23 g/mL, which is 286-292 g per cup. Ketchup, at 21% sugars, weighs 272 g per cup on this site; barbecue sauce's extra sugar puts it about 16 g per cup above.

Styles differ, which is why confidence is medium. Heinz's thick, sweet original labels 2 tablespoons at 38 g (304 g per cup). Thinner, vinegar-forward sauces are lighter: Open Pit labels 34 g (272 g per cup), and a food database lists Stubb's at 33 g (264 g per cup). For the thick, sweet supermarket style most recipes mean, 288 g is the figure; for a thin Carolina-style or vinegar sauce, expect closer to 270.

King Arthur's chart has no barbecue sauce row.

Practical guidance: an 18-oz bottle holds 510 g, about 1 3/4 cups; a 40-oz bottle 1,134 g, about 4 cups. For pulled pork or a slow cooker, 1 cup is 288 g; for a glaze, 1/4 cup is 72 g and 2 tablespoons 36 g. Barbecue sauce clings to cups and spoons, so a measured cup often pours out a few grams light; weighing straight into the pot avoids that.

The tomato products comparison page shows BBQ sauce beside ketchup, marinara, tomato sauce and the other tomato products.