Buyer's Guide to Hot Sauce & Chilli Oil - Taste Test 2025

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Hot sauce lovers, gather round! Whether you’re dunking dumplings, spicing up eggs, or drizzling over noodles, there’s never been a better time to level up your heat game.

At Sous Chef, we’re always exploring the most exciting flavours from around the world, and today we’re diving deep into crispy chilli oils, dipping sauces, and iconic hot sauces that deserve a place in your kitchen cupboard.

The Sous Chef Hot Sauce experts

Ross, our in-house chef, and Kristin, our cookware buyer and full-blown chilli fanatic, took on the tough (and spicy!) task of taste-testing a wide range of sauces. Here's your ultimate guide to the standout bottles and jars - and the best ways to use them.

For more hot sauce inspiration read our guide to everything you need to know about hot sauce from around the world, or browse all chilli and hot sauces.

The 2025 Hot Sauce Taste Test

Watch the Ross and Kristin's hot sauce taste test in full, above. Or scroll down to read about each of the jars and bottles they tried. Or jump to the bottom to find our summary of how to choose the best hot sauce for you.

Bestseller

LGM Crispy Chilli in Oil

Lao Gan Ma LGM Chili Crisp

We kicked off with a classic. LGM’s chili crisp is a gateway sauce for a reason — rich, mellow, and loaded with crunchy garlic.

I never run out of this one. It’s my default for jazzing up eggs on toast.

How to eat LGM Chilli Crisp: Avocado toast, fried eggs, rice bowls, or drizzled over dumplings for instant magic.

Poon's Extraordinary Chilli Oil, 125g

Poon’s Chilli Oil

Next up: a favourite at Sous Chef. Softer in texture but bursting with umami flavours, this is fantastic drizzled over grilled veg. This oil has a slightly smoother finish. Made by Amy Poon, and part of a fabulous collection of chilli oils and dipping sauces.

That's SO nice, and super-fragrant!

How to eat Poon's Chilli Oil: Best for stir-fries and noodles where you want bold flavour and aroma.

Yep Kitchen Garlic Chilli Oil with Beef, 160g

YEP Kitchen

Big garlic, crispy chili, and little pieces of beef jerky? Yes, it’s as addictive as it sounds.

That roasted garlic flavour is incredible. I’d put this on everything from ramen to roast chicken.

Tingly, salty, and deeply savoury, this one packs a punch thanks to Sichuan peppercorns. For real chili heads.

How to eat Yep Kitchen chilli oil: Serve with Sichuan dumplings, ramen, laksa, or even spooned onto plain rice for a supercharged bite.

Bestseller

White Mausu Black Bean Rayu, 240g

White Mausu – Black Bean Rayu & Peanut Rayu

This Irish-made rayu is thick with fermented black bean flavour, halfway between miso and magic. Not too crunchy but brimming with umami.

Black Bean Rayu is rich and miso-like, perfect for noodles.
Peanut Rayu brings crunch, depth, and a serious umami hit.
That peanut one with some gyoza? Unreal.

More ideas for White Mausu: stir through through noodles, tahini and spring onions for a lightning-fast dinner.

Payst Ginger & Green Sweet Chilli Sauce, 250ml

Payst Thai Sauces

Crafted by the chefs behind London’s much-loved Thai restaurant Farang, these sauces blur the line between dipping sauce and stir-fry ingredient.

You can really taste the ginger there, it would make a fantastic dipping sauce for anything really!

The classic sweet chilli is s little sweeter than the green chilli and ginger one, with a more familiar flavour. Ridiculously tasty. And the Burnt Chilli sauce is fantastic - rich and flavourful almost like an eastern European ajvar red pepper sauce. Gorgeous!

Conbini Onsen Hot Sauce, 250ml

Combini

Two more from Ireland, both packed with personality:
• Fermented Chili is funky, vinegary, and great with fried food.
• Katsu Ketchup? Think curry sauce meets tomato ketchup — ideal on a bacon sarnie.

This is 100% going in my scrambled eggs from now on.

Two wildly creative sauces from an Irish brand doing great things. The sweet chilli sauce is funky and vinegar-forward with fermented notes, while the Katsu Ketchup is a revelation—rich, savoury, and mind-blowing on a bacon sandwich.

Chimac Korean Hot Sauce, 350g

Chimac Korean Hot Sauce

Made by a Korean fried chicken joint in Dublin, this sauce brings the heat with that gochujang funk. If you love kimchi or fermented spice, this is your jam. Fermented gochujang, a tangy kick, and the perfect texture for wings, eggs, or mixing into mayo.

This would be really fantastic on chicken wings, in a simple mayo blend, over omelettes, or simply jazzing up instant noodles.

Cholula Chipotle Hot Sauce, 150ml

Cholula

A pantry essential for a reason. Mild heat, good acidity, and an easy squeeze bottle. We love it on cheese toasties and tacos.

I get through about a bottle of this stuff a week at home. I really think it tastes fantastic!

With a perfect balance of heat and tangy vinegar, it adds a zesty kick to everything from scrambled eggs to tacos. It's a must-have in any hot sauce lover’s kitchen.

Flying Goose Sriracha Yuzu, 455ml

Flying Goose Sriracha Range

Everyone at Sous Chef has a bottle of Flying Goose in their fridge, but these spins are worth trying:

Hot tip: Mix hoisin with sriracha for a sweet-spicy sauce you’ll want on everything.

• Yuzu is citrusy and extra spicy.
• Green is fresh and bright — amazing with roasted veg.
• Hoisin is thick, sweet, and great for stir-fries when mixed with chili.

New

Thiccc Sauce Carolina Gold Honey Mustard, 150ml

Thiccc Sauce

These thick, wax-sealed bottles from Leeds are packed with flavour:
• Honey Butter Louisiana: smoky and sharp.
• Texas BBQ: like McDonald’s BBQ sauce if it was actually good.
• Bourbon BBQ Sriracha: bold, spicy, and made for dirty fries.

It’s BBQ sauce with swagger.

How to Choose the Best Hot Sauce

Not sure where to start? Here’s what we learned from our team tasting:

• For crunch and texture: LGM, YEP Kitchen or White Mausu Peanut Rayu.
• For fragrance and depth: Poon’s or Combini’s fermented sauce.
• For BBQ vibes: Thiccc Sauce or White Mausu Smoky Chili.
• For extra tang: Chimac or Flying Goose Yuzu Sriracha.

For more hot sauce inspiration read our ultimate guide to hot sauce from around the world, or browse all chilli and hot sauces.

About the author

The Sous Chef team spends all day, every day hunting out the most exciting flavours, trends and recipes from across the world.

Every single team member tastes ingredients weekly, and cooks with the most up-to-date and classic cooking tools regularly. We're experts in ingredients and cookware from around the world.

We are constantly tasting new products, trying new recipes, and speaking to expert producers. For recipes and inspiration from the Sous Chef team, sign up for emails here.