I compared barbecue burgers from Burger King, Shake Shack, and Smashburger. The winner tasted surprisingly premium.

3 hours ago 2

Tart, crunchy pickles, fried onions, and a hearty slathering of tangy, smoky barbecue sauce: that's what the best barbecue burgers are made of.

For many people, barbecue sauce is a summer staple. The flavor profile is everywhere, from backyard cookouts to sit-down restaurants. Barbecue burgers are also a seasonal staple at many fast-food chains, but not all are created equal.

To find out which one deserves your money, I tried different barbecue burgers from Burger King, Shake Shack, and Smashburger and ranked them based on taste, quality, and value.

Here's how three fast-food barbecue burgers ranked, from worst to best.

My least favorite of the three burgers I tried came from Smashburger.

Smashburger, a Colorado-based chain now found across 27 states and Washington, DC, sells a barbecue bacon smash burger for $10.86, excluding tax and fees, at my nearest location in Brooklyn, New York. It was the cheapest of the three burgers I tried.

The burger came topped with pieces of crispy onions.

The burger came topped with cheddar cheese, applewood smoked bacon, crispy fried onions, and barbecue sauce.

Beneath a pile of crispy onion bits, I could clearly see the barbecue sauce, although overall, the burger looked and felt a little dry when I picked it up.

I loved the bacon on this burger, but the burger was let down by an overcooked patty and the onions.

The crispy onions seemed to soak up a lot of the moisture from the beef patty and the sauce in my mouth, leaving a dry bite.

The burger patty was also dry and well-done.

I understand that how a burger is cooked is a matter of personal preference. However, I'm not a fan of any burger cooked past medium, so this well-done patty simply wasn't doing it for me.

The cheese on the burger I was served also wasn't melted enough to provide enough moisture to counteract the dryness of the burger.

However, the bacon on this burger blew me away. It was smoky and perfectly cooked.

The barbecue burger from Burger King landed in the middle of my ranking.

I ordered the BBQ bacon Whopper Jr. and added cheese. It cost $5.92, excluding tax and fees.

The burger had classic toppings like lettuce, tomato, and onion.

The burger was served on a sesame seed bun and topped with barbecue sauce, mayonnaise, pickles, and strips of crispy bacon.

The condiments, cheese, and juicy tomato added a lot of moisture to this burger, but it wasn't soggy.

A generous amount of every topping created a balanced bite.

I would order this burger again, but it didn't blow me away.

The bacon was crispy, though not as flavorful as the bacon from the other two burgers I tried. However, I thought this was a great classic cheeseburger. The onions, lettuce, and tomato were fresh, and the beef was juicy while still retaining a smoky, chargrilled flavor.

However, it tasted similar to a classic Whopper, and I didn't get a strong barbecue flavor, which is what I was looking for.

Still, for just under $6, it was a good value.

My favorite burger came from Shake Shack.

Shake Shack, which has US locations in 36 states and territories, offers the Smoky Classic barbecue burger.

I ordered the classic version, which is topped with fried onions and bacon. It cost $13.29, excluding tax and fees, making it the most expensive burger of the bunch.

The burger came piled high with toppings and a hearty slathering of tangy barbecue sauce.

The barbecue sauce was generously spread across the soft bun and layered throughout the burger. I was especially impressed by the thick pickle slices and the generous helping of crispy onions and bacon.

The cheese was perfectly melted, and the onions were crispy and mouthwatering.

The cheese was evenly coated over every inch of the thin, crispy patty, and the bun held everything together while still remaining soft.

This Shake Shack burger blew me away. It tasted restaurant-quality.

Though thin and crispy, the burger was still perfectly cooked at medium, and the onions, though crispy, weren't hard, crunchy, or dry like the ones on the Smashburger cheeseburger I tried.

Rather than bits of cut-up onions that didn't have much flavor, these onions were more like onion rings, instantly transporting me back to summer carnivals and roadside stands.

The pickles added a tart, crunchy flavor, and this was the only burger where I really tasted the barbecue sauce. It was smoky yet light, with a slight vinegar note that balanced the richer flavors of the cheese, beef, and bacon.

Though it was the most expensive burger, I thought it was well worth the slightly higher price.