The 6 hottest UK hot sauces you can find in the big supermarkets

We've all bought something that said CAUTION EXTRA HOT with a skull symbol or 5/5 chilli peppers on the packet just to find that it’s merely a bit warm. Soooo disappointing – why do the big shops do that? 

Price is the answer... as well as spice tolerance of the public. Average Joe isn’t a chilli head so what’s a little tingle to us is a heat challenge to most people, therefore big companies go lower on the heat as it’s more agreeable to the general public and costs them less money (both hot peppers and extract are expensive resources). 

To save you from disappointment we have made this handy list of sauces that you can find in the big supermarkets and are actually, kind of spicy (medium to pretty hot). 

1. M&S  Extra Hot Chilli - Medium spicy with a nice front kick. Full review HERE. 
2. Morrison’s Ghost Chilli Sauce – Hot but probably one of the worst hot sauces we’ve ever tasted – Full review HERE. 
3. Mahi Scorpion and Passion Hot Pepper Sauce – Medium hot, a little thin but tasty enough. link to full review – HERE. (Also check out their Carolina Reaper and Pineapple and Bhut Jolokia Pepper sauces that look promising from the ingredients lists) 
4. Sainsbury’s - Scotch Bonnet & Habanero – Medium hot, very vinegary and devoid of much flavour, nice instant heat though.  
5. Sauce shop – Habanero Hot sauce – very straight up flavour but does bring the classic hab-heat. Also check out their Habanero Ketchup, which is 60% habaneros... 
6. Encona – Carolina Reaper – Really nice flavour actually! Not quite as hot as artisan reaper sauces but exciting. Their classic West Indian Pepper sauce is also pretty nice for the price and packs a punch. 

Most of these may not quite hit the mark if you’re looking for top quality (though some are actually really solid, the supermarket offering is certainly getting better and better as more craft brands enter the scene) but either way, if you need your spicy fix and need it now, then these may just be the fix from the shop down the road.  

Feel free to share your finds with us too!