Ranking The Best (And Worst) Hot Sauces To Spice Up Your Plate
Hot sauce is one of those staple condiments, right beside ketchup and mustard. It adds a kick to otherwise bland foods and adds an extra flavor profile that delights your taste buds.
There's no real limit to where you can add spice, be it hot dogs, your breakfast scrambled eggs, mac and cheese, and really, too many options to list. But the wrong hot sauce can ruin a dish, adding too much unnecessary flavor or even too much heat to really enjoy your meal. See which hot sauces were named the best, and which were the worst!
Best: Tapatío
This Mexican-style hot sauce was created in California and has a red pepper flavor that allows the sauce to go with a variety of dishes, from tacos, pizza, chicken, pasta, and much more.
Sitting at 3,000 SHU or Scoville heat units, the sauce isn't overpowering but offers just enough heat to liven up your meal.
Worst: Frank's RedHot Original sauce
Frank's Red Hot is a regular addition to Buffalo sauce, so it's no surprise that this is what many people think of when tasting the sauce.
A very mild sauce sitting at only 450 SHU, the sauce adds more of that characteristic tangy vinegar flavor that doesn't work with all dishes. It also has a high sodium content which means you can't necessarily add more without risking adding too much salt to your meal.
Best: El Yucateco Chile Habanero - Red Salsa
El Yucateco's Chile Habanero classic red salsa manages to dilute the spicy habanero pepper into a delicious hot sauce that imparts habanero flavoring into your dishes.
Because of this, the sauce pairs best with tacos but fits alongside nachos and pizza. At 5,790 SHU, the sauce has noticeable heat without being overpowering.
Worst: Valentina - Red Label
Valentina has a noticeable sweet chili flavor that is tangy and mild. It comes in on 900 SHU for the red label bottle (that is, the classic yellow bottle), offering more flavor than heat, which might be disappointing to spice aficionados.
But due to its watery consistency, Valentina works best mixed in with marinades rather than poured over dishes.
Best: Cholula Hot Sauce
Another classic Mexican hot sauce, Cholula hot sauce manages to combine spicy, sweet and citrus with a smoky twist. It pairs best with Mexican dishes, although it does a well-rounded flavor that works with many dishes, including pizza, eggs, rice, etc.
The sauce carries heat, with a rating of 1,000 SHU, it manages to perfectly combine spice and flavor.
Worst: Louisiana Brand Hot Sauce
Louisiana Brand Hot Sauce is another sauce that's strong on the vinegar, and mild in heat. At 450 SHU, anyone using this sauce will have to add a lot more of the sauce in order to get any noticeable heat.
And with the primary flavors being vinegar and cayenne pepper, the flavor and lack of heat don't make this sauce particularly noteworthy.
Best: Tabasco Original Red Sauce
Tabasco hot sauce is a Louisiana-style hot sauce that is a staple across American restaurants. The heat in this sauce is encapsulated by vinegar and comes in around 2,500 SHU, sure to fit in with everyone's heat preferences.
The sauce also has a low sodium content, so you can add as much heat as you need without the extra salt.
Worst: El Yucateco Black Label Reserve Chile Habenero
This black habanero sauce from El Yucateco is made from charred habanero peppers, offering a smokey flavor. Many find the smokey flavor to be overwhelming rather than subtle.
Because of this, the sauce doesn't pair easily with many dishes, and can easily overpower them, and with a SHU rating of 9,285, the smokiness and heat of the sauce won't appeal to everyone.
Best: Huy Fong Sriracha Hot Chili Sauce
An iconic hot sauce, Huy Fong's Sriracha Hot Chili Sauce is spicy with strong flavors. The chili peppers combine with the strong garlic notes to create a sweet and tangy flavor that can be added to many dishes but especially pairs well with Asian dishes.
At 2,200 SHU, the sauce offers a medium heat with all the flavor.
Worst: Satan's Blood Hot Sauce
Satan's Blood Hot Sauce is not necessarily a sauce, but more of a chili pepper extract with red wine vinegar. The "sauce" is so hot that it leaves your skin feeling like it's burning upon contact.
At 800,000 SHU, it can't be eaten by itself, and the flavor itself leaves much to be desired.
Best: Grace Scotch Bonnet Sauce (Hot)
Grace Scotch Bonnet Sauce is a Jamaican hot sauce that combines the taste of Scotch Bonnet peppers with cane vinegar and cane sugar, adding a tropical hint to this hot sauce.
With medium heat and an undisclosed SHU rating, this sauce packs a flavor that pairs well with pizza but especially complements foods with jerk seasoning and other traditional Caribbean dishes.
Best: Dave's Insanity Sauce
Compared to most of the super-hot sauces on this list, Dave's Insanity Sauce actually did try to build on the flavors while still providing intense heat. Coming in at 180,000 SHU, this is definitely a sauce to use sparingly.
With tomato paste and hints of garlic, the sauce can complement foods since you'll likely only add a drop or two in order to add flavor but not heat.
Worst: Texas Pete Original Hot Sauce
Texas Pete Original Hot Sauce is a straightforward hot sauce with no frills - unless you count the high sodium in the bottle.
With a watery consistency, the hot sauce is also on the very end of mild with around 400 SHU.
Best: Truff Hotter Sauce
The hottest version of the Truff Hot Sauce brand, combining black truffle and black truffle powder concentrate with Jalapeño peppers and red habanero powder.
The sauce has a sweet character to it, which, along with the medium heat at 5,000 SHU, suggests that it would pair nicely with pizzas, pasta, salads, and meats.
Worst: Taco Bell Hot Sauce
Taco Bell's hot sauce has a distinct flavor that's recognizable right off the bat, with typical Tex-Mex flavorings of cumin, garlic, chili powder, and onion powder. The Fire sauce has 500 SHU, with the hotter Diablo at an undisclosed rating.
But the biggest problem with the Taco Bell hot sauces? The number of additives that make up the ingredient list.
Best: Secret Aardvark Habanero Hot Sauce
The flavor in Secret Aardvark Habanero Hot Sauce features roasted tomatoes, habanero pepper, spices, and a SHU rating of 5,000.
Well balanced with flavor and heat, the hot sauce works well on a variety of dishes, from pizza to burgers, and even as a dipping sauce for fries.
Worst: Trappey’s Red Devil Cayenne Pepper Sauce
Despite being marketed as a super-hot sauce, Trappey's Red Devil Cayenne Pepper Sauce offers a mild take on the hot cayenne pepper, sitting at around 1,000 SHU.
This suggests that the other ingredients in the sauce dilute the pepper by a considerable amount. Other than the lower-than-expected heat, the sauce is also high in sodium.
Best: Casa Firelli
Casa Firelli hot sauce is made especially for pizza. The Italian company created the hot sauce with a gentler kick and complex flavors to enhance pizza without overpowering.
It's also worth adding to pasta dishes, burgers, and more.
Worst: Crystal Hot Sauce
Crystal Hot Sauce shares many characteristics with other Louisiana-style hot sauces, with the key difference being the flavor of pepper mash taking on a more prominent role. The heat is more on the mild side sitting at roughly 2,000 SHU.
The biggest issue with Crystal Hot Sauce, though, is the high sodium levels. With a mediocre flavor profile in addition to the high sodium, this makes the sauce a pass.
Best: Hot Ones “The Classic” Hot Sauce
Hot Ones "The Classic" Hot Sauce, has an interesting array of flavors packed in the bottle, with chile de árbol as its chosen pepper, giving a maple-like taste to the sauce, and garlic.
The sauce is a mild to medium heat, at 1,500 SHU, allowing it to be enjoyed by many, and offering an overall pleasant eating experience that won't leave your taste buds on fire.
Worst: Hillside Harvest Sun Kissed Tomato Sauce
What sounds like an intriguing marriage of traditional hot sauce with tomatoes - think a spicy pasta sauce, or perhaps a richer version of the standard habanero sauce - is fairly disappointing.
Reviewers criticize this offering for being more tomato sauce than hot sauce - essentially a boring barbecue sauce.
Best: Yellowbird Habanero Hot Sauce
Habanero hot sauces can be tricky to do right, as it's all too easy for the heat to overwhelm the other flavors. But Yellowbird's offerings offer a balanced punch.
For those who want more natural foods, Yellowbird is a great choice as many of their ingredients are organic and free from additives.
Worst: Goya Hot Sauce
Goya is known for their canned beans, but considering how well beans can pair with hot sauce, you'd think they would know their stuff.
Unfortunately, Goya hot sauce does very little to stand out in the taste department, and comes packed with more sodium and additives than most other brands.
Best: Woodstock Habanero Pepper Hot Sauce
Fans of smooth hot sauces may not like this one, as it tends to be on the chunkier side. But this marriage of salsa and hot sauce works quite well together.
MSN.com praised Woodstock's offering for its hot, sweet flavor, saying it would pair nicely with seafood dishes.
Worst: La Victoria Salsa Brava
Is La Victoria's Salsa Brava a truly brave hot sauce? Ehh...it's nothing special. The sauce does include a hit of tomato, which makes it unique - but the ingredients might give some pause.
One of the leading ingredients of this sauce is modified food starch - in other words, unnecessary processed carbs.
Best: Melinda's Original Habanero Hot Sauce
This one might be tricky to find as not all grocery stores or restaurants carry it, but it's certainly worth a try if you ever do see a bottle.
Melinda's takes the pure heat of habanero and smooths it out with subtler sweet and smoky tones, making for a pleasingly full-bodied sauce.
Worst: Mike's Hot Honey
Honey can be a great garnish for all kinds of dishes, from chicken to pizza, and Mike's does not disappoint in this area.
Where it does fall short, unfortunately, is in the 'hot' realm. While it's infused with chilies, it tastes basically just like honey, with hardly any hot kick to it.
Best: Sauces by Jrk! Bonnet Hot Sauce
The brand name might be a tad awkward, but this lineup of sauces should fit right into the lineup of any hot sauce aficionado.
This sauce offers the customary kick of heat, but the addition of scotch bonnet peppers gives it a slightly bright, fruity acidity.
Worst: Steve-O's Hot Sauce
Steve-O has had a fantastic late career renaissance, and if you follow the former Jackass star, you're probably already familiar with his hot sauce.
Unfortunately, this hot sauce is watery and insipid, despite the inclusion of unique ingredients like nala jolokia peppers.
Best: Rhed's Original Hot Sauce
Rhed's Hot Sauce originates from an area that isn't exactly known for spicy food - Rhode Island to be exact. Still, this is an interesting offering.
Serious Eats ranks Rhed's particularly highly for its garlicky hit, which goes particularly well with breakfast items like homefries and eggs.
Worst: Hot Ones The Last Dab: XXX
Some people claim to like the hottest possible hot sauces on the market, but in our opinion, there's such thing as "too hot" - and this sauce easily crosses that threshold.
Just a drop of this hot sauce is probably enough to destroy your taste buds - and with its wide neck bottle, you're likely to get more than just a drop.
Best: Siete Hot Sauce
If you like your hot sauce to have a little bit of added intrigue, Siete might just be for you. It's made not with standard white vinegar, but apple cider vinegar, adding a unique complexity.
The tanginess of the apple cider vinegar is counterbalanced by jalapeno and goya peppers, making for a satisfying mouthfeel.
Worst: Jersey Girl Masala Hot Sauce
Credit to Jersey Girl for trying something unique. This sauce has low sodium levels and some truly distinctive ingredients, including a multitude of different pepper varieties.
Unfortunately, editors from Let's Eat Cake said that Jersey Girl's offering tastes a little bit flat - and even bitter - despite its lofty ambitions.
Best: Bushwick Kitchen Sriracha
Huy Fong might make the most classic sriracha, but it's always worth exploring new variations on this classic formula. Bushwick Kitchen, as evidenced by its name, is based out of Brooklyn, and makes a banger of a sriracha.
Tasting Table even ranks Bushwick's sauce above the classic Huy Fong sriracha, praising it for being tangy, sweet, and garlicky.