13 Best Hot Sauces That Add Fiery Flavor to Any Meal
We taste tested this spicy condiment to find the best brands.
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Whether you shake a few dashes on your morning egg recipe or use it to amp up your favorite chicken wing recipes, easy pasta, fish dish or BBQ salad recipe, the best hot sauce is one that adds fiery flavor and balanced heat to a variety of dishes — talk about versatile! Here in the Good Housekeeping Test Kitchen, we always make sure to keep a bottle — or three — of these healthy condiments on hand, but in order to find the very best store-bought hot sauce, we kicked it up a notch and tried more than 100 bottles to bring you our absolute favorites (let's just say the ice cream in the freezer came in very handy).
The sauces we sampled ran the entire gamut of flavors, from mild and fruity to smoky and acidic to straight-up tongue-scorching (more than one of our tasters expressed that their "eyeballs were sweating"). Of course, we couldn't pass up on the classic and most popular hot sauces, but our favorites also boast some out-of-the-box ingredients: think blueberries, mustard, and even fermented chiles (hello, probiotics!). Not a spice fiend? Not a problem — our round-up has something for everyone, whether you consider yourself a hot sauce novice or an off-the-Scoville-charts heat lover. So buckle up and read on for our top hot sauce picks, which are sure to take your next meal — tacos, soup, brunch recipes and so much more — to spicy, flavorful heights.
This drizzle-over-everything condiment masterfully balances sweet and salty flavors with warming spice and a clean heat, making it a super-versatile pairing to any meal. Pass the Sriracha!
Frank's RedHot Original Cayenne Pepper Sauce
Spicy in a classic, balanced way, this iconic bottle is a fan favorite, for good reason. It's an excellent base for your favorite chicken wing recipe, but you should also add a few dashes to your next Bloody Mary cocktail to cap things off with a welcome hit of heat.
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If you normally reach for a bottle of vinegar-based hot sauce, you'll be smitten with this ultra-versatile sauce that would work on everything from scrambled eggs to your go-to macaroni and cheese recipe (it cuts through the richness beautifully). The briny notes reminded us of olives, in the best way.
Heartbeat Hot Sauce Co. Blueberry Habanero Hot Sauce
The first ingredient in this stunner is blueberries, which makes for both a gorgeous purple-y chocolate hue and a burst of fruit-forward heat. A drizzle over homemade pizza makes for the ultimate sweet-savory-spicy mash-up (think "pineapple or hot honey on pizza" vibes, with more nuance and pep).
Secret Aardvark Smoky Aardvark Chipotle-Hab Sauce
The user-friendly bottle (easy squeezy!) initially drew us in, but the smoky, balanced heat kept us coming back for more — a tinge of vegetal sweetness from the tomatoes and carrots takes it over the top. Taco night just got way more exciting.
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Pain is Good Batch #114 Jamaican Style Hot Sauce
With an intense burn that sneaks up on you, this "delightfully painful," playfully-shaped bottle definitely lives up to its label. Jerk seasoning and pineapple juice add uber-flavorful, Jamaican-style flair to each bite — like a little party.
We loved the salty tang and subtle kick of this green pepper sauce, which features both jalapeños and poblanos for depth. The heat is present but not overwhelming, making it an ideal pick for spice newbies.
Marie Sharp's Red Hornet Pepper Hot Sauce
Extreme heat lovers, look no further. Trust us, a few drops of this ultra-fiery hot sauce goes a long way — we're talking a full-palate, tongue-scorching experience for those who are into that sort of thing. This is Marie Sharp's hottest sauce yet!
Made with dried chile peppers, nuts, seeds and oil, Salsa Macha adds smoky, spicy flavor to any dish. This one's packed with both sesame seeds and pumpkin seeds, which impart a unique richness and depth (and an addictive texture!) we couldn't get enough of.
Melinda's Amarillo Habanero Hot Mustard Sauce
This zingy bottle spices up everything we love about the classic yellow condiment in a crowd-pleasing, approachable way. Kick back, grab a beer, and dab some of this liquid gold on your next burger recipe. Game day will never be the same.
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Hell Fire Detroit Jalapeño Hot Sauce
The chunky texture of this green sauce means you can taste more of the charred, fire-roasted peppers in each bite — it reminded one taster of salsa verde. Although it has a kick to it, the fresh flavor of jalapeños comes through beautifully and would be a delicious addition to a breakfast burrito.
Hot N Saucy Carrot N Chipotle Hot Sauce
This mild, mellow sauce gives off the sweet earthiness of carrots on the front end, followed by a pleasant, smoky heat that sets in via the chipotle peppers. Editors noted that it gave off BBQ sauce vibes, which means it would be a winner on wings, ribs, and — yum — pulled pork.
Poor Devil Pepper Co. Evil Possessor
Vegetal, earthy, and bursting with probiotic power — we're into it! This mild, umami sauce is one of the most interesting we tasted, thanks to an all-star lineup of fermented peppers, miso, honeynut squash and beets.
Joy (she/her) is an assistant food editor in the Good Housekeeping Test Kitchen, where she develops and tests recipes to ensure both deliciousness and accuracy before they appear in titles like Good Housekeeping, Women’s Health, Woman’s Day, Prevention and Country Living. After graduating from UChicago with a major in political science, she made the (best) decision to pursue her passion for food by enrolling in pastry school and working at her dream restaurant, Gramercy Tavern. Before joining the GH team, Joy assisted on cookbook and editorial shoots, ran an Instagram micro bakery, and worked as a freelance writer and developer with bylines appearing in Eater, Food52, Simply Recipes, Food Network and more. Joy has a special place in her heart for croissants and tiramisu, and is always on the hunt for the next cafe to explore in the city (a journey that never ends!).
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