The 5 Best Hot Sauce Subscriptions to Spice Up Your Life
For those who like it hot, these subscription services are a must-have.
Photo c/o Fuego Box
Our Top Hot Sauce Subscription Picks
- Best Overall: Fuego Box
- Best Value: Hot Sauce of the Month Club at Heat Hot Sauce Shop
- Best for Gifting: A Year of Hot Sauce Subscription at Uncommon Goods
- Best Variety: Hot Sauce Lover Subscription at Doc Hotties
- Best Interactive: Hot Ones Box Subscription at Heatonist
By Joey Skladany for Food Network Kitchen
Some like it hot and if that person is you, consider a hot sauce subscription to elevate your meals every month. Or, better yet, gift it to the spice lover in your life who carries a bottle in her purse like Beyoncé.
While the unique service caters to those who can handle the heat, not all hot sauces are created equal. In fact, there are mild varieties that even the most heat-averse will enjoy using to enhance the flavors of their food.
Check out our picks for the top five hot sauce subscriptions below, all of which excel in different categories to guarantee that there’s a box for everyone.
Who Needs a Hot Sauce Subscription
Condiment lovers, rejoice. There is a subset of humans that requires the dipping and dousing of sauces at every meal. If that human is you or someone you know, these boxes are an absolute must. Of course, a hot sauce subscription is also for the person who loves anything spicy, but it can be an ideal gift for any grocery-store connoisseur who never tires from trying new brands.
A hot sauce subscription box is also a wonderful investment for the friend or family member who loves to support small businesses. Most of these bottles are sourced from artisanal hot sauce makers that represent different cultures through variants in peppers/ingredients, preparation, and use. A purchase directly funds their operations and allows them to continue crafting these small-batch products for distribution.
And lastly, whether you like to bring the heat or not, a hot sauce can help add flavor to any dish. Treat it as salt and pepper to take bland proteins and veggies from drab to fab. It’s a pantry staple found in most professional chefs’ living space and rightfully so — the piquant and powerful liquid will always make a lasting impression.
How We Picked
There aren’t many hot sauce subscription boxes that have proven to withstand the test of time and an uber-competitive market. That said, these five options have triumphed and continue to cater to more adventurous palates by offering affordable prices, an extensive array of products, and clever ways to partake in the hot sauce sampling itself.
We compiled a list of every hot sauce subscription box in existence and then polled industry insiders (like chefs, restaurant owners, and food writers) for their all-time favorites. From there, we then researched each company extensively and read through customer reviews to determine where companies excelled, fell short, and differentiated themselves from others. This is how we awarded unique superlatives, even if there were products we were unable to try firsthand.
Frequency: Every 30 or 90 days
Of all the options on this list, Fuego Box is the only company dedicated entirely to a hot sauce subscription service. That means, based on its business model and customer retention rate, it knows what it’s doing and it’s doing it well. There are three types of boxes to choose from:
- Dip Your Toe In: One hot sauce/month with a heat level of mild to hot
- Sauce Lover: Three hot sauces/month with a heat level of mild to hot
- Pain Seeker: For an additional $28.95, you can add two extra hot sauces with the Pain Seeker box, which includes the most fiery and intense bottles sourced from around the world.
Fuego Box says, “We like to consider ourselves a hot sauce club for people who love food,” so keep this in mind when you receive your package each month. Not every featured product is meant to burn your tongue off, but rather accentuate an ingredient or dish’s natural flavors thanks to the crave-worthy combo of pepper and vinegar.
Frequency: Every 30 days
At less than $30 a box and with the perk of free shipping, Heat Hot Sauce Shop boasts one of the most affordable options on this list. You can also choose to select one bottle a month if three seems overwhelming.
In addition to the great value, Hot Sauce of the Month Club is one of the most customizable of the bunch. You can select between three box options that will dictate the heat level of your selection:
- Mellow: From mild to hot, but no extra hots
- Classic (the most popular): The entire world of hot sauce, from mild to wild
- Extra Hot: Serious heat for diehard chile fans
The company has also partnered with more than 600 brands, so you’ll never receive the same bottle twice.
Frequency: Every 90 days
While this is only a quarterly (and a more expensive) option that requires a year’s worth of payment upfront, the box is so much more than a few bottles of hot sauce. Here is a breakdown of the innovative ways in which you or a gift recipient will pump up the picante level of your cuisine:
- Box One: Farm-to-bottle microdose hot sauce — pepper and spice blends served in bottles with eye droppers so you can add limited doses to meals and cocktails
- Box Two: Global Hot Sauce and Spice Kit — four spice blends with a plant-based recipe book
- Box Three: Hot Sauce Challenge Gift Box — six bottles of hot sauce ranging from mild to tear-inducing, designed and numbered to test your limits
- Box Four: Make Your Own Hot Sauce Kit — everything you need to concoct six unique hot sauces from the comfort of your own kitchen
Needless to say, the range of products will provide subscribers with a deeper appreciation of the condiment, especially when tasked to make it themselves by the fourth box.
Frequency: Every 30, 60, or 90 days
Doc Hotties really goes out its way to highlight artisanal brands from around the world so that subscribers sample sauces they’ve never heard about before. You’ll get a full range of spice levels, flavor profiles, and ingredients so that there’s at least one that you’ll inevitably fall in love with and continue to use in perpetuity. You can also cancel at any time so that you’re not stuck paying for months in advance. Take advantage of their current new member promotion by entering BOX30 at checkout to get 30% off your first month.
Frequency: Every 30 days
Half the fun of receiving a Hot Ones box subscription is following along with the hit YouTube and truTV series that bears the same name. These are the exact products that the A-list celebrities suffer through during hilarious, sometimes highly personal sit-down interviews with host Sean Evan. Not only will subscribers be the first to try the sauces from each new season, but they’ll also be able to sample brands that are exclusive to Hot Ones and found nowhere else. It’s the perfect present for anyone who likes to feel like they’re ahead of the trends.
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