10 Ways to Use Up Hot Sauce

Coco Morante
Coco Morante
Coco is a recipe developer for The Kitchn. For more recipes, visit her blog, Lefty Spoon. A self-taught cook and classically-trained soprano, she writes and sings in the San Francisco Bay Area, where she lives with her husband and their beagle.
updated May 1, 2019
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It’s so very easy to keep acquiring hot sauces until, what do you know, they’re taking up most of the prime refrigerator door real estate. That’s how it goes in my house, anyway, as my chili-head husband seems to add a new one to his collection each week.

Here are a few ways I’m planning to get through some of our spicy condiments!

How To Make Creamy Scrambled Eggs (Image credit: Faith Durand)

1. A few drops on your morning eggs. If you make it a habit, you’ll be surprised how quickly the bottle is gone.

How To Make Buffalo Chicken Wings in the Oven (Image credit: Faith Durand)

2. Buffalo chicken wings. A whopping half cup of Frank’s Red Hot gets tossed with these baked chicken wings for a spicy, finger-licking game-day snack.

Korean Bulgogi-Style Grilled Steak (Image credit: Nick Evans)

3. Marinades. A dollop of gochujang, or Korean chili paste, adds the characteristic spiciness to bulgogi, a delicious grilled beef dish. Take this technique to other cuisines too — a dash of hot sauce is not amiss in a wet barbecue rub, for instance!

How To Make Very Good Chili Any Way You Like It (Image credit: Emma Christensen)

4. In (and on) chili. Just like how vinegar or lemon juice can brighten up a soup, hot sauce’s acid and heat will perk up your average long-simmered chili and brighten the flavor.

How To Make DIY Spicy Tuna Sushi (Image credit: Kathryn Hill)

5. Hot sauce + mayo = All-purpose spicy sauce. This sauce is awesome stirred into tuna or chicken salad, spread onto sandwiches, and even mixed into chopped sashimi-grade fish or shredded imitation crab for a hot-and-spicy sushi roll.

How To Cook Collard Greens (Image credit: Dana Velden)

6. To perk up a bowl of greens. Or dirty rice. Or fried chicken. Really, there aren’t many Southern foods that don’t benefit from a good slosh of hot sauce.

7. Stirred into ketchup. An easy spicy condiment for fries and burgers.

Pork Stir-Fry with Asparagus and Sugar Snap Peas (Image credit: Elizabeth Passarella)

8. Stir-fry. Around my house, Sriracha is the weapon of choice for improving even the saddest take-out. The above recipe for pork and vegetables is anything but bland, but I’ve been known to squirt a little Sriracha on top of even an excellent stir-fry dish.

Cooking With Leftovers: Risotto Cakes (Image credit: Emma Christensen)

9. Fritters, crab cakes, and arancini. Mix a good dose of hot sauce right into leftover risotto before forming it into balls or patties.

The Ultimate Addition to Soup? A Cheesy, Toasty Top (Image credit: Nora Singley)

10. On cheesy toast. There’s nothing that improves an austere soup dinner like a slice of crusty bread, toasted with a generous shake of hot sauce and a sprinkle of cheddar cheese.

Bonus Tip!

Oh, and by the way, some hot sauces don’t even have to be refrigerated! Tabasco, for one, can be stored in a cool, dark pantry with no ill effects.

What are some ways you like to use hot sauce? Got any favorite varieties? Let us know in the comments below!

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