11 Best Hot Sauces of 2023

As a purveyor of fine hot sauces, the Sauce Experts at Pepper Palace often get questions from overwhelmed chili-heads who are looking for the best hot sauce. Understandably so. With so many delicious flavor profiles, unique spice combinations, and heat levels ranging from totally mild to melt-your-face-off spicy, navigating the world of hot sauces can be intimidating, to say the least. That’s why we’ve put together this list of our very best hot sauces of 2023. Whether you like ‘em mild-mannered or too-hot-to-handle, these crowd-pleasers are sure to win your heart and your tastebuds. 

Best Tasting: Black Rose Hot Sauce

Heat Level: Hot

What Customers Say: “A superior hot sauce that has the perfect balance of spiciness and flavor that can go on almost anything you cook.”

Why We Love It: When you need a tried-and-true pantry staple to complement just about any dish, grab our Black Rose Hot Sauce. As one of our oldest and most popular hot sauces, this classic features medium heat and an award-winning combination of red jalapenos, cayenne peppers, and habaneros, along with a healthy dose of garlic. If you can only have one hot sauce for the rest of your life, make it this one—we promise you won’t regret it. 

Best Mild: Garlic Fusion Hot Sauce

Heat Level: Medium

What Customers Say: “This sits alongside our salt and pepper at the table. A delicious sauce that goes well with everything.” 

Why We Love It: While it’s technically considered a “medium” hot sauce, we think this one is mild enough to win over even the most heat-averse skeptics. With a little heat and a lot of flavor, this mild hot sauce is a customer favorite. That’s because this one features a friendly blend of cayenne and habanero peppers to give it just enough heat to warm you up and qualify as hot sauce but not so much that it’ll have you begging for mercy (if that’s more your cup of tea, check out our assortment of extreme hot sauces). And with a hint of garlic flavor, it enhances any savory dish you can dream up. 

Best Habanero: Habanero Mango Hot Sauce

Heat Level: Hot

What Customers Say: “The Habanero Mango Hot Sauce has a sweet, but not too sweet, flavor bursting with taste and just enough kick to it to give it that awesome flavor. There's really nothing that you couldn't put it on to give whatever you're eating that extra boost in taste. It's a really, really good sauce.”

Why We Love It: If you’re a habanero devotee, this hot sauce surely won’t disappoint. We’ve combined one of our favorite hot peppers with ingredients like carrots, onion, and honey, for a bold yet balanced flavor. The ingredients play off one another for a versatile hot sauce that you can use on anything from tacos and beans to chicken and spaghetti—seriously!

Hottest: The End: Flatline Hot Sauce

Heat Level: Wild

What Customers Say: “We tried this straight at my work and school. Made 2 people vomit from spice, made people cry, made someone kick a wall, and made people chug drinks. Honestly it's amazing and I love it.”

Why We Love It: With a combination of four of the hottest hot peppers around in addition to a hefty dose of pure pepper extract, this is our hottest hot sauce to date. Not for the faint of heart, this hardcore chili-head favorite doesn’t just deliver a mind-blowingly hot experience, but it also provides an enjoyable flavor experience (once you regain your sense of taste, that is). Try it in your chili or challenge your friends to try a drop straight-up; either way, we guarantee you’ll enjoy yourself. 

Best Louisiana-Style: Voodoo Reaper Hot Sauce

Heat Level: X-Hot

What Customers Say: “Slow heat and a long aftertaste. It has a very vinegary aroma that catches the first taste, little bit of garlic, and the heat sort of rises up slowly and lingers long after. It's a perfect combo and must-have for any Cajun flavor fanatics.”

Why We Love It: This Louisiana-style hot sauce features Cajun-inspired herbs and spices along with reaper peppers to deliver a truly bewitching experience. Try it on your gumbo and crawfish or branch out and add a dash to pizza, wings, and more. With a perfect balance of flavor and fire, you’ll keep coming back for more. And if this one is too spicy for your liking, check out the mild-mannered Sweeter Reaper Hot Sauce. 

Best for Tacos and Mexican Food: Tequilapeno Hot Sauce

Heat Level: Medium

What Customers Say: “Incredible on eggs, avocado toast, baked or grilled veggies, or anything tex-mex. Seriously delicious. I'm a little spice mouse that usually can't handle anything above super mild, but this is just so good... 15/10.”

Why We Love It: Whether you’re looking for a topping for tacos or throwing down with an authentic Mexican food feast, this green hot sauce features a combination of fiery jalapenos, tart tomatillos, and top-shelf tequila to provide a balanced flavor that’ll accentuate whatever you’re eating. 

Best for Wings: Ghost in the Darkness Hot Sauce

Heat Level: X-Hot

What Customers Say: “Intensely hot, sweet, and smokey. Love this sauce on barbecue, burgers, wings, fried chicken, grilled fish - it just works. This is a delicious, well-balanced, all-purpose sauce.”

Why We Love It: We believe wings deserve only the best, so we recommend this sauce for whatever wings you’re grilling, frying, or baking. With a tantalizingly sweet and smoky flavor backed by the tongue-torturing heat of ghost, cayenne, and peri peri peppers, this one is perfect for just about anything you eat. Start with your favorite wing recipe, then get crazy!

Best for Eggs: La Diablesse Hot Sauce

Heat Level: Hot

What Customers Say: “This goes great on egg sandwiches, biscuits, burgers, hot dogs, and anything else!! Flavor and heat are amazing!!”

Why We Love It: You don’t have to make a deal with the devil to save your deviled eggs, you just need a jar or two of this delicious Caribbean-inspired hot sauce. With habanero peppers, mustard seed, and our proprietary blend of spices, this one pairs perfectly with just about anything you care to eat, though we think it’s particularly well-suited to egg dishes of all varieties. 

Best for Chili: Ghost Pepper Hot Sauce

Heat Level: X-Hot

What Customers Say: “Great Pepper Sauce. Just the right heat and flavor for my chili.”

Why We Love It: If you love a hot sauce with considerable heat but don’t want to sacrifice flavor, this one’s for you. With a blend of habanero and ghost peppers along with tomato paste, garlic, and a few of our favorite seasonings, this hot sauce packs enough heat to hold its own in chilis, soups, gumbos, and more. 

Best for Pizza: Ghostly Garlic Fusion Hot Sauce

Heat Level: Hot

What Customers Say: “I originally bought this as a prank on a friend, but tasted it first in order to make sure it was not too hot for an asthmatic. I decided that it was too good to be used on the prank. Ever since, I eat this with pizza as the garlic makes it taste a lot like marinara sauce!!! Amazing hot sauce!!!”

Why We Love It: One of our best-sellers, this hot sauce provides a perfectly balanced flavor profile of spicy cayenne and habanero peppers with brown sugar, assorted spices, and a hearty dose of garlic that goes well with pizza, pasta, and other Italian-inspired dishes. But let’s be honest, what dish doesn’t taste better with a little extra garlic? 

Best for Bloody Marys: Horseradish Oyster Hot Sauce

Heat Level: Medium

What Customers Say: “I recently purchased the Horseradish Oyster sauce...it's GREAT! I've never used it on oysters, but EVERYTHING ELSE and it's just TOO Good! I highly recommend

this to EVERYONE!”

Why We Love It: This horseradish-forward hot sauce is the ideal addition anywhere you would normally use horseradish, including oysters and shrimp. But we especially love it in Bloody Marys, where the flavors play perfectly together with your favorite homemade or bottled mix. Short on time? Skip the DIY and grab a bottle of our Most Excellent Bloody Mary Mix for all the same delicious flavor with way less work.  

How to Choose The Best Hot Sauces

There are a few main factors that go into giving any hot sauce recipe its signature deliciousness. By understanding the primary flavor components, you can make an informed decision and feel like a true hot sauce aficionado, never to choose the wrong hot sauce again. Consider these factors when selecting the best hot sauce:

Heat Level

Every hot sauce delivers some amount of heat, but some have significantly more than others. Know your limits and choose your hot sauce accordingly. From mild and medium hot sauces that provide a barely noticeable hint of warmth to flaming-hot hot sauces that will have you begging for a cold glass of milk, there are plenty of options out there. Always review the label or website description before dousing any sauce on your food to avoid the tragic situation of ruining a perfectly tasty meal with something your taste buds just can’t muster. 

Flavor

While newbies might think all hot sauces just taste like “hot,” they couldn’t be more wrong. Experienced chili-heads understand that every hot sauce has a complex flavor profile as a result of the various peppers and additional ingredients it contains. From goes-with-everything garlic to  tangy vinegar, sweet fruits, refreshing citrus, and beyond, each hot sauce has a complex flavor that can make or break a dish. Get to know your sauce, read the ingredient list, and try a dash on its own to decide how to best utilize the various layers of deliciousness. 

Ingredient Quality

You deserve the best, so take some time to think about how a hot sauce is made and what kind of ingredients it contains before you dive in mouth-first. Some hot sauces are all-natural, while others contain all kinds of artificial flavors and additives. We believe that fresh always tastes better, so we recommend choosing the most natural hot sauce you can find. Also, keep in mind that some recipes contain ingredients like sugar, sodium, oils, or even animal by-products, so if you have a specialized diet take a careful look at the ingredient list and nutrition information before taking that first bite.