Chili crunch, Sriracha, and hot honey are all vying for your precious pantry space this year — but you just can’t beat the classics.
As Food & Wine reports, Frank’s RedHot is officially the most-purchased hot sauce brand on Instacart, according to ordering data. A popular base for Buffalo Wings and tangy chicken dip, this McCormick-owned brand does much of the heavy lifting for gameday appetizers. It’s also the go-to pick for shoppers in 31 states, making it a clear favorite in the Midwest, Northeast, and much of the Great Plains.
The Metrics Don’t Lie
“For the past three years, Frank’s RedHot has been the top hot sauce on Instacart,” Instacart data analyst Alex Orellana tells Food & Wine. “What stands out in the data is its consistency: Consumers return to it again and again, suggesting that hot sauce choices are sometimes less about chasing novelty or extreme heat and more about reaching for a familiar, reliable option that fits easily into everyday cooking.”
Those metrics cover January 2025 through the end of August 2025, as Instacart details in the full report. Huy Fong Foods, Taco Bell, Cholula, and Texas Pete make up the rest of the top five, with pockets of dedicated fans across the United States.
We’re lucky to have previous years’ Instacart data for comparison, and it shows some movement in the top charts. Taco Bell’s bottled sauce has climbed the ranks among Instacart users over the year, moving from No. 5 to No. 3 (with orders up 24% year-over-year). Huy Fong Foods, the maker of the vinegar-based chile-garlic favorite known as Siracha from California, saw 60% growth.
Americans love these Hot Sauce brands
Frank’s RedHot is preferred by more than half the country, but a handful of similar sauces are gaining traction. Each of these top 10 bottles offers something different — from the sun-ripened chiles in Huy Fong Foods’ Sriracha, Tapatío’s distinct flavor punch, and the novelty of Taco Bell’s lineup.
Texas Pete dominates Instacart orders in the Southeast, but Huy Fong Foods is the bottle of choice in the Lone Star State. Tapatío is king in its home state of California, while Cholula is the most-ordered sauce in Hawaii and Montana. Meanwhile, tangy, vinegar-based Louisiana Brand is beloved in its namesake state and neighboring states like Tennessee, Arkansas, and Mississippi.
Some states even consume more of it: Instacart analyzed the ounces of hot sauce customers purchased in each state, then ranked the country by consumption. Shoppers in New Mexico consume a whopping 27.4 ounces — the highest in the country — with Alaskans close behind. At the other end of the spectrum, folks in Alabama take it easy, ordering a modest 16.8 ounces per customer.
Trends are driving the up-and-coming favorites
Among Instacart shoppers, high-protein Hot Honey Beef Bowls “exploded” in popularity. Instacart tracks broader ingredient trends and reports that orders for those ingredients (ground beef, sweet potatoes, avocado, cottage cheese, and hot honey) skyrocketed in March 2025.
The “swicy” trend — which has hit the broader food scene in the past five years — still shows staying power, Orellana explains. “If a viral trend shows up in our data, we tend to see two paths emerge. Some viral ingredients spike quickly as consumers experiment — they’re ordered once or twice, then fade as the trend cools. But the flavors that really last are the ones that feel adaptable and easy to incorporate into everyday meals,” Orellana says. “The hot honey bowl trend is a great example of that second category.”
Whether you’re reaching for the classics or trying something new, we’re willing to bet you’ve got at least one hot sauce in your rotation.
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