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Now a household staple, Worcestershire sauce was born from a funky failure when two Englishmen, John Wheeley Lea and William Henry Perrins, were commissioned to create a condiment similar to curry and they failed spectacularly. Luckily a clerk tasted the unsuccessful batch after it had fermented for a few months and it tasted great, thus birthing the iconic Lea & Perrins Worcestershire sauce that we ranked as the absolute best. Still, some of other Worcestershire sauces we tasted came from well-known condiment brands.
One of the worst Worcestershire sauces comes from the popular Heinz brand. But just because their ketchup is the gold standard doesn’t mean they’ve mastered Worcestershire sauce. We ranked the sauces based on taste and consistency; we found the Heinz sauce had an underwhelming consistency that can best be described as water, and an overwhelmingly poor flavor. While Heinz ages the sauce for a funky fermented flavor, the formula and ingredients used led to its downfall. Anchovies, aromatics, and tangy tamarind extract were notably absent from the ingredient list, reducing the umami-richness and complexity. Instead, Heinz relies on soy sauce for the umami which is completely overpowered by a cloying sweetness from the addition of high fructose corn syrup. Furthermore, the ambiguous “flavorings” listed amounted to an equally abrasive peppery bite. So, unless you want an artificial punch of sweet and spicy, Heinz Worcestershire sauce isn’t worth buying.
More bad reviews for Heinz
Reviews for Heinz Worcestershire sauce from Walmart customers and on Reddit were equally disappointed with the flavor and consistency. Walmart customers said the flavor and texture tasted watered down and bland. The notes customers could taste were as far from the umami richness associated with Worcestershire sauce, and were instead described as acidic, off, bitter, and chemical. Like us, customers from Walmart and Reddit disparage the use of corn syrup and agree that Heinz tastes nothing like the “deep and nuanced umami like Lea & Perrins.” While Heinz is one of the cheapest options on the list, it also tastes cheap. One Walmart customer summed it up nicely by saying “I went cheap and I regret it.”
Heinz is still better than Robbies, which we thought was the worst Worcestershire sauce. But, like Robbies, Heinz omits the most robust umami-rich and savory ingredients like anchovies and garlic. While a Worcestershire sauce without anchovies may appeal to the vegan and vegetarian community, other vegan Worcestershire sauce brands like Annie’s are much more flavorful options. If you’re willing to put in the effort, you can also try our recipe for anchovy-less Worcestershire sauce.
