Bitter: ⭐✰✰✰✰
Salty: ⭐⭐⭐✰✰
Sour/Tangy: ⭐⭐⭐✰✰
Sweet: ⭐✰✰✰✰
Umami: ⭐⭐⭐⭐✰
Heat: ⭐⭐⭐✰✰✰✰✰✰✰
Quick Flavor Notes: Cheesy, umami, tangy, smoky
Recommended: Yes
Texture: Medium consistency smooth and creamy
Ingredients: Onions, Vinegar, Red Bell Peppers, Roasted Red Habanero Peppers, Oat Drink (water, oat, canola oil, sea salt), Nutritional Yeast, Canola Oil, Salt, Garlic, Paprika, Spices, Turmeric, Onion Powder, Ghost Pepper Powder.
Good Heat is a hot sauce brand that doesn’t technically exist on its own. It was founded by Maxime Chenier-Groulx who was an employee of Montreal based La Pimenterie and launched into the world with this sauce on Hot Ones season twenty-three in the number five position. La Pimenterie produces this sauce and sells it on their own website and it shows up on various other retailers under the La Pimenterie brand as opposed to Good Heat. According to some interviews I’ve read La Pimenterie does pay a royalty for each bottle sold of the Good Heat sauces to Maxime Chenier-Groulx, or at least did at the time of the sauce’s launch, and it’s unclear if he is still a La Pimenterie employee. Also interestingly is that La Pimenterie had one of their sauces under their own brand, Forbidden Fruit, on that same season of Hot Ones in the number seven position, so with the Good Heat sub-brand they were able to effectively double-dip. Regardless of the structure of Good Heat, I’d heard good thing about this sauce and I was eager to try it.
Meaning “cheese without cheese” Queso Sin Queso proudly proclaims its plant-based vegan bonafides on the front label. Vegan cheese isn’t the first thing that comes to mind when I think of tasty food, and in fact it does bring to mind plasticky concoctions made from oils, starches, and nuts meant to go on top of a tofurkey sandwich. Good Heat / La Pimenterie decided to keep it classy however with an all-natural sauce featuring onions, red bell peppers, and roasted habaneros. Some additional heat comes from ghost pepper powder. None of that sounds particularly cheesy or queso-y however. The secret to the creamy texture is an emulsification between oat drink and canola oil. Oats contain natural emulsifiers and oat milk has become a popular dairy substitute for those choosing a plant-based diet. The secret to the cheesy flavor comes from nutritional yeast. Nutritional yeast is the same type of yeast used in brewing beer or baking bread but it has been “deactivated” or treated with high heat which retains its flavor but stops its ability to ferment. Nutritional yeast is used in a variety of food products to provide a cheesy rich umami flavor, including Heat Hot Sauce Shop’s Umami Seasonings or Seed Ranch Truffle Hound. Some other spices round out the sauce including some paprika, onion powder, and garlic for that queso flavor and turmeric for some color. Queso Sin Queso has a medium consistency and a creamy texture. The aroma is shockingly spot-on for actual queso sauce.
Queso Sin Queso tastes exactly like a real spicy nacho cheese queso. It’s absolutely uncanny. I’ve had hot sauces in the past that incorporate real cheese, some great like Zesti Hot Freshly Grated Parmesan Garlic Hot Sauce some awful like Buc-ee’s Hot Cheddar, and despite having no cheese this actually tastes cheesier than any of them. Not only that the texture, even when cold, is silky and appealing and world’s better than the jarred vomit that is Mrs. Renfro’s Ghost Pepper Nacho Cheese Dip. The ghost pepper and paprika give Queso Sin Queso a subtle smoky undertone. The onion and garlic give it savory depth of flavor. I believe there’s some cumin in the unnamed “spices” because this does have that authentic Mexican queso flavor. Plus, not only is this cheesy, it’s incredibly umami-packed from that nutritional yeast, which has a very high glutamate content, effectively giving the benefits of adding MSG without adding MSG. Roasting the habaneros changes their flavor profile from the brighter frutier side of the pepper to one that’s more savory and rounder. It’s similar to the effect that the chiles in Rotel canned tomatoes and chiles go through and in fact if you’ve had the ubiquitous Velveeta and Rotel cheese dip (and who hasn’t) you’ll get a rough idea of the flavor of this sauce, though Queso Sin Queso somehow manages to feel even more natural in nacho cheese flavor, richer, and with more umami depth despite having no real cheese in it. It also has more tanginess and acidity than any jarred queso which gives it more vibrancy. The heat level sits somewhere between mild and medium, there’s a little initial burn and with the ghost pepper powder there’s a little bit of linger but it won’t light your mouth on fire and it’s easy to continue to eat way too much of it.
I tried this sauce first on a bratwurst and it’s amazing, just like adding a spicy cheese sauce to your meat in a bun. I also loved this for just dipping pretzels into, a fun change of pace from beer cheese and the spicy nacho edge worked great. This sauce is also phenomenal on chicken. I’d never really considered nacho-cheesy wings but after using this on some it made me wonder why I’d never done it before, it totally works and since the cheesiness is in the wing sauce you don’t need any blue-cheese to dip. This is also the perfect sauce for cheesesteaks and burgers, it mimics the effects of cheese whiz but with more spice and that tex-mex nacho cheese vibe.
I’ve honestly been blown away by this sauce and can’t recommend it highly enough. If you like spicy queso or nacho cheese this is a must try. If you’re vegan and wondered if you can get real queso flavor you need to get on this pronto. If you like creamy emulsified hot sauces for their richness but also value a fresh flavor and some tang this is your sauce. Good Heat and La Pimenterie knocked it out of the park with this one. This sauce is also all natural with no artificial preservatives, colors, flavors, or thickeners.
by MagnusAlbusPater
1 Comment
Bitter: ⭐✰✰✰✰
Salty: ⭐⭐⭐✰✰
Sour/Tangy: ⭐⭐⭐✰✰
Sweet: ⭐✰✰✰✰
Umami: ⭐⭐⭐⭐✰
Heat: ⭐⭐⭐✰✰✰✰✰✰✰
Quick Flavor Notes: Cheesy, umami, tangy, smoky
Recommended: Yes
Texture: Medium consistency smooth and creamy
Ingredients: Onions, Vinegar, Red Bell Peppers, Roasted Red Habanero Peppers, Oat Drink (water, oat, canola oil, sea salt), Nutritional Yeast, Canola Oil, Salt, Garlic, Paprika, Spices, Turmeric, Onion Powder, Ghost Pepper Powder.
Good Heat is a hot sauce brand that doesn’t technically exist on its own. It was founded by Maxime Chenier-Groulx who was an employee of Montreal based La Pimenterie and launched into the world with this sauce on Hot Ones season twenty-three in the number five position. La Pimenterie produces this sauce and sells it on their own website and it shows up on various other retailers under the La Pimenterie brand as opposed to Good Heat. According to some interviews I’ve read La Pimenterie does pay a royalty for each bottle sold of the Good Heat sauces to Maxime Chenier-Groulx, or at least did at the time of the sauce’s launch, and it’s unclear if he is still a La Pimenterie employee. Also interestingly is that La Pimenterie had one of their sauces under their own brand, Forbidden Fruit, on that same season of Hot Ones in the number seven position, so with the Good Heat sub-brand they were able to effectively double-dip. Regardless of the structure of Good Heat, I’d heard good thing about this sauce and I was eager to try it.
Meaning “cheese without cheese” Queso Sin Queso proudly proclaims its plant-based vegan bonafides on the front label. Vegan cheese isn’t the first thing that comes to mind when I think of tasty food, and in fact it does bring to mind plasticky concoctions made from oils, starches, and nuts meant to go on top of a tofurkey sandwich. Good Heat / La Pimenterie decided to keep it classy however with an all-natural sauce featuring onions, red bell peppers, and roasted habaneros. Some additional heat comes from ghost pepper powder. None of that sounds particularly cheesy or queso-y however. The secret to the creamy texture is an emulsification between oat drink and canola oil. Oats contain natural emulsifiers and oat milk has become a popular dairy substitute for those choosing a plant-based diet. The secret to the cheesy flavor comes from nutritional yeast. Nutritional yeast is the same type of yeast used in brewing beer or baking bread but it has been “deactivated” or treated with high heat which retains its flavor but stops its ability to ferment. Nutritional yeast is used in a variety of food products to provide a cheesy rich umami flavor, including Heat Hot Sauce Shop’s Umami Seasonings or Seed Ranch Truffle Hound. Some other spices round out the sauce including some paprika, onion powder, and garlic for that queso flavor and turmeric for some color. Queso Sin Queso has a medium consistency and a creamy texture. The aroma is shockingly spot-on for actual queso sauce.
Queso Sin Queso tastes exactly like a real spicy nacho cheese queso. It’s absolutely uncanny. I’ve had hot sauces in the past that incorporate real cheese, some great like Zesti Hot Freshly Grated Parmesan Garlic Hot Sauce some awful like Buc-ee’s Hot Cheddar, and despite having no cheese this actually tastes cheesier than any of them. Not only that the texture, even when cold, is silky and appealing and world’s better than the jarred vomit that is Mrs. Renfro’s Ghost Pepper Nacho Cheese Dip. The ghost pepper and paprika give Queso Sin Queso a subtle smoky undertone. The onion and garlic give it savory depth of flavor. I believe there’s some cumin in the unnamed “spices” because this does have that authentic Mexican queso flavor. Plus, not only is this cheesy, it’s incredibly umami-packed from that nutritional yeast, which has a very high glutamate content, effectively giving the benefits of adding MSG without adding MSG. Roasting the habaneros changes their flavor profile from the brighter frutier side of the pepper to one that’s more savory and rounder. It’s similar to the effect that the chiles in Rotel canned tomatoes and chiles go through and in fact if you’ve had the ubiquitous Velveeta and Rotel cheese dip (and who hasn’t) you’ll get a rough idea of the flavor of this sauce, though Queso Sin Queso somehow manages to feel even more natural in nacho cheese flavor, richer, and with more umami depth despite having no real cheese in it. It also has more tanginess and acidity than any jarred queso which gives it more vibrancy. The heat level sits somewhere between mild and medium, there’s a little initial burn and with the ghost pepper powder there’s a little bit of linger but it won’t light your mouth on fire and it’s easy to continue to eat way too much of it.
I tried this sauce first on a bratwurst and it’s amazing, just like adding a spicy cheese sauce to your meat in a bun. I also loved this for just dipping pretzels into, a fun change of pace from beer cheese and the spicy nacho edge worked great. This sauce is also phenomenal on chicken. I’d never really considered nacho-cheesy wings but after using this on some it made me wonder why I’d never done it before, it totally works and since the cheesiness is in the wing sauce you don’t need any blue-cheese to dip. This is also the perfect sauce for cheesesteaks and burgers, it mimics the effects of cheese whiz but with more spice and that tex-mex nacho cheese vibe.
I’ve honestly been blown away by this sauce and can’t recommend it highly enough. If you like spicy queso or nacho cheese this is a must try. If you’re vegan and wondered if you can get real queso flavor you need to get on this pronto. If you like creamy emulsified hot sauces for their richness but also value a fresh flavor and some tang this is your sauce. Good Heat and La Pimenterie knocked it out of the park with this one. This sauce is also all natural with no artificial preservatives, colors, flavors, or thickeners.