What will make your burgers stand out from the crowd? Look beyond the burger and between the buns to find the answer – the ULTIMATE SAUCE! If you want to excite your guests and encourage them to visit your stores over and over again, innovate your sauce. A custom-made, signature sauce doesn’t just add flavor – it can take your burgers and sandwiches from basic and modest to must-have, over-the-top, crave-able creations. Investing in delectable hot-and-spicy and sweet-heat sauces for burgers can set you apart from other fast casual and quick service restaurants, and our passionate team of culinologists is ready to help you explore the possibilities. Let’s give your burgers a bold boost!
Adding Value Through Innovation
Although consumers’ away-from-home spending is nearly back to pre-pandemic levels, due to inflationary pressure, many only wish to indulge in foods from outside their home if they find an added value. So, if you’re exploring on how to complete your frozen burger patties or how to create authentic flavours for your burger and sandwich offerings, try to respond to consumers’ hunger for value-rich dishes.
How can you do this? Add value through innovation. Craft new and exciting flavors that will spark your customers’ curiosity and satisfy their craving for delicious, indulgent, and dynamic dishes. Our hot-and-spicy and sweet-heat sauces will take your customers on a flavor adventure. No matter what your flavor destination, our fearless team of food explorers is ready to take you and your customers on a fantastic-foodie journey!
Let’s take a look at one undeniably hot-and-fiery sauce as well as some sweet-heat sauces for burgers.
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Nashville Hot Sauce: Fiery & Finger-Licking Good
Having already stolen Americans’ hearts, Nashville Hot Sauce has recently ventured up north and found a place on Canadian menus. Typically made with cayenne pepper, smoked paprika, butter, and brown sugar, it blends an irresistible fiery heat with a hint of sweetness. Its oil-like consistency helps you craft a delicious, to-die-for burger, and its scrumptious flavor melds the other ingredients together into a cohesive dish. Plus, Nashville Hot Sauce ticks a lot of boxes for consumers: trendy, hot and spicy, and indisputably Instagrammable. (Picture Instagram Reels of sauce dripping from juicy, crispy chicken!) More than half of U.S. consumers have tried East South-Central American cuisine, and 70% would like to eat more of it. (Mintel 2022) Let’s use it as a tool for innovation!
Why should meat-eaters have all the fun? Fire up some plant-based sliders: spicy plant-based fried chicken tossed in Nashville Hot Sauce and topped with Southern slaw, a pickle for tartness, and a creamy condiment like plant-based mayo. The bold flavors go together swimmingly, forming a perfect addition to your lunch menu!
Spice up your breakfast menu with Nashville hot chicken and waffles. Or, how about a croissant fried chicken sandwich for a twist? Smothered in Nashville Hot Sauce, the chili-spicy-savory crispy chicken creates a gorgeous contrast to the sugary-sweet waffles. Amplify this unexpected combo by nestling a scoop of vanilla ice cream on the side and drizzling hot sauce on top. Make your ice cream scream!
Fully embrace Southern cuisine with a hot platter consisting of a crispy chicken sandwich drenched in custom Nashville Hot Sauce, crunchy coleslaw, and Louisiana-seasoned curly fries. That addictive savory chicken can be nestled in a brioche bun, sesame bun, or even slider buns if you want to transform this into an item for your all-day snacking menu. Add a dip cup of the hot sauce on the side, allowing your consumers to dunk their sandwich and fries in even more of that divine hot sauce.
P.S. If you’re looking beyond sauces for burgers and sandwiches, consider creating a pizza with Nashville Hot Sauce. A hefty 43% of consumers enjoy hot sauces like Sriracha, Nashville, and Buffalo on their pizza. (Mintel 2020) You could use this snazzy Southern sauce as a base, a drizzle, or a dip on the side of your pie. Yum!
Rule the Sweet-Heat Flavor Landscape
Who says spicy foods can’t also be sweet? Bridge the gap and embrace the best of both worlds with sweet-heat hot sauces. Not only do they liven up dishes with a fiery kick, but they also balance that heat with some sugary sweetness.
In our Food Trends for 2023 blog post, we talked about how Spicy Maple Syrup was poised to become the next Hot Honey. But before we dig into the maple revolution at our doorstep, it’s important to note that Hot Honey isn’t yesterday’s sweet-heat condiment just yet. In fact, it’s still on the rise and grew by 107% on menus in 2022. (Datassential) So, as you continue to leverage the well-established Hot Honey craze, why not be amongst the first to usher in another complex sweet-heat flavor – spicy maple – and enjoy that First Mover Advantage? There are so many delightfully crazy maple-forward glazes, sauces, and syrups at the ready:
- Offer a side of Ghost Pepper Maple Syrup to fire up that meat-lovers’ pizza.
- Add a fiery-sweet punch to your salmon burger with a Calabrian Chili Maple Glaze.
- Black Pepper Maple Syrup adds dimension to chicken-and-biscuit breakfast sandwiches.
- Drizzle Chipotle-Flavored Maple Syrup onto chicken-and-waffle sandwiches to add a distinctive smoky-hot flavor to a classic comfort food.
- Give your ice cream a savory swirl with Habanero Maple Syrup.
- For a non-spicy twist on tradition, drizzle sweet-tart Yuzu Maple Syrup on pancakes.
- Layer Merquén-Infused Maple Syrup, which contains a Chilean chili blend, on juicy steak sandwiches.
- Add some elegance to your crispy chicken sandwich with Herbed Maple Syrup, which can be infused with oregano, rosemary, or thyme.
Eager to explore some other sweet-heat concepts? Go for refreshing fruity flavors like Passionfruit Habanero or Peach Ghost Pepper. Create a menu must-have with a deliciously simple Sweet Chili Sauce. Or, if you’re hooked on Hot Honey, think about innovative, customized alternatives like Honey Sriracha Sauce, Honey Habanero, or – perfect for summer cook-outs – Hot Honey BBQ Sauce. Reimagine your favorites to create distinct and memorable dishes.
When it comes to building custom hot-and-spicy and sweet-heat sauces for burgers, sandwiches, sliders, and more, you can rely on our team of passionate sauce specialists. Whether you’re heading down south with a Nashville Hot Sauce or giving in to your sweet tooth with Spicy Maple, we can help you balance comforting, complex, and even downright crazy food ideas across a broad range of applications. Follow us on Instagram and LinkedIn to learn what we’re up to, and consider sharing these ideas with your R&D or Product Development team. Begin a new culinary adventure today!
