I seem to be pretty easy to please on the food front. Usually when someone asks me, "how's your meal," I respond with an enthusiastic head nod, a full-faced smile, and an "it's really great!"
But I have a secret. In most cases the food is great, but I know it would be 10x GREATER with a few shakes of hot sauce.
I consider myself a hot sauce habitué, a fiery fiend and a spicy specialist. I like them all — Frank's Red Hot, Tabasco, Cholula, Pete's, Louisiana, Sriracha, Valentina, even the international ones with names I can't pronounce. Every flavor is unique and I'm always looking for an excuse to try a new sauce, which means I'll splash the spicy stuff on anything.
Though there have been mistakes — brownies drizzled with Frank's was not the Mexican-chocolate-inspired dream dessert that I'd envisioned — I'm a firm believer that adding hot sauce drastically improves any dining experience. Plus, hot sauce has, like, no calories. Sprinkle it on salad and you've got a no-cal dressing that will make you totally forget you're eating rabbit food. It even can improve lesser condiments out there — I'm looking at you, mayo. I normally refuse to allow mayonnaise anywhere near my food , but I'll slather chipotle mayo all over a chicken sandwich.
So join me in my quest to hot sauc-ify every food on the planet, and check out these 18 foods that can definitely be improved with a splash of the good stuff. Spoiler: the buffalo macaroni and cheese is my fave.
I'm sure those are tears of joy making your eyes water like that ...
Related links:
Make Your Own Hot Sauce at Home