Hot Sauce, Hot Sauce Everywhere
There are numerous types of hot sauces to choose from, too many to name, originating from countries all over the world using regional peppers and ingredients. This is part of what makes hot sauce so great, the unique perspective each brings to your recipes. This goes for your own homemade hot sauces as well as all those wonderful artisan hot sauces on the market today. Artisan sauce makers go through an often arduous process, sometimes taking years, to develop their recipes, and while they certainly ARE great for dashing onto food, they can be as good if not BETTER when cooked into a dish or combined with other foods. Imagine all those ingredients that have been mingling in their bottle, developing flavor, getting deeper and tastier. Now, imagine all that flavor simmering with your favorite cut of pork, or swirled into the perfect vinaigrette, or amplified with similar ingredients to truly bring out the optimal bold flavor of your recipe. All that said, here just some of the ways you can cook with hot sauce.
Vinaigrettes/Dressings.
Swirl a bit of hot sauce into a mixture of oil and vinegar, or replace the vinegar altogether with a vinegar-based hot sauce, and taste the difference in your typical vinaigrette. I like to swirl a bit of hot sauce into some Mexican crema or sour cream to form a super quick dressing for chicken or fish.
Pasta Sauce.
Save kitchen time by mixing hot sauce with tomato sauce for a quick pasta. Anywhere from 1 teaspoon to half a bottle of hot sauce to 2 cups of tomato based sauce can do wonders. Check out our Pasta Recipes.
Stuffed Peppers.
We’re crazy for stuffed peppers, and hot sauce can save you a lot of time in the kitchen so you don’t have to make a sauce from scratch. Besides, most quick sauces won’t be as developed as a well-made hot sauce. See our Stuffed Pepper Recipes.
Chili.
Spice up your best chili in a bowl, with or without beans. Cook it a while, low and slow, to really let that hot sauce permeate your chili. Hot sauce can REALLY make your chili POP. Truly essential. Check out our Chili Recipes.
Marinades.
Hot sauce by itself can be a marinade, or use it as a starter and temper some of the heat with a bit of citrus or even water or broth. However, since your ratio of sauce to other ingredients might be lower, the flavor won’t change quite as drastically. I find that some superhot sauces make excellent wing sauces or can turn a simple cream sauce into a MAJOR burst of flavor. If you like a famous sauce made with pepper mash and vinegar, go for it! I love the stuff. If you prefer smaller artisan brands, great! Me too. I’ve found cheap $1 bottles of hot sauce that worked quite well for some dishes. You never know what can work until you experiment a little.
Mexican Rice
Crispy Baked Ghost Pepper Chicken Wings with Buffalo-Blue Cheese Sauce
Creamy Taco-Style Pasta
The hot sauce really makes this pasta sauce pop.
Easy BBQ Sauce
Sriracha forms flavors and heat with a super quick recipe made from simple condiments. So, what are some of your favorite hot sauces? And what are some of the ways you cook with them? Let us know. Check out more Hot Sauce Recipes or learn more about How to Make Hot Sauce.
