Oh the humble chicken wing, an American classic drenched in delectable buffalo sauce since as far back as the 1960s. They’re simple, tasty, and totally customizable. Some people like ’em hot; others prefer to dial back the spice with some garlic or soy sauce. Bone-in, bone-out? The choice is yours. Best of all, there are plenty of ready-made sauces to help you make wings at home without spending too much time in the kitchen.
Our experts at Tasting Table tested 15 different store-bought wing sauces to find out which ones to avoid, ranking them from worst to best. We sampled everything from Hooters’ line of sauces to unique flavors like bourbon peach and ghost pepper. But one sauce stood out as the clear winner: Cholula Caliente Wing Sauce.
Cholula is the brand behind the beloved hot sauce found in nearly every Mexican restaurant and diner across the U.S. However, not everyone might be familiar with the brand’s wing sauce — and that needs to change.
Why Cholula Caliente Wing Sauce was the clear winner
Cholula’s Caliente Wing Sauce is made with chiles calientes, or spicy peppers, like árbol, cayenne, and piquín. The chiles are blended with butter, vinegar, and Cholula’s signature spices to create a bold, bright sauce that thoroughly impressed our testers.
From the first bite, you’ll recognize the iconic notes of Cholula hot sauce. It’s spicy and flavorful, with all the hallmarks of a classic buffalo sauce. However, the elements of this sauce offer an added depth of complexity — rich, balanced, but never overwhelming. The texture is also perfectly creamy, making it versatile enough to be used for other dishes beyond wings. You can use it in marinades, on burgers, or in dips.
Cholula also offers another wing sauce flavor, Mexicali, which incorporates cilantro and citrus into the mix. We’ve already added it to our shopping lists. Don’t worry, Sweet Baby Ray’s, which ranked second in our tasting, is still a solid choice. But as for Hooters’ medium wing sauce? That one can go right back on the shelf.
