Homemade hot sauce belongs on eggs, chips, cheese on toast, fried chicken, noodles, roast vegetables and anything off a barbecue, not just on tacos. The only rule worth keeping is that you match the sauce to the plate rather than reaching for the same bottle every time, because a smoky chipotle and a sharp green sauce pull food in opposite directions.
That matters more once you make your own, because you stop owning one bottle and start owning a shelf. The Chilli Sauce Making Kit makes seven different sauces at varying heat levels from the six dried chillies and flakes in the box, so one kit gives you a smoky one, a fruity one, a garlicky one and a genuinely fierce one. Here is where each earns its place, fifteen things to put them on, and how to cook with them.
What should you actually put homemade hot sauce on?
Here are fifteen, starting with the obvious and getting more interesting as it goes.
- Fried eggs. The classic for a reason: a runny yolk needs acidity as much as it needs salt.
- Scrambled eggs on toast. Stir a little through the eggs at the end rather than pouring it over the top.
- A cheese toastie. A thin layer inside, against the bread, so it steams into the cheese as it melts.
- Roast potatoes. Especially the corners that have gone too dark. Heat loves a crisp edge.
- Chips. Mixed half and half with mayonnaise, the best chip dip in the house.
- Macaroni cheese. A few drops stop the third forkful tasting heavy.
- Fried chicken. Brush it on while the chicken is hot so it clings instead of sliding off.
- A sausage sandwich. The proper alternative to brown sauce, and a better one.
- Grilled halloumi. Salty squeaky cheese with something sweet and hot beside it is a small triumph.
- Pizza. Drizzled after baking, never before, or it burns off in the oven.
- Instant noodles. Turns a store cupboard supper into something you actually chose to eat.
- Rice bowls. Rice is a blank page, and hot sauce is the quickest way to write on it.
- Lentil or bean soup. A spoonful stirred in at the table lifts a whole pot.
- Roast cauliflower. Tossed in sauce for the last few minutes of roasting, it caramelises at the edges.
- A Bloody Mary. A few drops instead of the shop bought stuff, and suddenly it is your recipe.
Which of the seven sauces suits which food?
The kit's recipes are built around different chillies, so they behave differently on the plate. Broadly:
- Smoky Chipotle. Deep, smoky and tomato backed. This is your barbecue, burger, sausage and roast potato sauce, and it is superb on anything that has already met a flame.
- Louisiana Hot. Simple, sharp and vinegary. The breakfast bottle: eggs, fried bread, chicken, and anything that needs a wake up rather than a whole new flavour.
- Garlic Sriracha. Thick, garlicky and traditionally salty. Noodles, rice bowls, dumplings, and the base of the best spicy mayonnaise you will make.
- Piri Piri. Built on red pepper, tomato, lemon and basil, so it is bright as well as hot. Chicken, prawns, grilled fish and roast vegetables.
- Mango Habanero. Fruity, sweet and then seriously hot. Pork, fish tacos, halloumi and cheese boards, where the sweetness has something salty to argue with.
- Aji Amarillo. Creamy, made with mayonnaise and sour cream, so it is a dipping sauce more than a splash. Chips, chicken, crudites and jacket potatoes.
- West African Pepper Sauce. Onion, tomato, ginger and garlic cooked down. Rice, grilled meat, stews and anything that wants a sauce with real body.
Each recipe makes roughly 250 to 350ml, so a full kit gives you enough to keep several bottles open at once and still hand a couple away.
How do you cook with hot sauce instead of just pouring it?
Treat it as a seasoned, acidic, chilli flavoured liquid and it goes a long way further than the table.
- As a marinade. Loosen a thick sauce with oil and lemon juice, then use it on chicken thighs or pork.
- As a glaze. Warm a fruity sauce with honey and brush it on in the last five minutes, so the sugar catches but does not burn.
- Stirred into mayonnaise. One part sauce to three or four parts mayonnaise gives you burger sauce, chip dip and sandwich spread in one bowl.
- Into butter. Mash a little into soft butter with garlic, roll it in greaseproof paper and chill it. Excellent over steak or sweetcorn.
- In a dressing. A teaspoon in an oil and vinegar dressing gives a coleslaw a proper backbone.
- In the pot. Added early to a chilli or a stew, the heat mellows and spreads out instead of hitting one note at the front.
What if it is too hot for the food you are making?
Heat is the one thing you can plan for. The milder chillies such as the green and jalapeno give gentle sauces, while habanero, facing heaven and piri piri deliver serious heat, and tasting as you go with the pipettes means you never overshoot. It is always easier to add more chilli than to take it out.
If a finished bottle is fiercer than the dish deserves, balance rather than dilute. Something sweet such as sugar or honey, something acidic such as extra vinegar or lime, or more of the non chilli ingredients will bring it down. On the plate, dairy is your friend: soured cream, yoghurt or cheese blunt chilli heat far better than water does.
One practical note that catches everyone once. Wear the gloves included in the kit when handling the chillies, because the oils cling to skin and sting badly if you then rub your eyes.
How do you serve it when other people are eating?
Put the bottle on the table rather than the sauce on the food. Hot sauce is a matter of taste, so a mildly spiced dish with a fierce sauce alongside beats a fiery one that half the table cannot eat.
Label and date everything with the kraft tags and string in the kit, which sounds fussy until you have four unmarked bottles in the fridge door and no idea which is the habanero. It also makes them giftable: a bottle of something you made, named and dated, is a better present than it has any right to be. Every sauce made with the Chilli Sauce Making Kit is vegan, gluten free and lactose free, which quietly solves a lot of dinner party problems, and the kit is hand-packed in Britain.
Hot sauce pairing FAQs
Does hot sauce go with cheese?
Very well, particularly the fruity and smoky sauces. A mango habanero next to a hard cheese or grilled halloumi works in the same way as chutney does, with heat standing in for sweetness.
What is the best hot sauce for eggs?
A thin, vinegary one such as the Louisiana style. Thick, chunky sauces sit on top of an egg, while a sharper sauce runs into the yolk where it belongs.
Is homemade chilli sauce suitable for vegans?
All seven sauces in our kit are vegan, gluten free and lactose free, since they use only plants, vinegar and store cupboard ingredients.
How long does an open bottle keep?
Many of the recipes are designed for a longer shelf life thanks to their vinegar and salt content. Bottle into clean containers, keep the sauce refrigerated once opened, and follow the guidance given with each recipe.
Can I use hot sauce as a marinade?
Yes. Loosen it with oil and a little citrus juice so it coats evenly, and keep the meat covered in the fridge while it marinates.
Fancy a shelf of your own? Start with our chilli sauce making kits and pick your heat level.
