9 Trader Joe's Hot Sauces, Ranked Worst To Best

Trader Joe's offers some of the best condiments out there, ranging from ketchups and mustards to chimichurri sauces and various spreads. If you dive a little deeper into the world of TJ's condiments, you'll find an entire subsection of hot sauces, including familiar staples, like sriracha, and more unique options, like sweet potato habanero hot sauce. No matter what heat level you prefer, or whether you like your sauce vinegary or sweet, fermented or fresh, smooth or chunky, Trader Joe's has options for just about any hot sauce lover.

But that begs the question: which Trader Joe's hot sauces are any good? To answer that, I set out to sample a selection of TJ's hot sauces, hoping to identify the best of the bunch. As someone who is no stranger to a good hot sauce (just check out my Cholula hot sauce ranking and Tabasco hot sauce ranking), I eagerly put nine of Trader Joe's hot sauces to the taste test. When sampling these sauces to determine which comes out on top, the perfect balance of heat and flavor was the most important factor in my judgment. But there were other factors at play as well, like the sauce's complexity or whether it had a particularly interesting flavor or consistency. Ultimately, it was fairly difficult to determine the lowest-ranked sauce, but first place was a clear-cut winner that stood out above the rest.

It wasn't easy to rank Trader Joe's sriracha hot sauce in last place, but hear me out. I am a bona fide sriracha lover, and can attest that not all srirachas taste the same. In the case of TJ's version, it falls a bit short of hitting those staple spicy and fermented flavor notes.

Upon first tasting the sriracha, which I paired with a tortilla chip, I immediately noticed that it was a bit sweeter than my go-to brand, Huy Fong. I don't mind a little sweetness to balance out the heat and funky flavors, but I didn't love that it was the first thing I noticed. It took too much away from any spicy edge the sauce had to offer, and muted the tangy, fermented notes that typify sriracha. 

That said, I certainly can't deny that this is a tasty sauce, and it's ultimately not a bad take on sriracha. However, one sauce had to come in last place, and this stood out to me as the weakest link in TJ's lineup. On a positive note, it just goes to show that Trader Joe's has some real winners in terms of its hot sauces, since none of those I tasted were objectively bad. 

It's common knowledge that a hot sauce's heat comes down to the spice level of the chili peppers in its base (and the quantity of those peppers). Many hot sauces have a jalapeño base, which means that while they're going to be reasonably spicy, the heat isn't too extreme. Then there's something like the Carolina Reaper, an extremely spicy chili pepper that results in a "knock-your-socks-off" hot sauce. Habanero peppers fall somewhere in between, but they can definitely pack a punch, as is evident in Trader Joe's Habanero Hot Sauce.

I tend to find habanero hot sauces especially spicy in general, but this one had my lips tingling and my eyes watering. I did enjoy the flavor, which was nice and sharp, and slightly acidic, but perhaps a little too sweet. I just wished there was an extra element that would have tempered the heat a bit, like a fruity flavor that could help counter the habanero madness. I could see this sauce being more enjoyable if it were used sparingly, like a small drizzle on an al pastor taco. As-is, however, the spice was too overwhelming, so I could only rank Trader Joe's Habanero Hot Sauce so high. However, lovers of extra-spicy hot sauces may disagree with my evaluation.

Right off the bat, I found Trader Joe's Jalapeño Sauce the most intriguing due to its appearance. Why does this sauce look so creamy? Why does it appear like it would be cooling, despite clearly stating that it's a spicy sauce right on the bottle? While I remain dumbfounded as to how this sauce manages to achieve such a creamy consistency — especially considering that it's suitable for vegans — I can at least confirm, based on my taste test, that it does not have a cooling effect. But I wouldn't say that it raises the heat much, either.

My biggest disappointment with this jalapeño sauce was that it just wasn't very hot. This isn't inherently a bad thing, especially for those who prefer a milder hot sauce, but personally I was hoping for more spice. I could still appreciate the jalapeño-forward flavor that the sauce had to offer, and I also quite enjoyed its consistency — it earned points for originality, as I don't think I've ever had a hot sauce that was so texturally creamy. Overall, I didn't hate this hot sauce, but it needed to be bolder in the spice department to earn a higher ranking. 

I've ranked Trader Joe's jarred salsas in the past, and I have to say, its Chunky Garlic & Jalapeño Hot Sauce almost seems better suited for that lineup than this one. This stuff certainly delivered on the "chunky" front, which is no bad thing — out of all the sauces reviewed, I felt it paired best with the tortilla chip. It also packed in a good amount of spice; however, the garlic bordered on overwhelming.

I'm not usually one to complain about a garlic overload, but I found myself wishing there was a touch less of it in this hot sauce. Or, at the very least, that there was more spicy jalapeño flavor to back it up. Overall, this was a solid hot sauce (figuratively and literally), albeit a slightly overly-garlicky one, and I'm sure some people will adore the chunky texture. Personally, I could take or leave the chunks, and in the grand scheme of things, this Trader Joe's sauce felt like a very middle-ground option. It was inoffensive and tasty enough, but not something I'd necessarily return to. 

I wasn't quite sure what to expect before trying Trader Joe's Bird's Eye Chile Hot Sauce, largely because I'd never tasted a sauce that showcases this specific pepper. However, I have tried bird's eye chilis (also known as Thai chilis), so I was expecting a pretty intense level of heat. Much to my surprise, this sauce wasn't overwhelmingly spicy. It was hot, sure, but the overall profile was much more balanced than I anticipated.

The first tasting note I picked up on was a very bright, slightly acidic one, but that quickly gave way to the spice from the pickled chilis. I think the pickling really helped give this sauce the unique, tangy flavor profile that made it stand out. It was also a bit sweet, and a little garlicky. A solid hot sauce all around, I appreciated how well its flavors were balanced with its heat, and felt it could prove highly versatile. 

The Sweet Potato Habanero Hot Sauce is perhaps the most controversial entry on this list. I can't say that I've ever tasted a sweet potato hot sauce before, nor has it been something I could have even fathomed wanting to try. But I love sweet potatoes, and I love hot sauce, so I hoped the two would work well together in some capacity.

Sure enough, sweet potatoes and hot sauce do go together (at least in my humble opinion). I'm not going to lie — this was a slightly weird hot sauce. It boasted a prominent sweet potato flavor, but also tasted very strongly of fall spices, like cinnamon and nutmeg. As strange as it was encountering those flavors in a hot sauce, they worked well, providing a warmth that paired well with the actual spiciness from the habaneros. Remember how I said earlier that I wished Trader Joe's Habanero Hot Sauce had some other element to balance the spice? This has it. The extra sweetness and baking spice notes upgrade the sauce from one that simply tastes "spicy." I could see it being a bit polarizing for some, but it's a uniquely delicious sauce that any sweet potato fan will probably enjoy. 

Peri-peri (or piri-piri) sauce has a unique flavor, offering up some surprisingly tangy and aromatic notes to accompany the expected heat. Trader Joe's Peri-Peri Sauce is a great example of the style, providing a nice level of spice to go along with the slightly sour funk of the fermented chilis. Peri-peri is traditionally made with African bird's eye chilies, and according to Trader Joe's, the company sources its sauce directly from South Africa. That means this stuff is the real deal, which is crucial when it comes to providing a quality, region-specific hot sauce. 

My favorite aspects of this sauce were its complexity and the remarkable balance of flavors. While the spice dominated, there was also a touch of sweetness that worked with the tangy notes to temper the heat before it became too overwhelming. There was also something about it that reminded me of a wing sauce, which makes sense considering peri-peri is typically paired with chicken. However, a sauce this good could be paired with far more dishes, and I could see myself drizzling it over pizza, eggs, or even roasted veggies.

Who says that all hot sauces have to be liquid? Trader Joe's Italian Bomba Hot Pepper Sauce proves that not only can a hot sauce be thick and paste-like, but that it can taste darn good while doing so, especially based on how much I wanted to keep going back for more bites of this stuff. Fermented Calabrian peppers are the ingredient that makes bomba sauce unique, and the chilis added a lot of depth that helped balance the spice while offering a bit of funkiness at the same time.

Many of the sauces on this list feature fermented chiles as the base, and it's no wonder that they're such a popular hot sauce ingredient. While this chunky, salsa-style sauce tasted great on a tortilla chip, I could see it being an amazing addition to a simple red pasta sauce, providing an immediate flavor boost. I could also see myself blending some into homemade salsa, mixing it into a breakfast scramble, or spreading it on a slice of pepperoni pizza. I love a versatile sauce, and this one definitely delivers on that front without falling into the trap of tasting too neutral or boring.

Some of the best hot sauces are those that keep things incredibly simple, featuring some sort of chili, vinegar, and not much else. However, there are also those that pack quite a few ingredients into a single bottle, resulting in a truly interesting and complex condiment. The potential pitfall of the latter is that ingredient-overload can lead to an unnuanced character that lacks cohesion, but that's certainly not true for Trader Joe's Green Dragon Hot Sauce.

This sauce managed to strike gold with its flavor profile, which is remarkably complex and works incredibly well. The jalapeño and tomatillo base alone makes it more complex than many hot sauces out there, but it goes further by incorporating other flavors like garlic, lime juice, and even cilantro purée. I was initially worried that the cilantro would overpower the entire sauce, but this wasn't the case at all. Instead, it adds a unique, grassy herbaceous note that helps brighten the entire sauce. There's also just the right amount of spice here — enough to make your tongue tingle without assaulting your taste buds. If you're a fan of more complicated condiments, you'll love Trader Joe's Green Dragon sauce.

One of the main factors to consider when ranking hot sauces is the spice level, but that doesn't mean the hottest sauce wins by default. The complexity and balance of flavors are incredibly important, so I also looked for these when assessing Trader Joe's hot sauces. In terms of complexity, I tended to favor sauces that brought more than just spice to the table, be it sweetness, fermented funkiness, tartness, baking spice notes, or perhaps even an herbaceous edge. I considered a sauce well balanced if it wasn't overpoweringly spicy, and if its additional flavor aspects were complementary. I should note that I didn't dislike any of these sauces, and they were all pretty tasty in their own right, so ranking them ultimately came down to separating those that really stood out from those that made less of an impression. 

I conducted the tasting by sampling each hot sauce on a plain, salted tortilla chip. This has been my go-to method for conducting hot sauce rankings because the chip provides a neutral base, allowing me to fully experience the flavor profile of each sauce without having to drink them straight up. Given the wide variation in spice levels and textures, I didn't use a standardized sample size, but followed my personal judgment to ensure the quantity would be enough to fully taste each sauce.