It's Official: Here's The Worst Cholula Hot Sauce Flavor

If you walk into a breakfast spot and see that they have Cholula on the table, chances are you're in for a pretty satisfying meal. Named after the ancient city where it was founded, Cholula is a hot sauce based on a century-old family recipe, originating in Mexico. Arbol and piquin peppers make up the base of the beloved hot sauce, housed in a glass bottle under an iconic wooden cap.

If you see a bottle at your local taco stand or breakfast joint, you're most likely encountering original Cholula, but the company has branched out to offer an added six flavors including Green Pepper, Reserva Tequila & Lime, Chipotle, Chili Lime, Chili Garlic, and Sweet Habanero. We sampled all seven Cholula hot sauce flavors to save your stomach lining from destruction and ranked the Green Pepper hot sauce in last place. To be honest, we were surprised that Cholula's green sauce was scraping the bottom of the barrel — as hot sauce aficionados will tell you, the green sauce version of your favorite spicy toppers is often packed with crisp, jalapeño peppers which makes it popular amongst connoisseurs. But this one just missed the mark, mainly due to its sodium content which is over double that of the flagship flavor.

There was an era, about four years ago, where Cholula's green sauce could've made it to the top of our ranking, but unfortunately, a formula change around 2021 caused the sauce to topple from grace. One Redditor was able to do a side-by-side comparison of the old formula with the new one and speculated that beyond the added salt, there seemed to be an over-abundance of vinegar without the same care and time to ferment the jalapeños. Cutting jalapeño fermentation time will eliminate some of those bright, zesty flavors that make green hot sauce so delicious.

If you're searching for the perfect green hot sauce, the internet is obsessed with Hot Ones' Los Calientes Verde sauce. But we think this is a great opportunity to make your own hot sauce. We put together a list of 19 types of green sauces that we think everyone should try to whip up at least once in their lives. Of the sauces listed, we recommend you try zhug, aji verde, Afghan cilantro chutney, Canarian mojo verde sauce, and salsa verde for that spicy, hit of pepper.