Taste Test: Hot Sauce
With so much talk about hot sauce, we had to taste test all the popular varieties for ourselves. We got our mouths fired up for this spicy taste test. Find out who topped our list.
It’s All About Sodium
Hot sauce is the new ketchup. Dab a little on sandwiches, pizza, pasta dishes, chili, grilled meats, eggs – almost any dish. If you check out the label, you’ll notice that there’s not much nutrition information per serving—no calories, fat, saturated fat, carbs, or protein (or at least so little that it can be listed as zero by food labeling guideline). What it does have is sodium—and some brands have more than others.
The Criteria
For this taste test, we rated hot sauce based on taste, spiciness, ingredients and nutritional information—specifically sodium. We chose the original flavor for each brand and rated them on a 5-point scale (5 being the highest). Since hot sauce is typically eaten with food, we tasted each on a tortilla chip.
Although many folks shouted out Sriracha on Facebook and Twitter, we chose to stick to traditional varieties for this taste test.
Cholula Hot Sauce
Rating: 5.0
Cost: $0.45 per fluid ounce
Nutrition Info (per teaspoon): 0 calories; 28 milligrams sodium
Our Take: Imported from Mexico, this is the only brand that has 1 tablespoon listed as the serving size (others have 1 teaspoon). The pepper flavor is pretty mild, especially compared to some of the other brands; that might be because the first ingredient listed is water (then arbol and piquin peppers).
Tabasco Pepper Sauce
Rating: 4.0
Cost: $1.18 per fluid ounce
Nutrition Info (per teaspoon): 0 calories; 35 milligrams sodium
Our Take: Many of us grew up using this teeny red bottle and boy it’s still as hot as we remember. This baby has only 3 ingredients: distilled vinegar, red pepper, and salt. Alongside Cholula, it has the lowest sodium content but was by far the most expensive.
Frank’s Red Hot Original
Rating: 4.0
Cost: $0.31 per fluid ounce
Nutrition Info (per teaspoon): 0 calories; 190 milligrams sodium
Our Take: We love the innocent (yet filthy-mouthed) elderly woman on the Frank’s Red Hot Sauce commercials (check out their website if you haven’t seen them). The ingredients in this one are pretty simple — cayenne peppers, distilled vinegar, water, salt and garlic powder. The flavor is just right—not too spicy but not mild either and it’s the cheapest of the bunch. The sodium, however, is one of the highest of all brands we tested.
Click here for more Hot Sauce Test Taste from Food Network.
More from Food Network:
It’s All About Sodium
Hot sauce is the new ketchup. Dab a little on sandwiches, pizza, pasta dishes, chili, grilled meats, eggs – almost any dish. If you check out the label, you’ll notice that there’s not much nutrition information per serving—no calories, fat, saturated fat, carbs, or protein (or at least so little that it can be listed as zero by food labeling guideline). What it does have is sodium—and some brands have more than others.
The Criteria
For this taste test, we rated hot sauce based on taste, spiciness, ingredients and nutritional information—specifically sodium. We chose the original flavor for each brand and rated them on a 5-point scale (5 being the highest). Since hot sauce is typically eaten with food, we tasted each on a tortilla chip.
Although many folks shouted out Sriracha on Facebook and Twitter, we chose to stick to traditional varieties for this taste test.
Cholula Hot Sauce
Rating: 5.0
Cost: $0.45 per fluid ounce
Nutrition Info (per teaspoon): 0 calories; 28 milligrams sodium
Our Take: Imported from Mexico, this is the only brand that has 1 tablespoon listed as the serving size (others have 1 teaspoon). The pepper flavor is pretty mild, especially compared to some of the other brands; that might be because the first ingredient listed is water (then arbol and piquin peppers).
Tabasco Pepper Sauce
Rating: 4.0
Cost: $1.18 per fluid ounce
Nutrition Info (per teaspoon): 0 calories; 35 milligrams sodium
Our Take: Many of us grew up using this teeny red bottle and boy it’s still as hot as we remember. This baby has only 3 ingredients: distilled vinegar, red pepper, and salt. Alongside Cholula, it has the lowest sodium content but was by far the most expensive.
Frank’s Red Hot Original
Rating: 4.0
Cost: $0.31 per fluid ounce
Nutrition Info (per teaspoon): 0 calories; 190 milligrams sodium
Our Take: We love the innocent (yet filthy-mouthed) elderly woman on the Frank’s Red Hot Sauce commercials (check out their website if you haven’t seen them). The ingredients in this one are pretty simple — cayenne peppers, distilled vinegar, water, salt and garlic powder. The flavor is just right—not too spicy but not mild either and it’s the cheapest of the bunch. The sodium, however, is one of the highest of all brands we tested.
Click here for more Hot Sauce Test Taste from Food Network.
More from Food Network:
What’s your favorite hot sauce?
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Comments
A simple recipe is pepper(single variety or combo depending on heat required),salt, garlic,lime juice and a little hot water to blend. You can use either a food processor or a blender.
For all those peeps out there who love really HOT sauce, try one made in Trinidad or Jamaica. - 8/27/2012 4:12:11 PM
The pepper I like is the one that makes the habenero something for baby's to eat. I'm talking about the Ghost Pepper. Habenero = 800k heat units, GP = 1.8 million heat units. Nice!!! - 8/23/2012 9:40:43 PM
However, a couple of drops Tabasco in DH's ratatouille, beans, or other mix keeps him happy.
And if the mix is for us both, a drop less Tabasco, and a pinch of sugar or 1/2 teaspoon red currant jelly (jam without the bits if fruit in it) or apple and rowan jelly. That wee bit of sweetness makes a difference to the spice effect in my gut! - 8/23/2012 4:56:10 PM
I tried the Sriracha last week and was very disappointed--way to sweet for my taste. - 8/23/2012 10:40:53 AM
my husband like the Hot sauce, and I know i would not buy Frank's Hot Sauce
due to the fact I would not buy anything from a company that has a
Filthy-mouthed person in their commercials. My mom uses a little Texas Pete whenever she makes buffalo wings because i like them mild. - 8/23/2012 6:40:32 AM
- 8/22/2012 9:49:07 PM
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