We Tried 6 Different Bottles of Sriracha — And the Winner Was a Total Upset

Panic over sriracha sauce shortages are thankfully behind us (for now … at least I think?!), which means you no longer need to shell out $86 for a two-pack of bottles. And as you’ll soon find out, one never had to in the first place. While much of the hysteria surrounding the shortage could be attributed to Huy Fong, there are plenty of other brands — albeit lesser known — out there that have been steadily churning out the sweet, hot, vinegary sauce.

I must admit, the Huy Fong bottles were also my gateway into sriracha, and I’ve been curious about how the newer-to-me sauces would fare in pho and on wings, spring rolls, pizza, salad, pasta … you see where I’m going here. So I decided to sample all the bottles I could get my hands on (only readily available in grocery stores, though there are tons of online-available options out there I’m excited to track down eventually). Much like the best jarred tomato sauces, each sriracha uses many of the same ingredients (chili peppers, garlic, vinegar, salt, and sugar), yet yields such distinct results. 

In total, three of the six were immediately on my “buy again” list, and I don’t think you’ll guess who snagged the top spot either. 

First things first: I was not expecting such a close race between the two top spots, or that Huy Fong wouldn’t run away with the “W.” However, Ox Brand is truly the one I keep coming back to. (I ordered Thai after my taste test, and it was the bottle I grabbed immediately for my pad see ew.)

When it came to my top pick (and the close runner-up, as you’ll find), it had the distinct flavors of sriracha, but dialed up way higher in a couple different directions. In Ox Brand’s case, that meant a deeper, more savory flavor that seemed, to me, to have a bit more punch of pickled garlic. It surprised me and gave me a deeper umami that I didn’t know I needed.

Buy: Ox Brand Sriracha Sauce, $13.99 for 18.25 ounces at Amazon 

The rumor on the street is that the rereleased Huy Fong Sriracha Sauce’s formula has been tweaked, and many fans can notice it. Personally, I didn’t notice that much of a change (though any taste discrepancy is likely due to the change in its pepper supplier). All things considered, Huy Fong will always have a bright red, subtly burn-y nostalgic place in my heart because of just how balanced it is. 

It’s just spicy, vinegary, and garlicky enough and remains the can-do-it-all sauce to this day. It’s the sauce I think any sriracha-lover or new-to-sriracha folks should always have on hand, in addition to these other bottles. It makes me happy when I see it on the countertop of my go-to restaurant.

Buy: Huy Fong Sriracha Sauce, $4.99 (on sale!) for 17 ounces at Amazon

To steal a phrase from the great poet, Beyoncé, I got hot sauce in my bag. The hot sauce in question? This pint-size little dream of a sriracha from Yellowbird. It’s the baby bear of bottles — the just-right size to keep in my bag in case of spice-related emergencies. Swapping in syrupy sweet blue agave nectar instead of sugar, the Yellowbird Blue Agave Sriracha Sauce was the crowned wild card of my taste test.

Slightly sweeter than the rest of the bunch, this sriracha sauce was so good it had me scheming my next move: Slick onto sticky-sweet wings? Add to salad dressings, crispy fish tacos, and maybe a marinade or yogurt dip? Yes to all of the above. 

It’s also slowly but surely passing one of my main taste-test markers: Do I want to cook things just because I think it can be a vehicle for Yellowbird? You know it.

Buy: Yellowbird Blue Agave Sriracha Sauce, $12.90 for 6.7 ounces at Walmart

I tasted six concealed bottles — each sauce served straight up off a spoon (with a yogurt chaser, naturally). I narrowed them down one by one, separating the “absolutely nots” from the “oooh, interestings” until I landed on the three I’d absolutely rebuy, no hesitation. I evaluated each sriracha based on three criteria:

• Spice Level: Is it too mild or does it pack just the right amount of burn and heat (tingles without detracting from the garlic, pepper, vinegar notes). 
• Texture: A solid sriracha sauce is not too diluted from vinegar, nor is it bogged down with too much body from the pepper base. Ideally it should be somewhere right in the middle, with a consistency that is drizzle-able. 
• Versatility: Does its use feel limited or is the sriracha inspiring me to try it as a marinade, dip, spread, sky-is-the-only limit? 

Did your favorite sriracha make the list? Tell us about it in the comments below.