Are Hot Sauce and Wing Sauce The Same Thing?

Wing sauce and hot sauce are similar, but they are not the same thing!

The difference between wing sauce and hot sauce is like the difference between cream and milk. They are both condiments for your food, but they serve different purposes.

Wing sauce is typically used for classic dipped wings or buffalo-style wings where hot sauce is traditionally used as a hot condiment.

Wing sauces are often more complex, with many different flavours and spices. Hot sauces are centred around the heat and flavour of the peppers used to make them.

Differences in Sauces – Wing Sauce and Hot Sauce

A lot of people use wing sauce and hot sauce the same way. I know I do. Both taste awesome, both are spicy, and both go great with wings.

But a wing sauce is the sauce that you toss wings in, to coat them with flavour and heat. A hot sauce is a condiment like ketchup or mustard and can be sprinkled on top of the wings for some extra heat.

Fundamentally, they are different sauces.

Wing Sauce

Wing sauces are used to coat chicken wings. They need to be thicker in order to coat the chicken with a good amount of flavour and heat.

Think about your local pub’s wing menu, what are the flavours? These are your wing sauces. Buffalo Sauce, Jerk Sauce, Spicy Caesar, Hot and Honey are all types of wing sauces.

You can buy wing sauce or make your own. In most cases, you can make wing sauce by mixing hot sauce and other ingredients.

Buffalo in its most basic form, is made of 50% hot sauce and 50% melted butter. You can follow a similar formula for Hot and Honey and Spicy Caesar.

Hot Sauce

As mentioned above, hot sauces are like condiments. You can sprinkle them on your wings or other dishes. Hot sauces usually contain fewer ingredients than wing sauces to focus on the flavour of the peppers. Most people want their hot sauce to be able to taste great with any type of dish.

Most hot sauces would be too thin to coat the wings well. Also, as much as we would love the heat, coating the wings completely in a ghost pepper hot sauce might be a little too hot to handle.

Which is better – Wing Sauce or Hot Sauce?

Well, neither of these sauces are better than the other. They are just different.

If you’re going to make wings, you are going to need a good wing sauce, so go with a wing sauce for sure. Then, if you need to add some heat, grab your favourite bottle of hot sauce and drizzle over the saucy wings.

Conclusion: Wing Sauce vs Hot Sauce

Wing sauce is typically used to coat chicken wings, while hot sauces are often served as a condiment with food.

There are so many different types of hot sauce and wing sauces to choose from. Which one is right for you?

If you want a sauce that packs in the heat, then consider buffalo or habanero-based sauces. For those who like spicy foods but don’t need them too spicy, try something milder such as jalapeño-based sauces.