Texas Pete Original Hot Sauce.. Best Hot Sauce For Wings?

The TLDR -

Just about as ubiquitous as its vermillion counterpart, Tabasco, Texas Pete has become a staple on many store shelves, restaurant tables and pantries across the United States. A rush of vinegar overpowers the initial taste settling into a mild, tangy spice on the end. Offering a less than interesting flavor and coming in at less than half the Scoville units of Tabasco though leaves us yearning for more.

Intro -

Ah, Texas Pete. This hot sauce can be found everywhere in the United States and for many, it's a household name. Funny enough, it's not from Texas at all but has its roots in North Carolina. In 1929, Tad Garner was looking to promote a hot sauce he and his family made and decided to name it Texas Pete to pay homage to the rugged cowboys from that area and thus Texas Pete was born!

Today, the Texas Pete brand makes much more than just a hot sauce. They boast a large portfolio of condiments including a variety of wing sauces, hot sauces, bbq sauces and salsas. Texas Pete is distributed in all 50 states and their products are sold in over 50 countries around the world. Celebrating more than 90 years in business, they are still family owned and operated and maintain a commitment to quality and affordability.

Today, we'll be doing a deep dive on the classic, original Texas Pete Hot Sauce.

Packaging -

Sporting a no nonsense label with a single color illustration of a cowboy in red, a bushel of red peppers and the namesake title in bold fiery red letters on the top, Texas Pete pays homage to its roots. We wouldn't be surprised if this label design is the original, or pretty darn close to it, from 1929!

The bottle itself is pretty unique and has some fun, branded touches to make sure you don't forget which hot sauce you're eating! Above the label we find an embossed representation of the cowboy illustration, and around the cap is a bright white branded shrink wrap replete with small, repeating red logos. It's a nice finishing touch and really makes the bottle stand out amongst its competitors. Once the shrink wrap is removed, we are greeted with a bright red flip top cap.

Back to the label. On the right side we see an illustration of a "spicy meter" in the style of a thermometer with indicators of Mild, Medium and Hot. The heat rating of "Medium" is a bit hopeful but we'll get to that later. That is followed by nutrition facts, ingredients, a best by date and a trademark stamp. Flip it over to the other side and we are greeted with a recipe for Texas Pete Buffalo Style Chicken Wings with options to both deep fry and bake and instructions to shake well, refrigerate, text in bold, red lettering reminding us of the Texas Pete 1929 inception date and more recipe ideas at texaspete.com.

Label Deep Dive -

Ingredients:

The ingredients of Texas Pete Hot Sauce in order are as follows:

• Vinegar

• Aged Peppers (Peppers, Salt, Vinegar)

• Water

• Xanthan Gum and Benzoate of Soda (To preserve freshness and flavor)

• The label also notes the following: MANUFACTURED ON A LINE THAT PRODUCES PRODUCTS WITH A SOY ALLERGEN.
  

Texas Pete Buffalo Style Chicken Wing Recipe:

• 2.5 lbs . Chicken Wings (about 27 wing pieces)

• 3 TBSP Texas Pete Hot Sauce

• 2 TBSP Butter or Margarine

Instructions -

To cook, choose one of the following methods:

Deep Fry -

At 375 degrees F for 10-12 minutes or until crispy.

Oven Bake -

Spread wings on sheet pan, bake at 450 degrees F for 35 minutes or until done.

Melt butter in sauce pan, add Texas Pete and stir well. To coat, place cooked wings and sauce in a large covered bowl. Shake gently.

Serve with celery sticks and blue cheese dressing.

Certifications -

Texas Pete Hot Sauce is Certified Gluten Free

Texas Pete Hot Sauce is Certified OU Kosher

Texture and Consistency -

Texas Pete exhibits a beautiful brilliant red color. It isn't the wateriest sauce we've ever encountered, but it's still a bit more on the runny side. While there will be no problem getting the sauce to flow from the bottle, you still might encounter a bit of resistance in part due to the restricted opening in the flip top cap. Once freed from its container it exhibits a smooth, unrestricted flow leaving a thin coating of sauce behind. The consistency is VERY smooth and pureed which shows in the lack of any visible chunky ingredients and adds to the slippery nature of the sauce.

Teaspoon Test -

Immediately upon tasting, my tongue was overcome with a powerful hit of vinegar. This overpowered all other flavors to start. The vinegar punch subsides rather quickly at which point the flavor of the red pepper mash and salt emerges. In my opinion, the pepper flavor is not as strong or flavorful as it should be and definitely doesn't stand up to the other sauces in this class. The bottle touts a "Medium" spice level but I think the majority of people, especially people who have experience with spicy food would balk at that suggestion. I found the spice level to provide a light tang at best but couldn't detect much perceptible spice.

Final Judgement -

(Note: These ratings differ from our video review. When the video was recorded we were using a 1 - 10 scale but have since consolidated our rating scale to 1 - 5.)

• Heat Level - 1 out of 5 stars

• Flavor - 3 out of 5 stars

• Overall Rating - 2 out of 5 stars

While we respect and admire Texas Pete for the history and pedigree of this classic American hot sauce, we think there are other similar sauces in this class that outshine this beloved favorite. The flavor came off to us as a bit unbalanced and it was lacking the spicy punch that would keep us coming back for more. This would be a good beginner sauce and is highly recommend for individuals who have a low spice tolerance. If you have a choice, we'd say steer clear of this one and seek out a similar sauce like Tabasco that offers a bit more punchy heat and flavor.