We love to use Hot Sauce when we have Mexican food. And this Copycat recipe from Taco Bell is exactly what we needed for the Chicken Tacos I was making one night. If you love Taco Bell Hot Sauces then you need to give this recipe a try.
Like most sauce recipes, this one is super easy to make and doesn’t call for any special ingredients. If you eat a lot of Mexican Food or make spicy dishes on a regular basis, you most likely already have some Hot Sauce in your refrigerator.
You can use whatever brand of hot sauce you have on hand. I always have a bottle of Tabasco or Frank’s Hot Sauce on hand so that is what I typically use. Just remember to start with a little hot sauce, taste it, then add more if needed.
If you eat at Taco Bell on a regular basis, you know they offer many different kinds of sauces. As of this writing, they offer the following sauces at their restaurants: Mild Sauce, Hot Sauce, Fire Sauce and Diablo Sauce.
This copycat sauce recipe from Taco Bell is Hot. At least by our standards and we eat a lot of spicy food. I’m finding it a little hard to pin down if this is the Fire Sauce or the Diablo Sauce. My wife thinks it’s most likely the Diablo Sauce.
She found it extremely spicy but she recognized the distinctive flavor from Taco Bell. I would be interested in hearing your thoughts on this in the comment section below. Either way, this sauce is awesome!
Reader Feedback
“We love this sauce! Perfect spice, I’m on my second batch, no more store bought sauce for us!“
– Claire
Copycat Rating
Since the goal of a Copycat Recipe is for it to taste exactly like the original, it’s only natural to rate this recipe against the original. This Copycat recipe rates a solid 8 out of 10 in my opinion.
Ingredient Substitution
If you don’t have any Xanthan Gum on hand and don’t feel like buying some for this recipe you can substitute for some Cornstarch.
Update 6/13/22: We made some slight changes to the list of ingredients from our original post.
If you plan on gifting some of this Taco Bell Hot Sauce or just want a cool way to store it, check out my favorite Sauce Bottles on Amazon.
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You will need the following ingredients to make this Copycat Hot Sauce recipe from Taco Bell (see recipe card for quantities): Tomato Paste, Water, Cayenne Pepper, Chili Powder, Salt, Xanthan Gum, White Vinegar, Onion Powder, Ground Black Pepper, Ground Cumin, Garlic Powder and Hot Sauce.
How to Make Taco Bell Hot Sauce
- In a saucepan over medium heat, combine the tomato paste with the water and stir until smooth.
- Add the cayenne pepper, chili powder, salt, Xanthan Gum, vinegar, onion powder, black pepper, cumin and garlic powder. Whisk until well combined.
- Add the hot sauce and continue to heat the sauce mixture to boiling. Continue to stir for about 3 minutes then remove from the heat.
- Let the sauce cool, and then put it in a tightly sealed container and refrigerate.
- Let the sauce sit for at least 1 hour in the refrigerator. This will allow all the flavors to meld. You can use it immediately, but the longer you let it sit in the refrigerator, the more flavorful it will be.
Recipe Video
Copycat Taco Bell Hot Sauce
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Ingredients
- 6 oz Tomato Paste
- 3 Cups Water
- 2 Tsp Cayenne Pepper
- 1 ½ Tbsp Chili Powder
- 2 ½ Tsp Salt
- ½ Tsp Xanthan Gum
- 2 Tsp White Vinegar
- 1 Tsp Onion Powder
- ½ Tsp Ground Black Pepper
- 1 Tsp Ground Cumin
- 1 Tsp Garlic Powder
- 1 Tbsp Hot Sauce, or to taste
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Instructions
- In a saucepan over medium heat, combine the tomato paste with the water and stir until smooth.
- Add the cayenne pepper, chili powder, salt, Xanthan Gum, vinegar, onion powder, black pepper, cumin and garlic powder. Whisk until well combined.
- Add the hot sauce and continue to heat the sauce mixture to boiling. Continue to stir for about 3 minutes then remove from the heat.
- Let the sauce cool, and then put it in a tightly sealed container and refrigerate.
- Let the sauce sit for at least 1 hour in the refrigerator. This will allow all the flavors to meld. You can use it immediately, but the longer you let it sit in the refrigerator, the more flavorful it will be.
Recipe Video
I made this because I love taco bell sauce. This is so good and I would make it again. It was very very spicy though, I skipped the hot sauce and did 75% of the cayenne pepper. It was really good.
Glad you enjoyed it!