Louisiana Hot Sauce has become the go-to sauce for Buffalo wings and similar foods. Hailing from the deep south state of Louisiana, no other hot sauce has this unique distinction.
One of the first commercially available Cajun food products, Louisiana Hot Sauce continues to be one of the most delicious condiments out there.
World famous for its distinct, delicious flavor, its powerful properties enhance the taste of countless dishes.
Although popular, we wanted to find out more about this sizzling sauce here at 800hotsauce. Let’s discover if Louisiana Hot Sauce is all that it’s made up to be with our in-depth review below.
First produced in 1928, Louisiana Hot Sauce is not as hot as some may think. Compared to Tabasco, it has a much milder flavor to it. That’s not to say there is no heat because there is!
Heat tends to appear and pop up for a second or so after a quick taste before dissipating again.
However, its initial flavor is pretty strong and can take you by surprise due to its high salt content. There are actually 200 milligrams of salt per teaspoon making it one of the saltiest hot sauces on the market.
If you have a bland meal, there is no doubt that pouring Louisiana hot sauce over it will enhance the overall flavor. Just be warned! If the dish is already salty, it might be a little overkill and unpleasant at first.
This is definitely a medium-spiced hot sauce. The heat comes from the aged peppers in the ingredients. Therefore, the spices and heat are not intense at all.
Many say that this hot sauce has a strong vinegar bite and we would have to agree. In fact, it tends to taste like many other hot sauces that are currently out there meaning it doesn’t stand out as much as we would have hoped for.
The sauce has very few ingredients meaning the depth in flavor is pretty shallow. The ingredients are:
Aged peppers
Vinegar
Salt
The peppers used are long cayenne peppers. These are combined with vinegar and salt before being fermented. The fermentation process benefits the sauce by producing a more complex flavor and reduces the amount of vinegar needed to acidify the sauce.
Interestingly, the Scoville rating of long cayenne peppers ranges from 30,000 to 50,000 in the heat unit range which is 10 times hotter than a jalapeno pepper.
However, the Scoville rating of Louisiana Hot Sauce is 450. This makes it one of the mildest hot sauces. This heat reduction is welcomed by many users who find other hot sauces just a bit too hot.
But this reduction in heat is probably the result of dilution with vinegar rather than the actual fermentation process.
With just two main flavors (vinegar and peppers), the overall taste of this sauce is nothing extraordinary. There is no major depth to the flavor but it provides just enough of a kick for you to feel something with a bland meal.
Is Louisiana hot sauce good?
First produced in 1928, Louisiana Hot Sauce is not as hot as some may think. Compared to Tabasco, it has a much milder flavor to it. That’s not to say there is no heat because there is!
Heat tends to appear and pop up for a second or so after a quick taste before dissipating again.
However, its initial flavor is pretty strong and can take you by surprise due to its high salt content. There are actually 200 milligrams of salt per teaspoon making it one of the saltiest hot sauces on the market.
If you have a bland meal, there is no doubt that pouring Louisiana hot sauce over it will enhance the overall flavor. Just be warned! If the dish is already salty, it might be a little overkill and unpleasant at first.
This is definitely a medium-spiced hot sauce. The heat comes from the aged peppers in the ingredients. Therefore, the spices and heat are not intense at all.
Many say that this hot sauce has a strong vinegar bite and we would have to agree. In fact, it tends to taste like many other hot sauces that are currently out there meaning it doesn’t stand out as much as we would have hoped for.
The sauce has very few ingredients meaning the depth in flavor is pretty shallow. The ingredients are:
Aged peppers
Vinegar
Salt
The peppers used are long cayenne peppers. These are combined with vinegar and salt before being fermented. The fermentation process benefits the sauce by producing a more complex flavor and reduces the amount of vinegar needed to acidify the sauce.
Interestingly, the Scoville rating of long cayenne peppers ranges from 30,000 to 50,000 in the heat unit range which is 10 times hotter than a jalapeno pepper.
However, the Scoville rating of Louisiana Hot Sauce is 450. This makes it one of the mildest hot sauces. This heat reduction is welcomed by many users who find other hot sauces just a bit too hot.
But this reduction in heat is probably the result of dilution with vinegar rather than the actual fermentation process.
With just two main flavors (vinegar and peppers), the overall taste of this sauce is nothing extraordinary. There is no major depth to the flavor but it provides just enough of a kick for you to feel something with a bland meal.
Ingredients and preservatives in Louisiana Hot Sauce
As we have mentioned, the ingredients in Louisiana Hot Sauce are pretty basic. However, the vinegar gives the sauce an extra tang that, without it, would not possess.
This complements the heat of the sauce very well and combines perfectly with most of the foods you would use with the sauce.
The vinegar also helps the sauce’s texture become thinner, a unique characteristic of Louisiana Hot Sauce.
Another ingredient is salt. While this is not the most popular flavor due to its links with poor cardiovascular health, hot sauces need salt for the extra flavor. Louisiana is no exception because of its small number of flavoring ingredients.
It is believed that just 1-teaspoon of Louisiana Hot Sauce contains around 200 mg of sodium. To put that into perspective, your daily intake of sodium should be 2222 mg.
Therefore, just one small teaspoon makes up 9% of your recommended daily intake.
Compared to most other commercial hot sauces, Louisiana contains considerably more salt levels. One sauce in which Louisiana Hot Sauce is similar is Tabasco Original Red Sauce.
For a start, both originated in the Pelican State but they also rely heavily on preservatives. However, the qualities of these are found in their flavoring ingredients.
The ultra-simple ingredients contained in Louisiana Hot Sauce means there are no preservatives aside from the vinegar, peppers, and salt.
No additional preservatives are needed because the sauce doesn’t require any preservation. It’s simple! The fewer ingredients in a recipe, the lower number of preservatives are needed.
Louisiana Hot sauce consistency
As with an array of hot sauces, Louisiana’s has a dark red color. While this is relatively common, it’s the sauce’s texture that is quite unique.
Louisiana Hot Sauce has a runny, thin consistency which is unlike most other sauces. Due to its thinness, you must shake the bottle hard before using or you’ll be met with a runny, damp surprise (we found out the hard way).
Just a teaspoon or a few drops of this sauce will help your meal come alive.
While the flavors will not be as intense as some other hot sauces on the market, it is enough to spice up any mild-flavored meal. As the bottle says “Just one drop does it.” If you’re looking to enhance a bland dish, there is no doubt that Louisiana Hot Sauce will help overall.
Is Louisiana Hot sauce worth it?
As you can tell, this isn’t a glowing review. We believe other hot sauces provide a bit more of a kick to different dishes than Louisiana Hot Sauce. But this isn’t to say it is not tasty because it is!
If you have a bland-tasting meal or you’re not a fan of spices, just a dash of Louisiana Hot sauce will enhance the flavors without making your eyes water. Overall, this is a dependable, fine-tasting hot sauce.
