What are Non-Spicy Substitutes for Sriracha with the Same Flavor?
Sriracha is a popular hot sauce that ranks from 1,000 – 2,500 SHU, or Scoville Heat Units. To put that in perspective, a jalapeño is an average of 2,000 SHU to 8,000 SHU.
The best non-spicy substitutes for Sriracha include Tapatio, sweet chili sauce, and tomato ketchup among others.
There are many reasons for needing an alternative option for Sriracha. Maybe you are not a fan of spicy food, are allergic, or simply don’t like the sriracha taste. Fortunately, it’s easy to find an adequate option as there are many alternatives.
What Can I Substitute for Sriracha That Isn’t Spicy?
1. Tapatio
Tapatio hot sauce is a common ingredient used predominantly at California taquerias, a restaurant specializing primarily in tacos and other Mexican food. Tapatio hot sauce, ranking 3,000 on the Scoville scale, offers a perfectly balanced amount of zest and zing to bring that full flavor of Sriracha.
Tapatio sauce tends to be a little spicier than Sriracha, suggesting a little goes a long way. Using relatively less Tapatio sauce will surely provide that full-bodied sriracha flavor without being excessively spicy.
2. Sweet Chili Sauce
Sweet Chili Sauce is an Asian sauce used primarily in Asian dishes. The sweet chili sauce tastes precisely how it displays, sweet but offset by the peppers. You can make Sweet Chili sauce effortlessly by combining chili peppers or orange peppers, sugar or another sweetening ingredient, and rice wine vinegar.
This Sweet Chili sauce is guaranteed to give that savory, sweet flavor rather than Sriracha having the spiciness and heat. You can add a few things like honey for a sweeter taste or jalapeños for a pinch of spice.
3. Tomato Ketchup
Tomato ketchup is a standard and universal sauce that almost everyone has in their fridge at all times, being one of the most ordinary sauces for dipping or topping. Ketchup can bring the flavor with no heat, as it has no spice.
Believe it or not, there are 14 different types of ketchup. If you are looking for a bit of spice, you could add a bit of chili powder. Ketchup will be your most suitable substitute option if you’re looking for not even a little kick.
4. Tomato Paste
Tomato paste has a bit thicker consistency than tomato sauce. It has entirely no spice—tomato paste which is typically mixed with braised meats, soups, sauteed vegetables, and chilis. You can use tomato paste to thicken, color, or enrich the dish.
Tomato paste is the most cost-effective option for sriracha sauce as it is one of the least expensive options on this list. The tomato paste can give you the full flavor and richness that Sriracha brings without the heat. If you want a non-spicy, easy, healthy option, tomato paste it is.
5. Passata
Passata is a smooth, sauce-like puree of sieved tomatoes, commonly known as tomato sauce in the US. Passata is generally used as a base for primarily pasta sauces and stews, soups, or casseroles.
Passata has no additives or flavorings, making it a convenient ingredient in most dishes. It is an excellent substitute for sriracha sauce to give the savory tomato flavor with no heat or spice from the Sriracha.
Mustard is another staple ingredient that almost everyone has in their fridge at any given time, dating back to the Roman cooks. There are many different kinds of mustard with many different variations of taste.
Dijon
Yellow
Brown
Honey
Whole Grain
Hot/spicy
American/German/French
Spicy Brown
What flavor style you are going for determines what mustard you will substitute. If you are looking for an absolutely no spice but lots of flavor dish, yellow mustard would be the best substitute. On the other hand, if you are looking for a bit of a sweeter taste, honey mustard would be the best option.
7. Marmite
Marmite is a yeast extract similar to vegemite generally used as a spread for toast, sandwiches, or crackers. Marmite has various flavors; the original flavor is a promising option for sriracha substitution.
Marmite has a distinguishable flavor, which most depict as salty, yeasty, and comparable to soy sauce. Marmite can be an excellent substitution for Sriracha, but utilize it in moderation as this component has a very intense flavor.
Red Pepper Coulis is a straightforward, easy sauce to make right in your kitchen! Red Pepper Coulis is commonly constructed by sauteing onions, red bell pepper, and minced garlic. Then, combine it with your choice of spices, commonly coriander, cumin, turmeric, smoked paprika, thyme, and chicken or vegetable stock.
9. Chili Garlic Sauce
Sriracha and Chili garlic sauce hold many of the same ingredients. Sriracha has a bit of a denser, lumpier consistency than Sriracha, providing the dish a bit more bulk.
Chili garlic sauce may be one of the more adequate replacements for Sriracha, having the immense flavor of chilies with the harmony of garlic to give that palatable, mouthwatering flavor.
Chili garlic sauce can be a fantastic substitute for garlic lovers out there, and it can be made from scratch easily by combining red chili peppers, garlic cloves, brown sugar, and vinegar.
10. Fish Sauce
Fish sauce is a component composed of fish such as fermented anchovies. Not surprisingly, fish sauce has a salty, fishy taste that some characterize as being slightly funky.
Utilizing fish sauce as an alternative to sriracha sauce can be extremely useful as it maintains a rich and savory flavor that can brighten any dish.
11. Jerk Sauce
Jerk sauce is a seasoning typically used as a marinade for meat. Different types of commonly used meat include:
Fish
Pork
Chicken
Beef
Turkey
Shellfish
Venison
This sauce is an excellent substitute because of the flavor it holds. Jerk sauce has a tangy but sweet taste with a bit of spice that you can use for virtually anything:
Pasta
Toast
Dipping sauce
Mixed in with scrambled eggs
Rice
So much more!
Although it has a beautiful flavor, this can be a little bit too much heat for you if you don’t have a high tolerance to spice. Jerk sauce is a versatile sauce that can easily be used as a substitution for sriracha sauce.
12. Balsamic Vinegar
Balsamic vinegar is a good option for substituting sriracha sauce, being used as a salad dressing, and adding flavor to roasted veggies or meat. It has an intricate flavor of a bitter-sweet taste along with hints of molasses, chocolate, fig, and cherry.
Balsamic vinegar can give a delicious flavor similar to Sriracha, with no spice. If you’re looking for entirely no spice, this is one of your better alternatives. If you want a tiny bit of spice, you could add some subtly spicy peppers like serrano or red cayenne pepper to give that bit of spice.
There are multiple levels of spiciness, which you can measure in SHU or Scoville Heat Units on the “Scoville Scale,” created by Wilbur Scoville. Bell peppers with positively no heat rank at 0 SHU, with the hottest pepper, The Carolina Reaper, at 2,200,000 SHU (That’s hot!)
Averagely, store-bought brands of Sriracha sauce rank at 1,000 to 2,500 SHU on the Scoville scale, which really isn’t that spicy, considering The Carolina Reaper is over two million.
Where is Sriracha made?
Sriracha was first invented and named after the seaside province in Thailand, Si Racha. A Thai woman named Thanom Chakkapak was attributed to the invention of sriracha sauce in 1949.
The entire province of Chakkapak became obsessed with spicy, garlicky chili sauce, so much so that her whole family and friends were begging her to sell her product. Unsurprisingly, it was a big hit when she finally decided to sell the product.
What hot sauce is similar to Sriracha?
There are many hot sauces today that easily compare to Sriracha, with more and more being invented daily. That said, many hot sauces are similar to Sriracha if you are looking for something different for any reason. The number one similar hot sauce to Sriracha would be Tabasco sauce.
Tabasco, ranking 2,500 SHU, has been around longer than Sriracha, invented in 1868 by Edmund McIlhenny. Another “Louisiana style” hot sauce would be Louisiana Hot Sauce which ranks reasonably lower at 450 SHU. Here is a list of more similar hot sauces that you can try:
Cholula 1,000-2,000 SHU
Frank’s Red Hot Sauce 450 SHU
Sauce Bae Skinny Habanero Hot Sauce
Tapatío Hot Sauce
Trappey’s Pepper Sauce
Pain is Good Jalapeño Hot Sauce
Final Thoughts
In the end, there are many options for substituting sriracha sauce if you are looking for the full flavor of Sriracha but don’t want the heat. Now, the guests that come over, grumbling that you always use too much heat, will be satisfied; now, to figure out the balance between too spicy and not enough.
