Best and Worst Picks for Healthy Hot Sauce

If you live in Louisiana, it’s likely that hot sauce plays an important role in your kitchen pantry. From seafood to pizza or really anything else, this spicy condiment is an integral part of local cuisine. And with science linking eating spicy foods with longer living, that’s a good thing!

However, one detail you may not be aware of is that hot sauce can range in more than just heat. Some brands contain up to six times more sodium than others, as well as artificial colors. Below are the results of our recent investigation into the healthiest hot sauces and which ones to avoid.

Best picks for healthy hot sauce

Tabasco Pepper Sauce

35 milligrams sodium per teaspoon
Ingredients: Distilled vinegar, red pepper, salt

Siete Traditional Hot Sauce

45 milligrams sodium per teaspoon
Ingredients: Water, apple cider vinegar, jalapeno pepper, golden beets, puya pepper, sea salt, flax seeds, garlic, chia seeds, black pepper, oregano, orange peel

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Decent picks for hot sauce

Crystal Hot Sauce

135 milligrams sodium per teaspoon
Ingredients: Aged red cayenne peppers, distilled vinegar, salt

Cholula Hot Sauce

110 milligrams sodium per teaspoon
Ingredients: Water, peppers (arbol and piquin), salt, vinegar, spices, xanthan gum

Worst picks for hot sauce

Cajun Chef Hot Sauce

140 milligrams sodium per teaspoon
Contains artificial food dyes
Ingredients: Louisiana peppers, distilled vinegar, salt, guar, sodium alginate and xanthan gums, Yellow 6 and Red 40

Zatarain’s Cajun Hot Sauce

190 milligrams sodium per teaspoon
Ingredients: Aged red peppers, distilled vinegar, salt, natural flavor, garlic and xanthan gum

Louisiana Hot Sauce

200 milligrams sodium per teaspoon
Ingredients: Aged peppers, vinegar, salt

Editor’s note: Registered dietitian Molly Kimball offers brand-name products as a consumer guide; she does not solicit product samples nor is she paid to recommend items. A version of this article originally appeared on WGNO’s “FUELED Wellness with Molly.”