Here lies El Yucateco XXXtra Hot –
5.8/10
I first met this sauce at my local Price Chopper. This one is fairly available, so just take a look at either your hot sauce aisle, or it might even be in the Mexican section (which is where I found mine. [also, someone messaged me directly and said that it’s annoying how much I use parenthesis. Sorry about that!]). In fact, someone at my job site gave me a second bottle the next day! He asked me to share this review with him- Shout out to Javier! So I had one for work and one for home. Allegedly, the habaneros used for this are grown on the Yucatan Peninsular, an area of Mexico commonly known for this. Another fun fact, is that supposedly this is where the asteroid that caused the extinction of dinosaurs crashed. I’ve also wanted to visit Chichen Itza since I was a wee lad. Anyway, this is a hot sauce sub, not a sub for glazing the Maya peoples. Let’s get into the review!
REVIEW: This sauce is widely known across this sub and the hot sauce community in general, so hopefully you guys don’t hate me too much for not being in love with this one. I will say that this can be a good sauce for a steppingstone when you’re first starting your journey. It’s cheap, everywhere, and basic. Truth be told, I genuinely didn’t taste much tomato or salt here. I kind of forgot tomato was even in the ingredients list until I wrote this review. In my opinion, this is an example of a watered down sauce, and I don’t really throw that diss around lightly. It wouldn’t surprise me to learn that the plants are GMO to yield more, at the sacrifice of quality. The heat level of this is around the middle of medium, maybe leaning towards the upper half. I just sucked this one down rather quickly just to get through it. I’m not hating on this sauce just because it’s popular or anything, in fact, I think I’m in the minority, because it seems that this one is universally loved. Anyway, Rest in Peace, Spicy Prince!
Feel free to recommend your favorite habanero sauce, suggest other sauces by El Yucateco, or tell us your experience with this sauce!
Ingredients: Habanero peppers (40%), water, tomato, salt, onion, acidity regulator (acetic acid) (E-260), partially hydrogenated canola vegetable oil, spices, antioxidant (citric acid) (E-330) preservatives (sodium benzoate) (E-260), stabilizer (xanthan gum)
by SecuritySky
21 Comments
How are you going to say it’s watered down and then list that it’s made up of 40% habanero peppers?
Love this sauce
You are probably about to get ripped to shreds in the comments, but, I respect your opinion. It is one of my favorite big brand sauces. If I could only bring 10 sauces with me on a desert island, this would be one of them. I like it that much. That said, 5 being average, I dont think you gave an unfair score to a sauce you didn’t particularly enjoy.
The best in lineup
It’s just hot sauce man, it’s really not that deep. This is a sauce you slop all over some eggs or carnitas and go about your business. It’s not trying to create some bespoke “experience” for people chasing ever hotter sauces for goofy reasons.
I’ve never tried this brand. Thanks for the review.
I rate this attempt at a burn a 4/10 on the burn scale. An attempt was made, but the execution is slipshod and halfhearted. Barely over a paragraph of actual review plus some fluff and a bit of provocative language without any connection to the substance of the review. I yawned. At least there are no glaring grammatical errors. Did someone ask for the ingredient list…?
I agree. It’s nothing that great. Flavor isn’t really there.
Great sauce, surprised at the low rating
When these sauces first came out, at least nationally available in Mexico, they were the hottest bottled sauces in Mexico and as hot as most things available in the USA at the time. They didn’t have preservatives other than perhaps some imperceptible vinegar. Even though it non longer has the kick that it did in the late 90s-early 00s I still enjoy it because it does have a flavor beyond the vinegary taste of most bottled hot sauces and the blandness of other Mexican brands like Cholula or Tampico.
https://preview.redd.it/psqpxn12w16g1.jpeg?width=4032&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=5aea8fe0bb54cdfc6410be7c5b9fd04ca04e63c8
You can probably tell how I feel.
Shitty ingredients and full of preservatives.
This is a great sauce to add to the chips and dip you get at the restaurant.
I love this sauce and the smokey flavor. The heat is perfect for me and I can put this on just about anything. I don’t agree with your opinion but I respect the time you put in to your review.
My favorite ho sauce. Love the smoked pepper taste.
I really disliked your characterization of GMO crops in your review. GMO crops are not of lower quality than other crops (in fact, it’s often the opposite, which is part of the point).
Mexico Lindo xxxxhot habanero. Cheaper, tastier, readily available.
I’ve always got a weird chemical smokey taste with this sauce. Could just be me. I much prefer their green hot sauce.
Let’s be fair, they’re not top tier, but they are on every grocery store shelf and easily accessible. Like if I’m on vacation and need a hot sauce when I’m running in to grab a few things, I’ll grab a bottle.
I’ve made my own sauce before and you do not want too much tomato. It’ll end up just tasting like you made a salsa dip instead of a condiment
The bottle i had had a weird smoky bitterish flavour to it, wont be buying again. Their red habanero sauce is much much tastier imo.