A Frame Datil Pepper Sauce
St. Augustine, Florida is home to the datil pepper, a super-spicy pepper similar to a scotch bonnet. One of my favorite hot sauces that features the datil pepper is the A Frame Datil Pepper Sauce. The sweet and spicy hot sauce can be used in a variety of ways. Think of it as an alternative to hot honey, with a thick honey-like consistency, but with little flecks of datil pepper throughout. If you think a sweet and spicy kick is what your favorite meal needs then this is the right sauce.
Pssthot Sauce Isn’t Actually That Hard To Make At Home We Promise
Welcome to Out of the Kitchen, our ongoing exploration of Americas coolest food artisans. Over the next few months, were apprenticing with the best knife forgers, cider brewers, and spice blenders, then bringing their knowledge and expertise back to our home kitchensand to yours.
Hey! Do you want to know a secret? It’s a secret about hot saucesand you like hot sauces, right? Well, look, I’ve tried a lot of them, from Tabasco and Sriracha to nameless concoctions in unlabeled, reused Lucozade bottles from second-tier Caribbean islands. I’ve nibbled sky-facing chiles in Chongqing housing complexes and filled bags with dried miraciels in Chiapas markets. I’ve eaten raw Reapers and lived to tell the tale. And most recently, I observed Ariel Fliman and Brian Ballan, the guys behind A& B American Style, as they whipped up an enormous batch of their flavorful pepper sauce in Queens.
Now, after taking their advice and making hot sauce in my own home kitchen, I can reveal the secret: Making hot sauce is really pretty easy.
In my own years of making hot sauces at home, I’ve come up with some I loved and others that were perfectly fine if I didn’t think too hard about them. This year, though, I wanted to be more mindful of the process, and so I set out to create one sauce that would hew to A& B’s principles, if not their precise recipe: simple, fresh ingredients you actually want to taste , simmered in a bath of white vinegar, puréed into a crimson slurry. Oh, and no added sugar.
Hot And Creamy: Formosa Chipotle Hot Sauce
Heat level: Mild
Flavor: One of the most distinct hot sauces I tasted, this creamy sauce has the consistency and texture of a loose mayonnaise, thanks to a vegetable-oil emulsion. It’s hot, but that creaminess provides nice balance. After water, tomatillos are the main ingredient, but the flavors of smoky chipotle and cumin come through strongest. This would be a great sauce for burgers and sandwiches.
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Best Overall: Secret Aardvark Habanero Hot Sauce
Size: 4 fluid ounces | Sugar: N/A | Heat rating: Medium
If you love hot sauce, why not make your own? This handy kit includes two different spice blends that will let you make two different 4-ounce bottles of hot sauce. One spice mix is fruity and smoky, while the other has citrus and herbal notes. It only takes a few minutes to prep the hot sauce mix, and then it needs to age for three daysâso youâll have your own hot sauce blend in no time. The bottles with corks are included, along with a fine-mesh strainer and a stainless steel funnel, so you can continue experimenting with your own spice mixes after youâve made and used your first batches.
If the kit gets you inspired to make your own hot sauce, your possibilities are endless. Trevor Sullivan, owner of Pingala Cafe and Broccoli Barâtwo vegan hotspots in Vermontâoften uses hot sauce to heat up his dishes. He recommends making this tropical hot sauce:
Heat coconut oil in a pan and throw in a fistful of coriander seed. Just as the coriander finishes toasting, add carrot, onion, garlic, and fresh ginger and allow to sweat. After some caramelization on the onion, add a 2:1 ratio of water to white vinegar. Bring to a simmer. After the carrot is cooked through, transfer ingredients to a high-powered blender and add in fresh habanero peppersâseeds and all. Season with salt to taste. Should be the viscosity of Sriracha.
The Generals Hot Sauce Heat Seeker
I mean, if something is served to you in a frag grenade-shaped bottle, what are you going to expect? The Generals Hot Sauce Heat Seeker is meant to razzle, dazzle, and put hair on your knuckles. You get three epic sauces in this pack, and each contain at least 86% real peppers, despite most sauces only having around a fifth of the bottle. Thats pretty good, and keeps things natural while keeping products sourced from right here in the United States.
We were going to say something about the flavor being explosive, but thats a pretty bad pun, yknow? That would be cheap of us but the flavor will leave you a bit shell-shocked. Theres a very small concentration of vinegar in here, so you wont get that lip-puckering, but youll get all the heat. Dead Red, Danger Close, or Shock & Awepick your spicy poison, and let the rest be history. Our guide to the best pizza stones features some excellent products for your kitchen, so check them out.
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Hoff & Pepper Smoken Ghost Hot Sauce
Best for breakfast
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Heat: 17/20
TOTAL: 92/100
If youve always considered yourself a mustard person , were about to change your condiment shelf forever. Captain Mowatts red chile-infused yellow mustard is equal parts zesty, spicy and garlicky. The heat is mild but cant be ignored the peppers play off mustards natural spice beautifully. This hybrid brings together the bright, tangy flavors of yellow mustard with traditional hot sauce ingredients like chile peppers and garlic, says senior social strategy and trends editor Michaela Magliochetti. I love drizzling it onto veggie sausages and mixing it into chickpea or tuna salad. Our suggestion? Use it any time youd reach for standard mustard, like for flavored mayo spreads or aiolis, sandwiches, soft pretzels or hot dogs.
Daves Gourmet Ghost Pepper Hot Sauce
Review Highlights:
Daves Gourmet Ghost Pepper Hot Sauce is an EXTREMELY HOT sauce. Although its personally a little too hot for my liking, the rest of my taste-testers absolutely loved it! So overall, this sauce is not for the weak but if you like em hot, this may be one to try. Read the full review here or
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Kenji’s Favorite Fiery Condiments On The Market
This article was originally published in 2017. It has since been reformatted for ease of browsing and updated to reflect what sauces are available as of 2021.
Naming a “best” hot sauce is an impossible task, akin to naming a best episode of MacGyver or a best style of dumpling. Different hot sauces fulfill different needs, and I wouldn’t want anyone to live in a world in which each fridge held only one bottle. In that spirit, I won’t even attempt to limit my hot sauce recommendations to a single best, or even to a top five or 10. Nope: These are 28 of my favorite hot sauces. I can tell you from experience that if you are planning on attempting this kind of taste test, give yourself a few weeks to space it out, stock plenty of milk and white rice, and keep your plumber’s number on speed dial.
Figuring out where to even begin selecting candidates from the thousands of hot sauces bottled and sold in this country is no mean feat. I started by harnessing the power of social media and asked you all for your recommendations. Anything that got a mention, I researched anything that got more than a couple of mentions, I bought and tasted. I also considered recommendations from renowned chili-heads like Bill Moore and Scott Roberts, and looked over lists from other major publications.
Finally, I limited my selection to hot sauces that are distributed to stores nationwide or available for purchase online.
Queen Majesty Scotch Bonnet Hot Sauce
Really hot sauce, really good flavor. Queen Majesty has been featured in the hit YouTube show Hot Ones in multiple seasons, and continues to be a fan favorite of hot sauce lovers everywhere. Its not designed to burn your taste buds off or sear the inside of your mouth instead, youre going to get a perfect blend of spices and heat without driving you insane and making you dunk your entire head in a vat of milk.
Its just 9,000 on the Scoville scale, and while thats enough to pack a punch, its not going to knock you out. This is built for those who enjoy heat and love flavor its vegan friendly, contains no sugar, and doesnt hit hard on the carbs either. Just the right amount of sweet and heat for you to keep your feet planted in your seat, and keep on eating. For more tasty food, check out our guide to the best beef jerky.
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Tastes Like Fancy Booze: Blis Blast Hot Pepper Sauce
Heat level: Mild
Flavor: BLiS is a chef’s hot sauce. The creators are probably most famous for their bourbon-barrel-aged maple syrup, and that syrup plays a unique role in their hot sauce. No, the sauce doesn’t contain any actual maple syrup, but the sauce base, made from cayenne, árbol, and chipotle chilies, is aged for a year in barrels that have previously aged bourbon, maple syrup, and Founders Kentucky Breakfast Stout. The result is a hot sauce with an insanely complex, layered flavor profile that you’ll almost want to sip from a whiskey glass.
Marie Sharps Pure Mango Habanero Pepper Sauce
Best fruity hot sauce
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Heat: 17/20
TOTAL: 92/100
Freshly pulped mango meets sharp fresh garlic, hand-chopped white onion and yellow habanero peppers to create a tropical hot sauce for the books. Fruit vinegar, fresh-squeezed Key lime juice and Belizean sea salt offer it unique, citrusy nuance. Sweet with a slight kick, mango number is prime for seafood, salad dressings, tacos, cheese boards and Latin and Caribbean dishes across the board. Were also betting its a killer addition to shrimp or chicken marinade, as well as salsa or guacamole.
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The Pepper Plant Original Hot Sauce
Review Highlights:
This is a delicious sauce that brings a touch of spice and flavor to anything you desire. It has a medium spice level, so nothing too hot or overwhelming. And it has a well-rounded garlic and pepper flavor with a touch of spice. I would love to try this is a Bloody Mary! Read the full review here or
Franks Redhot Original Cayenne Pepper Sauce
Best for wings
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Heat: 16/20
TOTAL: 93/100
If youre on the hunt for a versatile, medium heat hot sauce that you can shake onto literally anything, look no further than this blend of aged cayenne peppers, distilled vinegar, salt and garlic powder. Its simple ingredients deliver a clean, sour heat that can complement just about any dish. Franks is my dependable, go-to hot sauceno matter what time of day it is or what dish Im eating, says editorial assistant Stephanie Meraz. Franks has incredibly balanced flavor to heat ratio, where they both have their shining moments and neither one overpowers the other. Mix it with melted butter for the easiest Buffalo-style wing sauce of all time.
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Heat: 17/20
TOTAL: 92/100
When you think of big-brand Mexican hot sauces, Tapatío and Cholula are likely the first to come to mind. But wed argue that Valentina is severely underrated, since it has balanced, vinegary heat and a luxurious, silky texture that enhances everything from tacos to eggs. What I love most about Valentina is the texture, says senior editor of branded content Kelsey Paine. Its a bit thicker and adds substance to your dish just disappearing into the fold. And while its not necessarily very spicy, it adds a depth of flavor to whatever you add it to. Kelseys recommendation? Have it on the side of a Mexican lager with lime and chile salt for a cheaters michelada. To save a few cents more, go with Tapatío Salsa Picante.
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Adoboloco Hamajang Smoked Ghost Pepper Hot Sauce
I know Ive mentioned a few hot sauces already, but please just hear me out on one more. Hamajang, from Hawaii-based Adoboloco, is perfect for when you actually want to feel some long, lingering heat. Its made from both ghost and habanero peppers, and, while that might sound intimidating, I wouldnt say its oh-god-get-me-some-milk hot. This sauce has the perfect balance of peppery spice and sweet tang , and theres also a hint of smokiness thrown in. Toss something on the grill, then add a dab of this stuff.
– Bryan Kim
Get Adoboloco Hamajang Smoked Ghost Pepper Hot Sauce
Tabasco Green Pepper Sauce
Review Highlights:
Tabasco Green Pepper Hot Sauce is one of my favorite sauces. The tabasco sauce has a medium burn and adds the perfect touch of flavor to almost anything. After cooking it into my chicken, it lost a little bit of the spice. I prefer the uncooked taste because I love the medium spice to this hot sauce. Read the full review here or
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The Fermentation Of Homemade Hot Sauce:
Dont get scared away from the idea of fermenting peppers to make hot sauce! Fermentation is a big word, but luckily chilies are some of the easiest foods to ferment.
Both the heat of the chilies, the salt, and garlic that are added to the mix help prevent unwanted bacteria from growing, while the naturally occurring good bacteria on the produce itself is able to culture.
Fermenting the peppers helps the flavor develop and helps preserve the hot sauce. I dont do a long fully fermented version of this hot sauce, where the pepper mash made in the first step is submerged fully in brine and left to ferment for 1-2 weeks .
But we get a bit of fermentation going and then let it at room temperature.
Gator Hammock Gator Sauce + Oysters
A post shared by Southern Food Junkie on Dec 22, 2017 at 3:48pm PST
Anytime I visit Florida, oysters and Gator Sauce are in order. Snagging a bottle from the market, we head on over to our favorite seafood shack and order up a plate of fried oysters.
The hot sauce has a thicker consistency that lies somewhere between the average hot sauce and cocktail sauce, making it perfect for a seafood pairing. Made fresh with aged cayenne peppers, vinegar, garlic, spices and “no MSG or artificial substances”, Gator Sauce was meant for oysters.
The mixture of heat and vinegar compliments the umami, fatty flavor of fried oysters in a way that only this sauce could. If you’re choosing fried oysters – or fresh, for that matter – then you need the bite of the Gator. Add a splash of lemon or lime juice, and you’ve got the perfect pairing.
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What Food Do People Usually Put Hot Sauce On
First, you must note that your diet plays a big role when it comes to picking the kind of foods you garnish with a hot sauce. If you are a strict vegetarian, its obvious you wont be using the hot sauce as much as you should. However, you can find yourself using the hot sauce a lot, if you are the kind of person with a large appetite for various types of food.
A well flavored hot sauce can come in handy with quick snacks like your popcorn it elevates the taste of the popcorn, giving you that yummy and drizzling feeling altogether. Apparently, its healthier to have a bowl of spicy popcorn than having a bottle of soda and candy on a movie night out.
You can step up your game by having your eggs spiced up for breakfast making them a whole lot tastier.
Adding hot sauce to your burger upgrades its taste from the average, especially if its coated with some onions. You can also step up your regular Friday dinner by garnishing your pizza with some drizzling hot sauce. Mixing your hot sauce with a cup of hot chocolate will obviously keep your warm during winter.
In fact, you can decide to add hot sauce to as many meals as you want, as long as you are cool with the hot!
Ingredients For The Hot Pepper Sauce:
- Peppers : the absolute STAR of the hot sauce. Make sure you pick the type of pepper that has the best flavor youre looking for. This is the dominant flavor in this sauce, so choose it wisely
- Garlic
- Vinegar
- Olive oil
- Herbs : Cilantro and a touch of mint
- Optional: Sweet bell pepper to balance out the heat.
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Heat Factory Sweet Heat
Best mild
- Heat: 16/20
TOTAL: 89/100
718 exclusively uses fresh, natural ingredients that are rich in nutrients and antioxidants and free of artificial preservatives and additives. Its base boasts apple cider and distilled vinegars and spicy habanero peppers. Pineapple cuts through the dry, vinegary heat and shines brightest with its tropical acidity. Mango offers just the right dose of sweetness to the bottle, so the final product is impeccably balanced and palatable. It tastes good on everything from eggs and pizza to tofu and veggies, and its prime for pairing with Asian, Latin and Caribbean dishes. Backend engineer Christina Chiu loves adding a few dashes of Sweet Heat to pho, as well as 718s Herbal Alchemy hot sauce to empanadas.
