Why You're Better Off Leaving One Classic Steak Sauce On The Shelf

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While making a homemade steak sauce is easy enough (especially if you save those steak drippings), sometimes you just want the convenience of store-bought. The issue is, with so many steak sauces to choose from, it can be hard to figure out which one is the best — or, just as importantly, which one is the worst. Fortunately for you, we've done the hard work — and ate all the steak — in order to get you some definitive answers on which sauce you should skip ... once and for all.

Food Republic's taste-tester ranked eight steak sauces and discovered one product that they felt would be better off left on the shelf: Heinz 57 Sauce. While this orange-hued condiment doesn't look like a traditional steak sauce, Heinz does advertise it as such, stating that it's "unequaled by any other steak sauce" (per Heinz).

Unfortunately, not only did our testers disagree, but after looking into the ingredients, we think you could do better for yourself — and your steak. For example, the ingredient list has high fructose corn syrup as the second ingredient, meaning it's the second most used ingredient in the recipe. It also lists other preservatives, showing that it's mainly a highly processed product, which some may object to. Reviews across the internet also claim that it's too sweet (probably because of that second ingredient), without any complexity expected from a good steak sauce. On a barbecue forum, many claimed they'd rather have ketchup than Heinz 57 (via The BBQ Brethren). While steak sauce is a highly personal choice (and plenty of people love this one), this sauce can be improved.

When choosing a steak sauce, you probably want a product that's rich in flavor, properly balanced for your palate, and that will help make your steak shine rather than overpower it. It's also a good idea to lean towards steak sauce with a simple ingredient list, which will allow you to know that what you're eating is as close to a homemade version as possible.

So the next time you find yourself looking through the steak sauce bottles at the grocery store, there's one sauce that we think you should definitely pick up: 365 Organic Steak Sauce. While mainly a Whole Foods product, you can also pick this one up on Amazon (where it has 4.5/5 stars and over 1,450 reviews). We love that the ingredients are all ones we can pronounce, and the amount of spices used shows just how flavorful this steak sauce is. In fact, our taste-tester noted that it's an ultra-seasoned sauce, with an overall herby flavor. Amazon reviews noted that the sauce has a wonderful depth of flavor and a perfect balance between tanginess and acidity.

If you're looking for a sauce with bite, you may want to grab a bottle of classic A1 (which has 4.8/5 stars on Amazon with over 3,400 reviews). It's popular for a reason, and its innate zestiness makes it incredibly addictive. One reviewer even wrote, "I love this stuff[;] I won't eat a steak without it" (via Amazon).