Tabasco Just Launched 'Salsa Picante,' A New Mexican-Style Hot Sauce

Tabasco’s latest hot sauce flavor is the Mexican-style “Salsa Picante.”

According to the US brand, its new hot sauce is “rich and thick,” with a subtle kick. While classic Tabasco sauce features its namesake, the tabasco pepper, Salsa Picante blends red jalapeños with vinegar, salt, garlic, paprika, and other spices.

“Innovation has always been a priority for us, and we’ve been experimenting with this style of sauce for a while now,” said Lee Susen, Chief Sales and Marketing Officer at McIlhenny Company. “We’re inspired by flavors and cuisines from around the world and are thrilled to introduce Tabasco Salsa Picante as our take on a Mexican-style hot sauce.”

Salsa Picante joins 11 existing Tabasco flavors, including Chipotle, Habanero, Sriracha, Scorpion, and the Original Red. Louisiana’s McIlhenny Company has produced Tabasco sauces for over 150 years. Original Red and several of the other core varieties are still sold in the distinctive cologne-style bottles inspired by the very first batch in 1868.

Generation Z is driving hot sauce sales

Photo shows a CGI mock-up of the new Tabasco hot sauce, 'Salsa Picante,' inspired by Mexican flavors — Tabasco The new Tabasco hot sauce features red jalapeños instead of tabasco peppers

Earlier this year, NC Solutions published a survey that found 93 percent of Americans regularly eat hot sauce, though different people prioritize different types.

For example, around nine percent said they liked condiments as spicy as possible, while 20 percent at the other end of the spectrum preferred mild flavors. Hot and chili sauces were the second-most purchased condiments between January and March among those surveyed, and over half of Generation Z consumers identified as “hot sauce connoisseurs.”

The survey also notably listed Mexican food as the number one cuisine to add hot sauce to, and found that Tabasco was top of the list for go-to hot sauce brands.

Tabasco’s Salsa Picante is preservative-free, gluten-free, non-GMO, kosher, and vegan. It is available now from Walmart stores and Amazon nationwide at an RRP of $3.56 per bottle.