I Tried 11 Frank's RedHot Sauces — This One's Best For Your Super Bowl Wings

Even if you've never bought Frank's Red Hot at the grocery store before, you've probably had the popular hot sauce if you sometimes order chicken wings or anything Buffalo-style at a restaurant. The stuff is ubiquitous, and with good reason. The fermented cayenne pepper sauce is well-balanced (unlike its vinegar-laden cousin, Tabasco) and it's the flavor you think of when you imagine Buffalo sauce.

Turns out that Frank's Red Hot makes a whole lineup of hot sauces and dips. So I grabbed as many as I could find — 11 total — and set out to expand my Buffalo horizons and find the best Buffalo wing sauce. Here are the results, just in time for your spicy Super Bowl party. 

The beauty of the Wings variations of Frank's Red Hot sauces is that they're designed to coat hot chicken beautifully without the need for thickeners or butter. It's smooth in texture and taste, with less of a vinegar tang than straight Frank's hot sauce. And since this is the hottest version of the company's Buffalo wing sauce, it'll clear your sinuses out.

If you normally mix Frank's original hot sauce with butter for your buffalo wings, just grab for this one instead next time. It's your best bet straight out of the bottle, and everyone at your Super Bowl party will love the classic, recognizable taste.

Related: How To Cook Chicken Wings: Baking, Frying, Grilling, and More

The size of this bottle gives it away: I'm a big fan. I buy it in two-packs at Costco, and it doesn't take very long to go through them, either. This is the classic, sharp, tangy, and chile-forward sauce that you know and love. I dip and coat chicken in this stuff straight from the bottle, but I understand that's a little harsh — not to mention salty — for most people, so it doesn't take the top spot when it comes to game day wings.

You can't go wrong with Frank's original sauce. It's like a spicy hug in a bottle, and if you're worried about your game day cooking, your guests will find its presence comforting.

I never thought there was room to improve Frank's original, but this comes real, real close. It's surprisingly delicious and unique, and the combination of dill and hot sauce works better than you think. If you like spicy hot pickles, you'll be on board too. 

I was not convinced that the strong, herby dill flavor would play well with chicken wings, but then I realized that it's not far off from ranch. Slap this on all your chicken, or bloody marys, or tuna sandwiches, or Buffalo shrimp. It's so good it'll probably be great on anything.

Related: The 8 Best Dill Pickles You Can Buy at the Grocery Store

This is another straight-from-the-bottle chicken wing sauce, and it's at a medium heat level. It's not as spicy as the Wings Hot Buffalo that came in first place, but it's still the platonic ideal of Buffalo wing flavor. (It even swept all other brands in our Buffalo sauce taste test.) If you're unsure of your game day guests' heat tolerance, this is a good compromise. 

I love a good barbecue sauce, and this is a respectable rendition. As the name suggests, it is indeed very smoky, and reminds me of Bull's Eye or Sweet Baby Ray's. It's got a bit of heat, but it's more on the sweet end of bottled barbecues. If you didn't tell me this was a Frank's Red Hot product, I wouldn't know. But it's still pretty good so that's OK. If you prefer BBQ wings to Buffalo wings, this is the Frank's for you.

Can't get the kids to move out of their ketchup comfort zone? You could give this Frank's Red Hot Thick a shot. It's got the consistency and look of ketchup, but with a mild Buffalo sauce flavor. It's way too thick for coating a chicken wing, but dipping fries or chicken fingers is another story. 

I know there's a lot of fans of this Sweet Chili version out there, but I don't really understand the love. It's corn syrup consistency, sweet, and very bland. I would expect to get this as a dipping sauce at the worst Chinese restaurant in the city, not from a hot sauce company. Mercifully, it doesn't taste offensive. Go wild with your eggrolls and coconut shrimp, I guess.

Related: Easy Chinese Food Recipes for an Air Fryer, Instant Pot, or Slow Cooker

Why is this sauce so creamy? It's very off putting, including the orange color. There's some cayenne pepper flavor, but little heat, which is to be expected for the mild version. Really, if you have a bunch of wimps at your Super Bowl party, your best bet is to just add lots of butter and a little ranch dressing or sour cream to the original Frank's for a better-tasting mild Buffalo sauce.

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Garlic powder is a scourge on hot sauces. As soon as I tasted this one, I knew it was in there because that acrid, unmistakable flavor assaulted my tongue. Garlic Buffalo wing sauce is a great thing, but not in this form. So do what I do: Melt some butter in a small saucepan, add some minced garlic (or whole garlic cloves, cracked, if you prefer to fish them out before eating), and cook for a minute before adding the Frank's. Voila, much tastier.

Related: How To Make Chili Crisp: This Easy Chili Crisp Recipe Will Become Your New Favorite Condiment

Why did you name this "Stingin'", Frank's? There's nothing spicy about it. It's just a really sweet, thick soy sauce. There's no nuance or balance to the flavor at all. Coating your chicken wings in this would be a travesty. Don't do it.

What seems like a slam dunk has gone horribly awry. You squirt this sauce out of the little hole, and it stays in perfect, unwavering log shape, quivering on your food. I could maybe get past the off putting texture if it tasted good, but it tastes like the worst ranch ever, with extra tang reminiscent of spoiled milk instead of Buffalo sauce's vinegar. Horrendous.