I seriously love tabasco sauce. Who is with me?!? There is nothing quite like the spicy, zesty taste of tabasco sprinkle on top of, well, everything!
My house is definitely a tabasco house and we usually have a bottle or two on hand. However, last week, we ran out! And it was dinner time! How could we get through a meal without tabasco?!
Luckily there are quite a few amazing tabasco substitutes. Y
You can use these tabasco alternatives in recipes, to give your foods a different spicy flavor or in case there is a hot sauce emergency like I recently experienced.
The best Tabasco Substitute is Frank’s Red Hot Sauce. It has a very similar spicy and tangy taste. Sriracha sauce is another fantastic Tabasco substitute and Choula sauce will work well, too. You also can’t go wrong with a few minced chili peppers mixed with a little vinegar.
Tabasco Substitutes
1. Worcestershire Sauce – Best Tabasco Substitute for Bloody Mary
Many Blood Mary recipes already have Worcestershire sauce in them! That vinegar, salt, and chili pepper extract flavor can’t be beaten!
Worcestershire sauce also has molasses, garlic, and even anchovies in the mix. It gives drinks a very unique taste.
Use the same quantity of Worcestershire sauce to replace Tabasco in your Bloody mary recipe. It is also a great substitute for marinades, salad dressings, and soups.
2. Cayenne Pepper
Can I substitute cayenne pepper for tabasco sauce? Absolutely!
A sprinkle of cayenne into your Bloody Mary is a great way to finish off the drink. You will definitely get a good amount of heat by mixing in cayenne powder.
Use just ¼ teaspoon of cayenne to replace a full teaspoon of Tabasco.
If you miss the tangy taste of Tabasco, add a splash of vinegar to your Bloody Mary as well.
This will give you the spiciness of Tabasco and also the strong tangy taste. You may like using fresh cayenne even more than Tabasco!
3. Frank’s Red Hot Sauce
Frank’s Red Hot Sauce is just as tangy and spicy as Tabasco. It may be even more flavorful than Tabasco!
Many people substitute tabasco for Franks hot sauce and it is the perfect Tabasco substitute for Bloody Mary’s or almost any cooking project.
Use half the quantity of Frank’s Red Hot Sauce to replace Tabasco sauce. Frank’s is thicker so a little bit will go a long way. Add a little extra if you really want a spicy drink.
4. Chili Flakes
Need a quick substitute for Tabasco? Just use some dried chili flakes! I bet you already have them in your cabinet right now!
Tabasco is made with chilis so replacing the sauce with red pepper flakes just makes sense.
5. Jalapeno – Best Green Tabasco Substitute
Green tabasco is actually made with jalapenos rather than Tabasco peppers. If you run out of green tabasco sauce, just use real jalapenos instead!
Finely mince your green jalapenos then add them to a small bowl.
Add 1 tablespoon of apple cider vinegar for every 2 tablespoons of minced jalapeno. Stir the ingredients together and you have a perfect, makeshift tabasco sauce!
Use this green tabasco substitute for any marinades or sauces. It will taste perfect!
6. Ketchup
Ketchup is a great, mild substitute for green Tabasco. It may not have the spice of Tabasco but it definitely has that vinegar flavor you are looking for.
Many of us already have a big container of ketchup on hand as well (thanks to all those ketchup loving kids!).
Replace Tabasco in your recipe with the same amount of ketchup. Mix in a few red chili flakes or a little ground cayenne pepper to give your ketchup a little spice.
You can also look for green ketchup which is nice and sweet, just like green tabasco!
7. Texas Pete
Texas Pete hot sauce is quite popular in the United States. It is originally from Texas, just as the name suggests!
Texas Pete is made with fermented peppers. It isn’t quite as tangy as Tabasco but more thick and rich.
Replace Tabasco with equal amounts of Texas Pete sauce.
Add 1 teaspoon of vinegar for every teaspoon of hot sauce in order to get that yummy, tangy taste of Tabasco. This is a great Tabasco substitute for marinades and BBQ meats.
8. Choula Sauce – Great Spicy Tabasco Substitute
Choula sauce is one of the best substitutes for Tabasco sauce since it has the same style blend of peppers and vinegar.
However, Choula sauce is a little spicier since it is made with lots of cayenne pepper. You should be able to stand the heat and enjoy the spicy vinegar taste!
Use Choula sauce to add some tangy, spice to your favorite cajun foods and southern dishes.
Choula is known as Louisiana hot sauce so you can see why it is perfect for southern food. It is also great drizzled on a taco!
9. Sriracha
Sriracha sauce is just as popular, if not more so than Tabasco sauce. It is made with red jalapenos and also garlic which turns up the heat in the bottle.
Sriracha may be very similar to Tabasco due to that vinegary flavor but it sure is spicier!
Use about ¾ as much Sriracha sauce as you would use Tabasco. Since it is hotter and also thicker, you don’t need quite as much.
Sriracha is perfect for topping your eggs, and burritos or used as a buffalo wing sauce.
10. Homemade Tabasco Sauce
Have you ever considered making your own Tabasco sauce? You definitely can!
The best part is that you can make your homemade Tabasco sauce as spicy or mild as you’d like.
Check out our recipe below for homemade tabasco sauce.
You may be pleasantly surprised by how great it is! You will never need to buy store-bought Tabasco ever again.
11. Asian Chili Garlic Sauce – Best Tabasco Substitute for Meats and Fish
Asian chili garlic sauce has a more complex flavor when compares to Tabasco. It is made from chilies, garlic, salt, sugar, and vinegar.
All of these ingredients give the chili garlic sauce a sweet, spicy, and salty taste.
Replace tabasco with about 1 ½ times more Asian chili garlic sauce in order to get the same intense flavor.
It is great to substitute Tabasco in stir-fries and stews. Keep in mind that chili garlic sauce can be a little chunky and not quite as smooth or watery as Tabasco.
Don’t be scared of a little texture!
12. Chili Oil
Do you love the spice of Tabasco? If you are looking to replace that strong heat with something just as hot, then chili oil is a fantastic substitute.
Chili oil is made by extracting natural oils from hot chili peppers.
Keep in mind that this ingredient is an oil and will make your foods a little greasier. It is best to use chili oil to replace Tabasco in marinades and stir-fries.
Use about ½ the amount of chili oil to replace Tabasco. This will give you great heat and flavor without being too oily or overpowering.
13. Harissa
Can harissa substitute tabasco? Absolutely! In fact, it will give your foods a whole new, exciting flavor.
Harissa is a spicy, smokey, peppery chili paste that is often used in Middle Eastern cuisine. It is made with chili peppers, paprika and olive oil.
Harissa is smokier than tabasco and also a little thicker. Use half the quantity of harissa to replace tabasco.
What is Tabasco Sauce?
Tabasco is a brand of American hot sauce. It was created over 150 years ago and is available around the globe.
More than 195 countries have Tabasco products and the bottles are packaged in over 36 different languages. Sounds like a pretty popular sauce!
Tabasco Varieties
There are lots of different varieties of Tabasco on the market. We are going to mainly talk about the original, red tabasco sauce since that is the most popular.
It is also the type of Tabasco you probably use the most and need a substitute for!
Here is a quick look at all the other varieties of tabasco sauce. You may want to give them a try one day!
If they are as delicious as the original Tabasco hot sauce, I sure want to try them, too!
- Buffalo style
- Cayenne garlic
- Chipotle smoked
- Family reserve
- Habanero Tabasco
- Green Tabasco
- Original Red
- Raspberry Chipotle
- Roasted Pepper
- Rocoto pepper
- Scorpion
- Sriracha
- Sweet and Spicy
Tabasco Ingredients
Tabasco sauce is made with three very simple ingredients- tabasco peppers, vinegar and salt. It is pretty amazing that a sauce so great can be made with so little!
The key to making tabasco sauce is the aging process.
The sauce is aged in oak barrels for up to three years before being bottled. This aging process is what makes Tabasco so unique.
Ways to Use Tabasco Sauce
There are endless ways to use tabasco sauce. You could honestly put tabasco on almost anything and many people do!
Here are just a few of the most popular ways to use tabasco.
- Sprinkle it on eggs
- Use it to make a spicy marinade
- Drizzle it into tacos
- Blend tabasco into a bloody mary
- Shake it over some deep fried chicken wings
- Use it as a natural insecticide to deter mosquitoes
- Add it to curry to give it more zing
This list could go on forever. Tabasco is so multi-purpose!
Which is why you also need to know all about tabasco substitutes in case you run out of your go-to, favorite hot sauce ingredient.
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Final Considerations
There are so many ways to use Tabasco sauce but also so many amazing substitutes.
If you run out of Tabasco, don’t worry! You have 13 different options that will all work wonderfully. Enjoy!
Homemade Tabasco Sauce
Want to try your hand at making your own tabasco sauce? Then you should definitely try my recipe.
Once you have made this sauce you will be using tabasco on everything! Substitute tabasco for jalapeno, substitute tabasco for chipotle sauce…add it to everything! The homemade version really is incredible.
Ingredients
- 5 ounces tabasco peppers, minced
- ¼ tsp salt
- ½ cup apple cider vinegar
- ½ cup white wine vinegar
Instructions
- Add the peppers, vinegar and salt to a small sauce pot and bring to a boil.
- Lower the heat to a simmer and cook for 15 minutes to soften the peppers and bring out the heat.
- Remove the pot from the stove and let the mix cool.
- Pour everything into a food processor and puree until very smooth.
- Strain the sauce through a fine mesh sieve.
- Discard any solids and keep the strained liquid sauce.
- Store the hot sauce in the fridge for up to a month or use it right away!
Nutrition Information:
Yield: 10 Serving Size: 1Amount Per Serving:Calories: 9Total Fat: 0gSaturated Fat: 0gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 0gCholesterol: 0mgSodium: 434mgCarbohydrates: 1gFiber: 0gSugar: 1gProtein: 0g
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