Ingredient Inspector: What Buffalo Sauces are Closest to Homemade?

BUFFALO SAUCES

February 2022

Buffalo Sauce is the perfect accompaniment to not only wings but so many things! You can use it to make an awesome spicy spread for sandwiches, a marinade or use it in chicken salad . . . yum!!

BEGIN AT HOME: Homemade Buffalo Sauce is simple >> Water, Vinegar, Cayenne Peppers + possibly other Peppers, Butter, Garlic and Salt. Similar to homemade Chili, everyone has their own signature twist to these basic ingredients.

With this recipe in mind, let’s look at some of the most popular manufactured Buffalo Sauces and identify which ingredients would never be in our home kitchens if we were making Buffalo Sauce at home from scratch. (Sources: Brand Web sites 2/22)

Many Buffalo Sauces contain ingredients which are Not In Kitchen™ >> we are paying for them but they don’t need to be there and include items such as Caramel Color, Soybean Oil, Artificial Flavors and Calcium Disodium EDTA.

Calcium Disodium EDTA is what the Ingredient Inspector calls an Acronym Ingredient >> seemingly innocuous letters which stand for — in this case — a laboratory chemical preservative.

EDTA stands for Ethylenediaminetetraacetic Acid but it appears on the ingredient label as simply EDTA. It is banned at Whole Foods who cites it as “Unacceptable in food”. (Source: Whole Foods Web site 2/22)

CLOSEST TO HOMEMADE: Below are some Buffalo Sauces which are Closest To Homemade™ with no Artificial Colors or Flavors, no Chemical Preservatives, no High Fructose Corn Syrup and no Soybean Oil. These include Whole 30 Buffalo Vinaigrette with no added sweeteners, Whole Foods 365 Organic Buffalo Sauce with no added sweeteners, The New Primal’s Non-GMO Project verified and certified Gluten-Free Noble Made Buffalo Dipping & Wing Sauces made with Extra Virgin Olive Oil in Mild (with Pineapple Juice Concentrate), Medium and Hot with no added sweeteners, and Tessemae’s Buffalo Sauce with no added sweeteners made with Organic Extra Virgin Olive Oil. (Sources: Brand Web sites 2/22)

Neither money nor products are ever accepted to appear on the Closest To Homemade list.

 

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