Anderson’s Definitive Hot Sauce Ranking
Hot sauce is without a doubt, my favorite condiment. What’s more universal? Obviously you’re not putting it on cake, but it can basically go on anything you’d put salt and pepper on top of, right? So here is my definitive list. Now I should say certain sauces suit certain types of food, so it’s tough to say what is exactly is best and worst, but I’ll try.
(Sleeper Pick: Goya's Hot Sauce. It's $1.99 for a standard size bottle of hot sauce that's very comparable to Cholula.)
8. Lousiana – I’m not sure I’ve ever actually tried it. I don’t like its label’s color scheme.
7. Tabasco – I’ll use Tabasco if it’s the only hot sauce available. And even then I usually regret using it.
6. Crystal – It’s a little bit better than Tabasco but pretty similar.
5. Texas Pete – Somewhere between Tabasco and Frank’s Red Hot.
4. Sriracha – The perfect complement to all Asian food. But that's also its one downside; its basically limited to just Asian food. I don't think it really works on anything outside of the Asian food sphere. So to me it gets lower marks for its limited versatility.
3. Valentina – Great on Mexican/Latin food. I discovered this one a couple years ago when I asked my Mexican intern what everyone’s favorite hot sauce was in Mexico. This one is usually in the ethnic aisle of the grocery store. The extra hot version of this is excellent, and both versions are very affordable; probably a 1/3 of the price of Cholula and very similar.
2. Cholula – Cholula for me is perfectly suited for Mexican/Latin food with it's depth and bright flavor.
1. Frank’s Red Hot – Frank’s tangy and sparkling flavor excels on chicken, especially buffalo wings or fried chicken. Pound for pound it’s easily takes my top spot for flavor and versatility. (And it's pretty affordable.)