What is Your Favorite Hot Sauce?

[IFindZeroBadCooks]

I despise Tabasco based hot sauces and recently found a local hot sauce that uses ghost peppers to create a nice heat but not pain. No links to share unfortunately (it is really local and home-based I figure). My local store selection is utter junk and mostly Tabasco varieties.

Makes me wonder what y’all favorite hot sauces are? It would be great to see some recommendations that are available online for easy ordering.

[Ernest]

I'm not a fan of Hot sauce because I think it's overused and masks the actual food. But I do
keep a bottle of WEAK KNEES at all times. It's a blend of Gochujang and Sriracha. It's very mild with just the right amount of kick

[Loren]

Secret Aardvark Trading Co Habanero Sauce is my favorite. The Jamaican Jerk sauce is good too.

https://secretaardvark.com

[Loren]

I'm hopelessly addicted to it; I've even set aside money to buy cases since I haven't seen it here in Texas

[Attjack]

I guess I'm lucky that they're local.

[nvgraham]

1. I was also going to mention Secret Aardvark - love that stuff.
2. Not sure where you are in TX, but you can get it here if you ever find yourself in the Houston area - https://www.iburn.com/

[smokin fool]

Agree most stores sell green apple, red apple, yellow apple varieties of hot sauce.
We like Piri Piri sauce you get with Portuguese chicken locally.
Have started buying Cholula since it was recommended from this site.
I've started taking it easier with hot sauces lately, I used to be nuts about heat, now going for self-preservation.

[Michael_in_TX]

I only recently tried Tapatio. Wow....that is some good stuff and only $0.87/5 oz here.

[Panhead John]

Apple and Hot Sauce? Really, what’s next? Pineapple in your chili? 😂

[SmokingPat]

Memories.
Then: "I'll take the hot/red sauce, please." 🤤
Now: "I'll take the mild/green sauce. (Looks uncomfortably at the table.) 😔

[Jfrosty27]

Not a big fan of HOT sauces. I feel they mask the real flavor of the dish in exchange for pure heat. I like Chalula (spelling?) It adds flavor with very mild heat.

[Jerod Broussard]

Every so often I put some Cholula on my ramen noodles and egg. I have some Louisiana Hot Sauce to pep up the soft tacos from Taco Bell. Tabasco Chipotle for everything else when I want some heat.

[Panhead John]

Sorry. This is my favorite hot sauce. You didn’t ask to exclude Tobasco, just said you hated it. It enhances the flavor of chili and gumbo in my opinion. Just don’t over do it. Great with other dishes too.

EDIT: The reason I like this so much is for the actual flavor of this sauce. Frank’s to me, is overrated. I know a lot of people like it and I really wanted to like it too, but for the actual flavor, don’t really care for it. There’s a lot of hot sauces I’ve tried over the years....most of them are just actually hot, but without a pleasing taste. Some have been decent tasting, but this is what I stick with.

[Washblue]

There was a chef on the north side of Atlanta that put Tabasco in her coconut cake…. And her restaurant desserts were famous…. Tabasco is tradition here at our house and rattling around in truck glove boxes, tractor tool boxes in case farm lunch box bottles run out

[shify]

I’m a big hot sauce fan. Not a put it on everything kind of guy, but a regular user of hot sauces and about 10 in my fridge now. I don’t have one favorite but do have some regulars.

El Yucateco Green Habanero is my workhorse. Use it most often. It is basically my ketchup. Did fries in it, put it on eggs, add to grilled cheese, etc.

others that I am enjoying now include:
- Secret Aardvark which goes really well with bbq as it has other spices which remind me of bbq rubs.
- Melindas 2020 XXXXtra reserve picked this up at the supermarket on a whim and am really enjoying the flavor.
- a random mango one I bought from a street vendor in St John USVI which is fricken delicious and very spicy. No label to help me figure out who this lady was but I love it. Wish I could get more
- Frank’s - a must have for wings or gumbo/jambalaya

[Bkhuna]

El Yucateco is great stuff.
Ever had the Black Label?

[skip4313]

As a Marylander I always grab this if I see it on the shelf. Great on scrambled eggs and Bloody Marys...

[SheilaAnn]

Never knew they had a hot sauce. Must be regional.

[lonnie mac]

When this stuff came out a couple years ago I went to the ends of the earth to get it. It's good. Not like my Tabasco, but love this stuff in bloody marys!

[dtresca]

I really like the sauces from a local company here in Nebraska, Volcanic Peppers.

http://volcanicpeppers.com/

Thor's Hammer and Chocolate Lightning are my favorites.

Also, Hot Licks Serrano from San Diego is a nice "goes on everything" hot sauce.

[Polarbear777]

I’m a fan of their Aleppo version.

[Mojo0209]

Grew up using Tabasco, tried a lot of others. When I use them up, I always pick up Tabasco. Original, chipotle and habanero r a pretty good heat range for me. I do like the Stubbs hot wing sauce tho. Frank’s is good for wings, not crazy about it on other things tho.

[Panhead John]

Can’t beat McIlhenny’s Tobasco Sauce! With ya on that!

[SheilaAnn]

I like the green on oysters

[rickgregory]

Tracking this as a butcher near me has several hundred hot sauces so I can get most of what you all suggest. Love to hear matches too (I put X on Food Y)..

In the house right now I have Louisiana Hot Sauce, El Tapatio and something else that I'm spacing on

[Argoboy]

I do not care for vinegar based hot sauces like Tabasco or Franks, I do like sriracha sauce but mostly I make my own fermented hot sauce from the jalapeño and habanero peppers that I grow. I also make Meatheads controlled burn sauce.

[glitchy]

I’ve been trying all kinds of flavors from different brands lately and I come back to various Tabasco flavors, especially the Chipotle, Chalula Green was really good, I wiped out that bottle in a couple weeks, most of the others got tried numerous times and tossed. I tried a big variety box from Melindas and didn’t care for the milder flavors much at all and the others are good but too hot. I need to try Franks and Louisiana again. I know I like them both on fried chicken but have never bought a bottle to try at home on other stuff. Family has been making fun of me when I have 4 bottles of hot sauce one the table for a lot of meals, but my wife and daughter will eat the same thing day after day.

Ive also tired about 10-20 each of different salsas and bbq sauces too this year. For BBQ sauce I keep coming back to 3 different sweet baby ray’s and one local when I don’t make my own. Most of what I tried was competition teams and premium brands. Some were good, but usually only on one thing (for many of them it was pulled pork). I want some variety in sauces that will go on beef and chicken too. Salsa...nothing seems to touch pace picante for canned stuff.

[Mojo0209]

Tabasco Chipotle for steak tacos and BBQ. Original Tabasco or habanero on clams and seafood. Original in chili with maybe some habanero. I’m sure there r a lot of good ones out there, Tabasco is easily available and I have grown up with it.