I had never heard of or seen Ruben’s Hot Sauce before. I am a hot sauce fan but this one was new to me. I have been researching a lot of spices lately so I have seen a huge increase in the amount of seasoning, hot sauce, and condiment advertisements as I scroll through the Snack and Sauce social media timelines. When I saw the ad for Ruben’s Hot Sauce on our facebook timeline, it read free bottle, just pay the shipping. So, out of curiosity, I clicked on the ad. The shipping was $4.95 which is cheaper than I can ship anything from my local post office. The bottle of hot sauce was actually free and, on top of that, there were several other offers throughout the check out process that would make any fan of Ruben’s hot sauce happy. This was one of the better e-commerce checkout experiences that I have had after clicking on a random ad.
What is Ruben’s? It appears Ruben’s it two things, first, it is a Mexican restaurant in Baltimore, second, it is a hot sauce company. I have yet to visit Ruben’s Mexican restaurant in Baltimore since I moved here but it looks like they specialize in Tacos and Burritos. Honestly, I didn’t know about Ruben’s until I saw the hot sauce ad.
Let’s get to Ruben’s Hot Sauce. Upon arrival, it was packaged well and arrived super quickly. I opened the padded envelope to see what was a really cool box with great graphics and Ruben’s logo and the statement “made with all-natural ingredients.” I noticed on the ingredients that the peppers used in this sauce are Chili de Arbol and Cayenne. I am very familiar with cayenne and cayenne sauces. I like them however, I was unfamiliar with Chili de Abol and have not tasted a hot sauce with them as a major ingredient before. Cayenne ranges from 30,000 to 50,000 Scoville units and Chili de Arbol ranges from 15,000 to 30,000 Scoville units. So needless to say, I was excited to taste it and not expecting a huge kick of heat.
The bottle is as attractive as the box it is packaged in. It has a nice label and the look of the sauce in the bottle reminds me of a Louisiana Reumelade sauce. The sauce is an immersion sauce made with mainly corn oil, peppers, garlic powder, and onion powder. Ruben’s hot sauce is a thicker sauce but has a wide mouth and pours out quickly. Upon opening the bottle I immediately grabbed a lamb meatball my wife just made to try it on. The lamb meatball was super flavorful and the Reubens hot sauce gave it a spicy kick in the butt. It also did not mix well with the massive flavor of the meatball. Okay, so far I know that the heat in Ruben’s hot sauce is much higher than I expected and, lamb meatballs are not the best vehicle for it. In all honesty, the lamb meatball overpowered the flavor of Ruben’s and all I could get was the heat.
It then hit me that Reuben’s is used at a Mexican restaurant, the ads shoe Ruben’s hot sauce being used on tacos, probably the best vehicle for this sauce would be a Mexican dish. We had some taco seasoned turkey leftover from our recent taco night and I decided to make some of my air fryer nachos. I made them basic with chips, seasoned turkey, jalapenos, and my queso blanco sauce. I then applied Ruben’s hot sauce liberally to the nachos and garnished with cilantro and lime wedges.
As Ruben’s hot sauce hit my taste buds along with the other ingredients I realized this is what Ruben’s was made for, tacos, nachos, and all your other Mexican favorites. It paired even better with a squeeze of lime juice, the heat was perfect, the bold flavors mixed well with my nachos and it was an enjoyable experience. My wife decided to take a taste of my nachos and she stated that she liked the sauce but it was just too spicy for her. She is not a fan of vinegar-based sauces so she said Ruben’s is better than some of the other big brand sauces I use from time to time, it is just a little above her heat level.
My breakdown of Ruben’s hot sauce is this, it is an emulsified sauce that is smooth and does not have vinegar as an ingredient. If you like sauces that are not vinegar-based, give Ruben’s a shot. The heat level was much spicier than I expected. The combination of Chile de Arbol and Cayenne peppers really give Rueben’s a unique kick. In my opinion, the versatility or Ruben’s hot sauce is limited as it can overpower a lot of flavors if used as a table sauce, but Ruben’s is actually perfect for Mexican food and dishes. When I tried Ruben’s on Mexican dishes, it melded with the flavors, I was not eating Mexican food with hot sauce on it, I was eating a flavorfully balanced Mexican dish with a nice kick. So if you are a fan of Mexican food and you typically have Mexican dishes on your table then you need Ruben’s hot sauce on your table.
In summary, if you are looking for a well made hot sauce to pair with Mexican classics and aren’t afraid of a good mid-range heat (hotter than some habanero sauces I have tasted) then you will enjoy the smooth consistency and flavor profile or Ruben’s hot sauce. You can get your own bottle of Ruben’s by using one of the links below.
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