Anna Wildman

I’ve been wanting to do a hot sauce/salsa favorites list for a while now because, as someone who puts hot sauce on literally everything, I’m always wondering which ones other people use. So, I made this list with the thought that it might be useful for those of you who, like me, want to know what others use to turn up the flavor make everything taste good.

HOT SAUCE:

• Tapatio

It’s flavorful. It’s spicy. And it should be a staple condiment in everyone’s fridge. It also has relatively few ingredients (water, red peppers, salt, spices, garlic, acetic acid, xanthan gum, sodium benzoate as a preservative), which is always good. I like it better than the other popular hot sauces out there, like Tabasco (regular), Cholula, or Frank’s.

• Tabasco habanero

I’m normally not a fan of Tabasco sauce, but their habanero one is actually pretty spicy (unlike regular Tabasco). I love adding a couple drops of it to dishes to crank up the heat.

• Huy Fong’s chili garlic

I usually add this into stir fries or soups– anything Asian-y, really. It’s made by the same people who make Sriracha, so you know it’s good. It’s similar to Sriracha but has more of a garlicky flavor. Lee Kum Kee makes a similar product that I also really enjoy.

• Sriracha

Because duh. If you’ve never had Sriracha, go out and buy some. You need it in your life, trust me. It costs like $2 a bottle, which is the same as a Starbucks coffee but will last you a few months as opposed to 10 minutes, so like… what are you doing!! Go go go!!

• Sweet Cajun Fire

This is one of my favorite hot sauces to add to anything that’s just not spicy enough for my liking. Unfortunately, however, as I was looking for images of it for this post I discovered that one of the ingredients is honey. NNOOOOO. I’ve had this sauce for months now, and never bothered to check to see if it was vegan because I just assumed all hot sauces are. Once again, I am proven that vegans are never safe. This is an omnivore’s world, and vegans are just living in it.

All joking aside, I am actually pretty upset that this isn’t *technically* vegan, but I’ll probably keep consuming it because 1) it’s delicious, 2) Of all the non-vegan foods, I’m most lax about honey and 3) I don’t want to waste it.

**Enter the vegan police**

• Guchujang

This isn’t really hot sauce but I decided to include it because I use this for everything– in sauces, dressings, soups, curries, sandwiches, wraps, etc etc etc must I go on. THIS IS NECESSARY. It’s miracle paste and will turn every dish from pretty good to REALLY FREAKING GOOD. I should be the spokesperson for guchujang. Hey, @gochujang… #sponsorme?

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SALSA:

Disclaimer: I prefer chunky to liquid-y salsas, so most of these are chunky.

• Desert Pepper

A) Corn black bean red pepper

Chunky and slightly spicy. I love throwing this in my salads as a dressing! I still add hot sauce though because it’s not spicy enough for me.

B) Tequila

Really spicy, not-so-chunky, and also good for salads (among other things). Don’t worry, it doesn’t actually taste like tequila.

• Trader Joe’s cowboy caviar

It’s not really that spicy but it’s smoky, which I like, and it’s chunky, which I also like.

• 365 ORGANIC (hot)

This is your classic, run-of-the-mill salsa. It’s chunky, spicy but not too much so, and is slightly healthier because it’s organic and from Whole Foods (That’s how it works, right? Everything from Whole Foods is good for you.).