Is BBQ sauce gluten-free? Often, check for malt and soy

Often, but check. Most barbecue sauce is tomato, sugar or molasses, vinegar and spices, with no gluten.

What to check

• Malt vinegar or malt extract: both come from barley.
• Soy sauce and Worcestershire sauce, which often contain wheat or malt vinegar.
• Thickeners: occasionally wheat flour. In the EU and UK wheat is named and highlighted.
• At a barbecue: the sauce may be fine and the grill not. Ask for your food cooked before the buns and the marinated meat, or on foil.

Keep reading

• Is Worcestershire sauce gluten-free?
• Is ketchup gluten-free?
• Is vinegar gluten-free?

Sources: Coeliac UK, EU Regulation 1169/2011 and 828/2014, US FDA gluten-free rule and FALCPA, Codex Alimentarius (gluten-free = 20 mg/kg or less). Checked 28 September 2026. We inform, we don’t diagnose: for medical questions, your doctor or dietitian has the last word.