• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer

Mexican Please

  • Home
  • Recipes
    • Most Popular
    • Most Recent
    • Salsas
    • Appetizers/Sides
    • Beans
    • Breakfast
    • Dessert
    • Drinks
    • Enchiladas
    • Main Dish
    • Mexican Cooking 101
    • Tacos
    • Soup
    • Tortillas
    • Vegetarian
  • Articles
  • Cooking Course
  • About Me
  • Contact
menu icon
go to homepage
  • Recipes
  • Tips
  • Course
  • Contact
  • About Me
    • Facebook
    • Instagram
    • Pinterest
  • search icon
    Homepage link
    • Recipes
    • Tips
    • Course
    • Contact
    • About Me
    • Facebook
    • Instagram
    • Pinterest
  • ×

    Home » Most Recent

    4 Mexican Hot Sauces You Should Know

    December 3, 2015 By Patrick 27 Comments

    72 shares
    • Share
    • Tweet

    You're lounging in a plush sea side cabana after an afternoon snorkel in transparent ocean water.

    'Quieres un poco de salsa picante?'

    Errrr, what?

    Your Significant Other has ordered some lunch while you were finishing your swim and a waiter has arrived with a plate of fish tacos.

    The waiter repeats himself, 'Quieres un poco de salsa picante?'

    Sure.

    Which one sir?

    I don't know!


    These four Mexican hot sauces are worth tracking down. My top choice has great flavor and enough viscosity to help it cling to food. mexicanplease.com

    If you're in Mexico most likely you'll be choosing from one of these 4 hot sauces to liven up your lunch.

    And the good news is you can easily get them north of the border too.  They can be livelier than some of the hot sauce standbys in the States so give 'em a chance and you might find a new keeper.

    Cholula

    These four Mexican hot sauces are worth tracking down. My top choice has great flavor and enough viscosity to help it cling to food. mexicanplease.com

     

    This is probably the most common Mexican hot sauce north of the border.  Originating in Jalisco, Mexico, it has a sharp burst of heat from the Piquin peppers.  A reliable, general purpose hot sauce.

    Heat factor:  6 out of 10

    Tapatio

    These four Mexican hot sauces are worth tracking down. My top choice has great flavor and enough viscosity to help it cling to food. mexicanplease.com

    OK, technically it's from Southern California, but you'll still find it frequently in northern Mexico.

    It's the mildest of the batch we are looking at today.  It's a good gateway hot sauce and seems like a hybrid between traditional picante sauces and their milder American counterparts.

    Heat factor:  5 out of 10

    Valentina

    These four Mexican hot sauces are worth tracking down. My top choice has great flavor and enough viscosity to help it cling to food. mexicanplease.com

    Probably the most popular hot sauce in Mexican taquerias.  Its reach is still expanding and now you can get it quite easily in the States.

    It's easily my go-to hot sauce, with an initial heat burst followed up by a subtle, tangy citrus flavor.  Not all picante sauces can claim to have both heat and flavor, but this one does.

    Heat factor: 6 out of 10

    El Yucateco Habanero Sauce

    These four Mexican hot sauces are worth tracking down. My top choice has great flavor and enough viscosity to help it cling to food. mexicanplease.com

    Every kitchen needs an equivalent of El Yucateco habanero sauce.  Sometimes you just need some heat!

    Habaneros have 20-30 times the amount of capsaicin (heat) that jalapenos have, so as you would expect this sauce has real kick to go along with along with a sharp, tangy flavor.

    Heat factor:  9 out of 10

    One last note

    There's one other factor that makes Valentina my current hot sauce of choice.  It can be seen here:

    These four Mexican hot sauces are worth tracking down. My top choice has great flavor and enough viscosity to help it cling to food. mexicanplease.com

    See how the Valentina has a higher viscosity than the other sauces?  Why would this matter?

    A higher viscosity means it will hold its shape just a bit more than the other sauces.    So instead of liquid pooling at the bottom of your plate, you'll get clumps of high-potency flavor clinging to each bite.  Que bueno.

    Keep an eye out for any of these hot sauces and consider adding them to your repertoire.  Most can be found in gourmet stores or Latin markets, and sometimes in the ethnic food aisles of the bigger supermarkets.

    Good luck!

    Want the latest recipe?  Click your favorite from these options and follow me:  Instagram,  Facebook,  Pinterest,  TikTok,  YouTube.

    Update:  don't forget that you can always make your own hot sauce at home and it's super easy to do.  We just put up a recipe for a homemade Habanero Hot Sauce using habaneros, peach, and pineapple and it is delish!  And we also have recipes for some fiery Chipotle Hot Sauce and this vibrant Green Hot Sauce.

    Here's an easy recipe for a batch of homemade Jalapeno Hot Sauce. It uses a pound of jalapenos so consider yourself warned! mexicanplease.com

    More details on How To Make Hot Sauce can be found here.

    Here's a super easy recipe for some homemade Chipotle Hot Sauce. It's a smoky, fiery delight and you'll only need a few drops to spice up your life! mexicanplease.com

     

    P.S. We use Valentina to make a wicked Michelada.

    This is a fiery, easy-to-make Michelada recipe that is great option for anyone disappointed in the watered down versions on the market. Yum! mexicanplease.com

     

    Still hungry?!

    Want to receive Mexican Please recipes via email when they are posted?  Sign up below to subscribe.  All recipes are spam free.

    And don't worry, we hate spam too!  You can unsubscribe at any time.

    Thank You For Subscribing!

    « Did You Say Homemade Lard?!
    Salsa Verde Emergency Rescue Technique »

    Reader Interactions

    Comments

    1. Caroline

      January 20, 2022 at 8:36 am

      Thanks for this blog story. I came here to the web to look up the ingredients for Valentina salsa picante. That's how I found you. Valentina is our families favorite. Full-time resident of Canada but are currently relocated to Mexico for a renovation project. I like Valentina because it has what I call a "tomato" taste just adds that extra punch to eggs, rice and especially homemade soups.

      Reply
      • Patrick

        January 21, 2022 at 4:29 pm

        Thanks Caroline, so glad you found my site! I hope you get a chance to do loads of cooking while you're in Mexico 🙂

        Reply
    2. Marlene pierre

      February 02, 2021 at 9:33 am

      I’ve had all of them except el yucateco habanero sauce. I don’t really care for valentinas hot sauce but if it the only option I’ll use it. My favorite is tapatio cause it doesn’t have a vinegar taste to it like the others. I’ve also found another hot sauce that’s quite good it’s called Mexico Lindo salsa habanero is has a good kick to it and it’s very tasty. I can be hard to find sometimes but Amazon sells it and I find mine at food for less market when they have it.

      Reply
      • Patrick

        February 05, 2021 at 2:05 pm

        Hey Marlene thanks for mentioning the Mexico Lindo option! Cheers.

        Reply
    3. Jana DesForges

      September 28, 2020 at 5:29 am

      ok, now you’ve got my full attention. i discovered Valentina In kauai of all places, from a cafe with 30+ sauces to choose from— we sat there on the balcony for hours taste testing & the second i tasted V. i was hooked! you’ve got great taste! thanks for this blog; i look forward to exploring it! Mexican, Pleeeeease! lol

      Reply
      • Patrick

        September 28, 2020 at 10:21 pm

        Ha discovering Valentina in Kauai. Awesome 🙂

        Reply
    4. Michael

      July 18, 2020 at 11:05 am

      Chiming in from Southern CA. All these listed are my top 4 as well for their varying applications. I have all 4 currently in the pantry. El Yucateco and Tapatio for non-vinegar based pepper only flavor hot and medium. The others for their complexity despite the vinegar. They actually sell Valentina at the '99¢ Only' store from time to time.
      An honorable mention I'd like to throw in from SoCal is 'Lindy's Taco Sauce' interesting history on it as well. It is sweeter and medium heat, vinegar...I don't know what it is, but it rocks on asada and pizza. Hard to find as far as I know outside of Southern California in stores and only a few chains carry it here. but it is available online. Also 'Arizona Gunslinger' Jalepeno sauce.

      Reply
      • Patrick

        July 23, 2020 at 2:42 pm

        Hey thanks for mentioning those hot sauces Michael, both are new to me. Cheers.

        Reply
    « Older Comments

    Leave a Reply Cancel reply

    Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

    Recipe Rating




    Primary Sidebar

    Hey, I'm Patrick! I spent 2 years living in Cozumel and got obsessed with Mexican food. I built this site to share all the recipes and techniques I've learned along the way. Read More…

    Footer

    Mexican Recipes

    Cooking Course

    Mexican Cooking 101

    Ingredients

    Salsas

    Starting a Food Blog

    Enchilada Recipes

    About Me

    Contact

    Disclaimer

    © 2023 Mexican Please
 - Privacy Policy