Tonight’s dinner was an easy veggie rice soup. It turned out a little bit bland, so we decided to see if spicing it up with hot sauce would work.

Short answer: YES

Cholula hot sauce has been my favorite hot sauce for many years. It was the first hot sauce I ever bought when I lived on my own for the first time, and it’s been a pantry staple for a long time.

Hot sauce is a blend of chili peppers, salt, and vinegar. I love Cholula myself, and I also like Louisiana, Frank’s Red Hot, Tabasco chipotle, and for thin budget times, the Aldi brand Burman’s is delightfully satisfying. I often use it to make spicy chicken dip because it calls for more than just a few dashes.

Wing sauce is a combination of hot sauce mixed with a fat, usually butter, and flavorings. I make a wing sauce with hot sauce, butter, and honey, plus onion and garlic powder. Among my favorite store bought wing sauces are Frank’s Buffalo sauce and… Cholula Mexicali Wing Sauce.

Cholula Mexicali Wing Sauce is flavored with citrus for a bright, perfectly spicy pepper sauce with just the right viscosity and texture.

The spice kicks in slow, but it is definitely quite a kick. The lingering heat is complex and smokey. It’s great in a veggie or taco soup, outstanding on a corn chip, and would be awesome drizzled over chilaquiles with crema and cotija cheese.

At about $7 per 12 fl oz bottle, it’s a bit of a budget stretch, but if you want a bright wing sauce with multifaceted flavor that can be used to elevate your simplest dishes, this is the wing sauce for you.

What’s your favorite wing sauce?