Press "Enter" to skip to content

Aria’s Appetite: #2 BBQ by Shedeur Sanders spices it up

Aria Brent
Variety Editor

For the last two years Shedeur Sanders has been heating up the football field in his quarterback position here at Jackson State. However, the young athlete has recently decided to add his spice to something new: Barbeque sauce. 

Sanders released the condiment as a collaboration with PLB Sports & Entertainment for a name, image and likeness deal. On the bottle there’s a note from #2 himself, discussing his reason for choosing to attend an HBCU and how this sauce is a reflection of that. 

“My #2 BBQ Sauce is another step in fulfilling that goal. A portion of all proceeds from this venture will go towards helping preserve our HBCUs”. 

The sauce comes in a 19oz glass bottle and retails for $8 in the Jackson State bookstore. On the label it is noted to be sweet and tangy. In addition to this, it’s mentioned to be great on the grill. 

Despite the suggestion for grilling, I tried the sauce my favorite way: with chicken nuggets. 

The sauce was in fact sweet and tangy but furthermore, it was spicy! The level of spice wasn’t overbearing but it was surely making its presence known.

Photo: Monica McGhee

The sauce is made from a mixture of water, sugar, tomato paste, hot sauce, molasses, vinegar, pineapple juice concentrate, cornstarch, liquid smoke, salt, smoked paprika, garlic powder and onion powder. 

With this list of ingredients and the label mentioning the sweet and tangy notes the sauce has, I was expecting the sauce to favor the world famous Sweet Baby Ray’s barbeque sauce, but it didn’t. Both recipes use pineapple juice which is what led me to believe they would be similar in taste. 

Regardless, the sauce is good! It would do well as a sauce base for a barbeque chicken pizza or brushed on smoked sausage. The thick texture would also be good for coating chicken.

Is the sauce worth $8? No. Although the sauce is flavorful, it isn’t any better than the average store-bought sauce. However, if you’re looking to support HBCUs and their students in a non-traditional way, this is something to consider.

Sanders’ sauce is good, but it’s also overpriced. Perhaps as time goes on more flavors will be created and the condiment will lower in price. 

Disclaimer: The views expressed in this review are that of the writer and in no way represent the views of The Blue & White Flash.

Be First to Comment

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published.