Gift set for a sauce guy

December 12, 2023 6:11 PM

Last year I bought my husband a gift box of sauces from Zesti and he said it was one of his favorite presents ever. I'd like to get him a different assortment of sauces this year.

He likes hot sauce ok but he's not super into it and he's definitely not interested in trying any of the crazy-hot ones, so a gourmet hot sauce box is probably not what I'm looking for. He most emphatically does NOT like horseradish or wasabi.

He would be putting his sauces on pan-fried chops, chicken, fish or steak; or slow-cooker pulled pork, roast, etc.

We don't have a grill, so sauces meant specifically for grilling are not a good suggestion. He does like barbecue sauce though. Usually when we get barbecue he grabs a "sweet and zesty" sauce or a Carolina mustard sauce, depending on what meat he's having. He also especially liked the spicy whiskey barbecue sauce in the Zesti box so I'm ordering him a bottle of it.

Suggestions?

posted by Serene Empress Dork to Food & Drink (10 answers total)

I’m going to recommend Fire on the Mountain sauces. Anything where you are doing chicken that needs a sauce including on salad. I’ve also done the Thai Peanut which is spicy, but deliciously so, on various rice bowls. The El Jefe is the signature burn-your-face-off sauce so I can’t recommend that. Their regular Buffalo Sauce is good and the Bourbon Chipotle and Lime Cilantro. I’m not sure if they bottle their Jamaican Jerk but that’s really good. The sweet BBQ is also really yummy and mild. Can go on pulled pork.
posted by amanda at 6:52 PM on December 12, 2023 [2 favorites]

I love Saltspring Kitchen's products. My favorites are the Onion & Thyme, Pineapple and Turmeric, Cranberry & Sour Cherry, and the Apple & Fig.

Most of their stuff would probably be considered more of a compote or preserve, but I've had them with frittatas, pork chops, chicken or turkey sandwiches, as spreads on bread, etc.
posted by dobbs at 6:52 PM on December 12, 2023 [3 favorites]

I got an employee a gift box from here here market that was very well received.

They have boxes that are just sauces and seasonings, and you can even restrict your filters to show you black-owned, women-owned, minority-owned etc businesses only.

I think I got my person the women owned sauce box.
posted by phunniemee at 7:04 PM on December 12, 2023 [3 favorites]

Thinking towards what's gifty rather than "got you this off the supermarket shelf"... XO sauce, anywhere from fancy to eyeroll opulent.

Laoganma off the supermarket shelf is tasty too though.

Pickapeppa sauce.
posted by away for regrooving at 12:25 AM on December 13, 2023 [2 favorites]

The hot sauces from Marshall's Haute Sauces are among the most delicious I've ever tasted. Local to Portland, Oregon, and also some of the nicest people I know! Edit: Hit post too fast - their hot sauces are clearly hot sauce but I have the heat tolerance of a toddler and I love them, precisely because they're so beautifully flavorful apart from the heat. They're remarkable.

Marshall's Haute Sauce website
posted by fairlynearlyready at 1:12 AM on December 13, 2023 [2 favorites]

This Little Goat sauces from Chef Stephanie Izard are great with high quality ingredients. I see a bundle is available at hereheremarket as well as individual sauces and a bigger bundle on her website. These are more cooking-with sauces instead of pouring on top sauces in case that makes a difference. They make dishes taste like they are from a good restaurant. There are recipes on her website.
posted by RoadScholar at 6:17 AM on December 13, 2023 [1 favorite]

One of the gift sets from Fly by Jing might suit. I like gifting them to people who are confident cooks, because it gives them a flavor profile that is likely to be newer to them (at least at home).
posted by OrangeDisk at 7:30 AM on December 13, 2023 [2 favorites]

2nding Fire On the Mountain. Their Peanut Sauce is wonderful. It's a bit spicy, but delicious on wings and as a dressing. I actually bought a bottle for my husband for Christmas.
posted by hydra77 at 8:17 AM on December 13, 2023 [1 favorite]

Co-Op Sauce has a BBQ kit, and kind of a cool backstory.

(They also have a range of sauces and rubs and mustards and such, some hot and some not--that one seems like it's most relevent to his interests.)
posted by box at 1:14 PM on December 13, 2023 [1 favorite]

I actually have a hot sauce company and would love the opportunity to share it with ya'll. Entering out 10th year in 2024!

GEMINI CROW HOT SAUCE
posted by TwilightKid at 2:16 PM on December 13, 2023 [3 favorites]