Lovers of spicy food are surely familiar with sriracha sauce and jalapenos, two of the most popular (and hottest) condiments around. But have you ever wondered if there’s a scientific way to tell which one is hotter? The answer is “Yes,” and in today’s blog post we show you how.
The Scoville Scale
From the height of pine trees to the distance between planets, scientists love to measure everything and spicy food is no exception to this rule.
So, believe it or not, there’s a scale designed for the specific purpose of measuring the spiciness of food: the Scoville scale.
The Scoville scale was invented in 1912 by pharmacist Wilbur Scoville, who originally intended to use it to improve the production of an ointment whose main ingredient was capsaicin, the substance in chili peppers that creates the sensation of hotness in the mouth.
Today, the Scoville scale is mainly used to grade the spiciness of chili peppers expressed in Scoville Heat Units, or SHUs.
Sriracha or Jalapeno: Which One Is Hotter?
As you might have guessed, the Scoville scale is the ideal instrument to settle the sriracha vs Jalapeno debate. Let’s take a look.
- Jalapeno peppers usually score somewhere in the range of 2,500-8000 SHU (source)
- Depending on the crop of peppers used, sriracha sauce can hit anywhere between 1,000 and 2,500 SHU (source)
In other words, jalapenos are hotter than sriracha as a general rule. Although it’s worth noting that there can be some overlap between the less spicy jalapenos and the hottest sriracha.
If spicy food is your cup of tea, you may be interested to know that one of the world’s hottest chili peppers is the Carolina reaper, with a hotter-than-hot Scoville score of 1,500,000 – 2,200,000 SHU!
And for more interesting facts about spicy food, check out our previous blog: “Which type of curry is the hottest?”
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FAQs
In other words, jalapenos are hotter than sriracha as a general rule.
What sauce is hotter than sriracha? ›
How Hot Is Sriracha?
| Hot Sauce | Scoville Heat Units (SHU) |
|---|
| Tabasco | 3,750 |
| Cholula | 3,600 |
| Tapatio | 3,000 |
| Huy Fong Sriracha | 2,200 |
5 more rowsSriracha gets its heat from red jalapeños peppers. Surprisingly, the sauce is only moderately spicy. On the Scoville scale, developed to measure the level of heat in chillies, sriracha measures 2,200. By contrast, Tabasco sauce clocks in at 3,750 and cayenne pepper at a startling 50,000!
Does sriracha use jalapeños? ›
Huy Fong Foods makes the extremely popular Sriracha brand sauce. They use red-hybrid Jalapeno peppers for their sauce along with other ingredients. Homemade Sriracha sauces will vary in taste but the two main components that resonate with Sriracha sauces are heat and garlic.
What is the heat index of Sriracha sauce? ›
Huy Fong Foods' sriracha sauce ranks in the 1,000–2,500 heat units range, above banana pepper and below Jalapeño pepper, on the Scoville scale used to measure the spicy heat of a chili pepper.
What hot sauce tastes closest to Sriracha? ›
Melinda's Thai Sweet Chili Sauce
The closest to Sriracha is the tasty Thai Sweet Chili, but don't sleep on others, including the habanero honey mustard and black truffle hot sauce.
Which hot sauce is the hottest? ›
The most extreme heat you can buy? The hottest hot sauce in the world is called Mad Dog 357 Plutonium No. 9 and comes in at 9 million Scoville Hotness Units (SHUs). This pepper extract is one of the hottest and purest in the entire world.
Is jalapeno hotter than sriracha? ›
As you might have guessed, the Scoville scale is the ideal instrument to settle the sriracha vs Jalapeno debate. Let's take a look. In other words, jalapenos are hotter than sriracha as a general rule. Although it's worth noting that there can be some overlap between the less spicy jalapenos and the hottest sriracha.
How many scovilles is a jalapeno? ›
So, where do jalapeños fall on that scale? They usually fall in the range of 2,000 to 8,000 Scoville Heat Units (SHU), which sounds like a lot, but it really isn't!
Are sriracha peppers hot? ›
The sauce gets its heat from red jalapeno peppers, but it's only moderately spicy. On the Scoville scale, developed to measure the level of heat in chiles, Sriracha measures 2,200.
It has a SHU score of 2,200. For reference, both Louisiana Hot Sauce and Frank's Red Hot, which sit at the bottom of the list, clocking in at around 450 SHU, while another common sauce, Tabasco, more than doubles sriracha's score with a rating of 5,000 SHU.
How hot is a red jalapeno? ›
Jalapeños have a Scoville rating that ranges from 2,500 to 8,000. While this may seem low compared to some of the hotter peppers like the 7 pot primo or Carolina reapers, jalapeños still pack a decent amount of heat.
What is spicier, red or green jalapeno? ›
Yes! Red ones are spicier than green ones. And if you've ever had a green jalapeno before, especially a fresh one, then you know they are plenty hot enough. Only true lovers of spicy food will appreciate the red ones more than the green. Red jalapenos obviously have more Scoville scale than green ones.
What's hotter, Sriracha or habanero? ›
According to the ACS video, Sriracha comes in at 1,000-2,500 SHU. In comparison, Tabasco sauce is 2,500-5,000 SHU, while a habanero pepper is 350,000 SHU.
Does Sriracha count as hot sauce? ›
Sriracha (/sɪˈrætʃə/ sirr-ATCH-ə or /sɪˈrɑːtʃə/ sirr-AH-chə; Thai: ศรีราชา, pronounced [sǐːrāːtɕʰāː]) is a type of hot sauce or chili sauce made from a paste of chili peppers, distilled vinegar, pickled garlic, sugar, and salt.
Does Sriracha get hotter over time? ›
Most hot sauces, sriracha included, get their multi-dimensional hotness from a bit of fermentation. When left at room temperature, this process continues. The sauce can get much hotter or ferment too much and taste sour or rotten, so we recommend popping it in the refrigerator for the most longevity out of your bottle.
Is Frank's hot sauce hotter than Sriracha? ›
It has a SHU score of 2,200. For reference, both Louisiana Hot Sauce and Frank's Red Hot, which sit at the bottom of the list, clocking in at around 450 SHU, while another common sauce, Tabasco, more than doubles sriracha's score with a rating of 5,000 SHU.
Is gochujang spicier than sriracha? ›
So which sauce is the spicier one between the Sriracha and gochujang? Simply put, Sriracha is milder than gochujang.
Which is more spicy Sriracha or Tabasco? ›
Tabasco or Sriracha? From the chilies used, you may think Tabasco is hotter by a landslide. It is hotter, but not crazily so. Both hot sauces fall in the low-jalapeño range of heat: Tabasco at approximately 2,500 to 5,000 SHU and Sriracha at around 2,200 SHU.
Is 3000 Scoville hot? ›
The ranges of Scoville Heat Units (SHU) typically used to call a pepper mild, medium, hot, or extra hot are: Mild (100 to 2,500) Medium (2,500 to 30,000) Hot (30,000 to 100,000)
