Over the past couple years, I have fallen in love with Sriracha.
Now that I am an adult (as in a grocery-shopping 21-year-old), I decided to take that love a step further by always buying Sriracha-flavored foods when I see them.
To my surprise, the majority were disappointing as they didn’t have the same taste as the classic green-topped, rooster-sporting sauce. This is probably because the term “Sriracha” isn’t trademarked, so anyone can name a chili sauce inspired food “Sriracha.” Misleading, I know.
Since we’re all used to the Huy Fong Foods Sriracha, I was determined to find some spot-on flavored goodies so that I could try them, rank them, and no one would have to go through the same shopper’s regret as me.
8. Sriracha Potato Chips
A while back, I had generic brand kettle-cooked Sriracha potato chips, and they were pretty good for the $0.90 I spent on them. However, they must have been a one-hit-wonder because I never found them again. Luckily (or so I thought), you can buy Sriracha Lay’s.
After discovering the weirdly satisfying Biscuits and Gravy Lay’s, I figured these must be good—and they were. But I hate to say they tasted nothing like the Sriracha sauce I know and love. They were sweeter and the hot n’ spicy sensation didn’t kick in until the very end of munching. You’re are better off making Sriracha chips yourself, TBH.
7. Sriracha Salsa
Sriracha Salsa aka salsa. This dip tasted almost exactly like the Mexican-inspired salsa already sitting in my refrigerator. The Sriracha flavoring was almost unnoticeable. Needless to say it was good, but I would personally rather just add Sriracha sauce to my salsa than waste my time buying this again.
6. Sriracha Hummus
Don’t get me wrong, I love hummus and think everyone should eat it, but I think all the flavors taste way too similar. Plain, roasted red pepper, sun-dried tomato—Sriracha was no different. It’s not that they all have the exact same flavor, it’s just that the taste and texture hummus is so distinct that it overtakes added flavor.
Despite all my hummus gripes, when I really focuses on my taste buds, the dip tasted similar to Sriracha—but not spot on. Buy hey, there are a lot of brands of hummus that have a Sriracha flavor, so maybe you will have better luck.
5. Spicy Sriracha Peas
You know those Wasabi peas that everyone seems to love but you’ve never actually tried? Well these are like those, but Sriracha-flavored.
This is the type of snack that definitely depends on the person because I don’t think just anyone would like them. They are a bit sweeter than the Sriracha sauce, but they still got fairly close to the classic flavor.
4. Bold Sriracha Almonds
This one definitely came off the weirdest to me at first. That might be because I prefer sweet almonds like honey roasted or those covered in chocolate (like these), or it might just be because it was the most unexpected combo
I was hesitant to try them, but they ended up actually tasting pretty similar to Sriracha sauce. Yes, they had some other seasoning and it was more of a Sriracha powder on them, but they brought me back in for a second handful.
3. Sriracha Ketchup
I was 100% sure this ketchup would solve all of my problems since I could finally quit wasting 12 seconds of my day by mixing Sriracha and ketchup together. I was right for the most part—it did the job—but I still wanted to be able to mix it myself so I could change up the balance of ketchup and Sriracha as needed.
In the end, it did taste extremely similar to the classic sauce, so I had to give it a stamp of approval.
2. Sriracha Popcorn
Sriracha popcorn is essentially everything I have ever wanted in a snack food. I tried this popcorn a while ago, and it impressed me so much that I still think about it from time-to-time.
The Pop! Gourmet Foods Sriracha popcorn is called “The Original” and it truly does taste like the OG sauce.
There are some other Sriracha popcorns floating around out there, but none of them compare. It is difficult to find the Pop! brand, so you might as well go ahead and order it online or make some yourself.
1. Sriracha Mayo
I’m not sure if giving this #1 is a cop-out or not considering this is probably the most commonly consumed Sriracha food other than the sauce itself. But there’s definitely a reason for the popularity.
Although they mayo part of this sauce tones down the spice, it still masters the classic Sriracha taste. Personally, I always add some extra Sriracha because I like it spicy, but with this deliciousness, there is truly no need.
Rumor has it, you can buy Sriracha flavored mac n’ cheese, which is the one thing I have yet to find. The only two things I would truly recommend for their life-changing flavor is the mayo and the popcorn. But for now, like most other things, I am just going to add my own Sriracha.