All those who love spice love Frank’s red hot sauce. If you combine it with wings, it will give you a combination that seems other-worldly. It has practically become a staple to be eaten with wings.
But that’s not all, now, many recipes also use Frank’s red hot as an ingredient, and we must admit, it ultimately elevates the taste of the dish.
Seeing that it is so fantastic, everyone would want to use Frank’s red hot. But what if it is not available? In that case, here are a few substitutes you can use instead.
Substitutes For Franks Red Hot
1. Tabasco
Very similar to Frank’s red hot sauce, you can use Tabasco in lieu of Frank’s. Tabasco has a thinner consistency than Frank’s and is, therefore, a little runnier.
You will have to keep that in mind if you are adding it to foods like hot dogs and such; you do not want it dripping on your clothes.
Where tabasco is made from tabasco chili peppers, Frank’s red hot sauce is made from cayenne peppers, so of course, there is a slight variation in taste. However, the base of both of these sauces is vinegar, which makes Tabasco sauce a good alternative.
If you focus on the texture, you will probably need to add more Tabasco sauce to your recipes than Frank’s hot sauce since it is runnier.
But at the same time, Tabasco is much spicier than Frank’s, so you will have to keep that in mind when replacing Frank’s hot sauce with Tabasco.
Buffalo sauce is another very close alternative to Tabasco sauce. This is because both of these sauces use cayenne pepper, so their flavors are more or less similar.
How close the taste of buffalo sauce comes to Franks red hot also depends on the brand you are buying from.
The difference between buffalo sauce and Frank’s red hot is one ingredient: butter. Since buffalo sauce was made primarily to be paired with buffalo wings, it has a lot more butter than Frank’s red hot.
This creates some differences in the taste and flavor of the two sauces. Nevertheless, both can be treated as close substitutes for one another.
3. Sriracha Sauce
We all have heard of sriracha sauce, and it can make an excellent alternative to Franks red hot. However, keep in mind that sriracha can be used as a substitute, but the flavor and taste of both these sauces are pretty different.
Again, the difference lies mainly in the kind of chilis that are used in the preparation of the two sauces. As we have talked about above, Frank’s red hot sauce uses cayenne pepper. On the other hand, sriracha sauce is made from red chili peppers.
The taste of the sriracha sauce will depend heavily on the brand you choose to buy it from. But usually, the ingredients of sriracha sauce will include garlic, salt, and sugar.
The taste of garlic is what gives sriracha its unique flavor and forms a point of difference from other spices.
Despite a difference in taste, sriracha can be used in the same ways you would use Frank’s red hot sauce. You will need to be careful with the amount you add in, as well as the foods you are pairing it up with.
4. Chili Powder
If you were planning on adding a bit of Frank’s red hot to your food, like drizzling it a bit, then you can also use chili powder. A little chili powder in place of Frank’s red hot sauce can be a good alternative.
You will have to make sure that you do not add the chili powder in the exact quantities as you would add Frank’s hot sauce because the former has a sharp taste, and your food will not taste very good.
You will also have to take care of the blend of chili powder you choose to add. If it is a brand that makes very raw-tasting chili powder, it will not pair up well with ready-to-serve foods.
5. Harissa
The Maghreb is a region in Africa that has gifted the world Harissa. Harissa is a hot chili pepper paste that we believe can serve as an excellent alternative to Frank’s red hot sauce.
Harrisa will contain roasted red peppers, coriander seeds, garlic paste, cumin, Baklouti peppers, and olive oil.
Other regions of the world also have their own harissas, with the addition and subtraction of ingredients. So, you can use Harissa as a differently-flavored substitute for Frank’s hot sauce.
The Bottom Line
Although Frank’s hot sauce has a very distinct taste that can be pretty hard to replicate, these substitutes discussed above can serve as decent alternatives.
Depending on the recipe and the way you plan to use Frank’s red hot, you can use one of the substitutes listed above instead.