Does Hot Sauce Have Calories?

BySam Eames, Certified Nutritionist

Hot sauce is a quick way to spice up a meal and add some heat to your plate. Because it’s mostly made from low-calorie peppers and spices. This raises the following question: does hot sauce have calories?

Most name brand hot sauces contain very little calories, or none at all. This makes it a guilt-free condiment if you’re following a strict diet plan.

But if you’re making hot sauce from scratch, you should pay attention to the ingredients. Carbohydrates can begin to add up when you’re using bell peppers.

What’s in Hot Sauce?

Now that you know hot sauce has very few calories, you’re probably wonder what the spicy condiment is made of. Most store bought brands will include chili peppers, garlic, vinegar, and salt.

But chili peppers are really what gives hot sauce that powerful kick. You can refer to the scoville scale below to see how hot specific peppers are. The more heat units represents a hotter pepper.

Scoville Scale

Pepper TypeHeat Units
Carolina Reaper1,400,000-2,200,000
Trinidad Scorpion1,200,000-2,000,000
Ghost855,000-1,041,000
Chocolate Habanero435,000-577,000
Red Savina350,000-500,000
Fatali125,000-325,000
Habanero100,000-350,000
Scotch Bonnet100,000-350,000
Thai50,000-100,000
Cayenne30,000-50,000
Tabasco30,000-50,000
Serrano6,000-23,000
Hungarian5,000-10,000
Jalapeno2,500-8,000
Poblano1,000-1,500
Anaheim500-2,500
Pepperoncini100-500
Bell0-0

Does Hot Sauce Burn Calories?

We all know that exercising on a regular basis can help burn fat. But does eating hot sauce burn calories? You might be surprised to learn that consuming hot sauce can aide in your weight loss plan.

The truth is that consuming spicy foods (like jalapeno peppers and hot sauce) can reduce your appetite. As a result of eating less, your body will be in a caloric deficit.

This is mainly due to capsaicin – a compound that gives hot sauce the burning sensation in your mouth. It should be noted that this occurs more with people who don’t eat spicy foods on a regular basis.

But hot sauce has also been found to speed up your fat-burning metabolism. Individuals with a higher metabolism will burn calories faster, compared to people with a lower metabolism. In other words, hot sauce might make it easier to burn calories and lose weight.

Does Hot Sauce Have Carbs?

This answer really comes down to store bought vs homemade hot sauce. Store bought hot sauce has a smooth liquid texture and has little to no carbs. Tabasco sauce for example has 0 grams of carbs per serving.

But if you’re making homemade hot sauce, you should pay attention to the kind of peppers you’re adding. This is where carbs can begin to add up. Raw bell peppers are mostly made up of water – but the remainder is carbs.

There are around 6 grams of carbs per serving (3.5 ounces) of raw bell peppers. The majority of these carbs come from glucose and fructose. This is what gives bell peppers that sweet flavor.

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