Spice Up Your Life
Whether you’re an experienced spice fiend who likes a hot sauce that’ll knock you in the mouth, or you just wish to add a slight kick to your food, you want a hot sauce that tastes good. Sauces that are spicy as well as tasty are surprisingly hard to come by. That’s why we compiled a list of the best and worst hot sauces to save you from disappointing spice encounters.
1. Yellow Bird Ghost Pepper
Our all-around favorite, this sauce contains all-natural, organic ingredients. It’s highly versatile, tomato-y, slightly smoky, and super spicy.
Photo by Moon Bhuyan on Unsplash
2. El Yucateco Exxxtra Picante
This brand has been on the scene for more than 50 years, gracing the world with its classic Mexican sauces. The Exxxtra Picante is inspired by an ancient Mayan recipe. It’s a nicely balanced hot sauce with a good amount of kick and smokiness.
Photo by RDNE Stock project on Pexels
3. Sriracha Hot Chili
This Thai sauce is hugely popular in the USA, and for good reason. It’s quite sweet and isn’t very spicy making for a highly accessible hot sauce that goes well on almost anything.
Photo by Chris Liverani on Unsplash
4. Nando’s Peri-Peri
Nando’s is a chain restaurant specializing in barbecue chicken, but they make a killer hot sauce too. Peri-peri is a Portuguese sauce made from red chilis and garlic. Nando’s version is spicy but not too spicy and is addictively tasty.
5. Angry Goat Sacrifice Fire-Roasted Habanero
Angry Goat fire roasts their hot peppers to bring out their sweetness and add smokiness to the sauce, then they mix them with winning ingredients like maple syrup, soy sauce, and ginger. The result is an incredibly satisfying and flavorful sauce that you’ll want to put on everything.
6. Adoboloco's Hawaiian Chili Pepper Water
Adoboloco's Hawaiian Chili Pepper Water is a staple in every Hawaiian household, and it’s clear why. The sauce’s simple ingredients work together to make a versatile sauce with a heat that builds.
Photo by Alena Shekhovtcova on Pexels
7. Bravado Spice Ghost Pepper Blueberry
You might recognize this sauce from the popular interview show “Hot Ones.” It’s a playful twist on a classic hot sauce with blueberries that mellow the ghost pepper to become deliciously balanced and a little sweet.
Photo by Lisa Fotios on Pexels
8. Trader Joe’s Habanero
If it’s not already, this hot sauce is about to become a staple in your house. It’s so delicious with a good amount of fruitiness to balance out the spice from the habanero.
Harrison Keely on Wikimedia Commons
9. TRUFF Black Truffle Infused
A bit of a departure from typical hot sauces, TRUFF combines spicey peppers with the funky umami flavors of truffle mushrooms. It’s to die for if you’re a fan of truffles.
Reuben Strayer on Wikimedia Commons
10. Secret Aardvark Habanero
Secret Aardvark’s flagship sauce is a combination of fire-roasted tomatoes and habanero peppers. The sauce is a perfect medium heat with plenty of fresh tomato flavor that enhances any meal.
Photo by Jairaj Swann on Unsplash
1. Frank’s Red Hot
We know this is a very popular sauce in the USA, but frankly, we don’t get the hype. It tastes mostly of vinegar and has very little spice.
Photo by Addilyn Ragsdill @clockworklemon.com on Unsplash
2. Valentina Salsa Picante
It’s strange that a country that’s an expert in all things spicy could come out with such a sad hot sauce. It isn’t spicy and it doesn’t even taste good.
Photo by Jonathan Reynaga on Pexels
3. Da Bomb Beyond Insanity
You might recognize this as the hot sauce that kills all the guests on Hot Ones. It’s a good example of a sauce that was made to hurt and not taste good at all.
fortune cookie on Wikimedia Commons
4. Tabasco
Another highly popular sauce in the USA, Tabasco is another head-scratcher for us. It’s very vinegar-forward and doesn’t taste like much else.
Photo by charlesdeluvio on Unsplash
5. Original Louisiana Brand
The brand has a slogan “not too hot, not too mild” but it absolutely is way too mild. What it lacks in spice though, it makes up for in sodium, hitting your mouth with an unpleasant salt bomb.
6. Texas Pete's
Texas Pete’s hot sauce is really made in North Carolina which may explain why it’s so bad. It has a bunch of additives like xanthan gum and sodium benzoate and is watery in both texture and flavor.
Photo by Janet Reddick from Pixabay
7. Trappey’s Red Devil Cayenne Pepper
Our biggest grievance with this sauce is that it’s far too vinegary and salty which buries any hint of spice from the cayenne. It leaves us wondering how this company has been in business for over 100 years.
Photo by John Bastian on Pexels
8. Mike's Hot Honey
Sweet and spicy pair beautifully so it’s no wonder someone tried to combine honey and chili and put it in a sellable format. Unfortunately, Mike’s Hot Honey falls flat as it’is really just honey. We would like it to be far spicier.
9. Crystal
Their slogan “how New Orleans does flavor” should be a slap in the face to NOLA. This sauce is too thin with a weak taste that quickly dissipates.
10. Hillside Harvest Sun Kissed Tomato
Putting “sun kissed tomato” in the name sets some high flavor expectations but sadly, the sauce doesn’t live up to them. It’s far too sweet and not spicy at all.
KEEP ON READING
The 5 Most Consumed Foods in the Entire World
