10 Things to Put Hot Sauce On (Beyond Tacos and Eggs)

If your hot sauce only comes out for tacos and eggs, it’s working part-time. 

A great fermented hot sauce isn’t a condiment you just have on the side — it’s an ingredient. It brings acid, salt, heat and umami in one bottle, so a few drops will elevate almost anything in our opinion. Here are ten places to put it you might not have tried.

1. Into scrambled eggs (not just on top) 

Skip the post-plate drizzle and stir a teaspoon into the raw egg before it hits the pan. The heat spreads evenly and the acid keeps the eggs tender. A bright sauce like Acid Drop #11 turns a weekday scramble into brunch.

2. Whisked into salad dressing 

The one that converts people. Whisk a few drops into a vinaigrette, letting the sauce stand in for some of the acid. Our mild Eat Your Greens #16 is ideal — its grilled-green, zucchini-and-poblano base practically is a salad already.

3. Stirred through mayo for instant aioli 

Mayo plus hot sauce is the fastest upgrade in the kitchen: a spicy aioli for chips, burgers and wraps in ten seconds. Picante Rossa #12, with its habanero punch, makes a mayo that’ll ruin plain mayo for you.

4. Over fresh oysters 

Forget the mignonette. One drop of a clean, bright sauce on a raw oyster does what a squeeze of lemon does, with an extra savoury dimension from the ferment. One drop — let the oyster lead.

5. Marinated into chicken or tofu 

Fermented sauce already has salt and acid, so it’s a marinade waiting to happen. Coat chicken thighs or firm tofu, rest for an hour, then grill. The sugars caramelise, the acid tenderises, and you get char with built-in flavour.

6. Swirled into soups and stews 

A tablespoon stirred into pumpkin soup, ramen, pho or a stew adds brightness that cuts richness. Add it at the end, off the heat, to keep the flavour vivid.

7. On fresh fruit (trust us) 

Chilli and fruit is a classic across Mexico and Southeast Asia. A fruit-forward sauce like Acid Drop #11 — mango and lemon base — on mango, pineapple or watermelon with a pinch of salt is a brilliant summer snack.

8. Bloomed into rice or grains 

Stir a spoonful through rice, quinoa or couscous while it’s still hot. The residual heat blooms the sauce through every grain, turning a plain side into the best thing on the plate.

9. Cutting through fatty meats 

Pork belly, lamb, a good steak, duck — all begging for acid and heat to balance them. Picante Rossa’s vinegary brightness slices through fat and resets your palate for the next bite.

10. In a Bloody Mary (or the virgin version) 

The classic. A few dashes in a Bloody Mary — or a virgin one with tomato juice, lemon and Worcestershire — adds the backbone the drink is famous for. A fermented sauce beats the bottled stuff every time.

The rule that ties it together 

The theme: hot sauce works anywhere that wants a hit of acid, salt or brightness — which is almost everything. Stop thinking of it as “the spicy bottle” and start treating it as a seasoning, and it earns a permanent spot next to your salt and olive oil.

That’s the idea behind what we make: small-batch, slow-fermented, all-natural sauce good enough to use every day, on everything. Because — say it with us — the longer you live, the more you eat. So put it on more.