The Spicy Condiment That Brings A Zesty Punch To Sunflower Seeds

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Alongside popcorn or a simple bag of potato chips, sunflower seeds are among the most customizable snacks. Sure, with their thick hull and their relatively small edible interior, it can take some practice learning how to eat them. Although they get a routine in place, and their delightfully nutty and often salty flavor is ripe for a spicy upgrade.

So pour out a bowl of the seeds, and add several generous pours of hot sauce. Yes, the flavors are bracing — the acidity and heat hit your lips — but for fans of the condiment, this vessel of enjoyment delights. There's something to the mix of saltiness, heat, and acid, all coating the crunchy seed, that makes for a vibrant snack. Plus, if it's too much, you could always dip the seeds into a separate hot sauce bowl.

And if you want to avoid the mess of the spicy liquid when on the go, you could even buy David's Jumbo Sunflower Seeds already coated in Frank's RedHot Flavor. There is a particular tactile pleasure to coating the seeds in hot sauce yourself, and cracking one after another.

As such an easy-going combination of food products, the flavors are totally in your hands. Of course, with the punchiness of the spice so front and center, use this as an opportunity to showcase the most flavorful hot sauces in your pantry. You could even integrate a few more simple additions, like some pickle brine or a dash of your favorite pepper spice. Some even go as far as packing the mixture into a jar, creating a marinade-like sunflower seed experience.

Just go easy on both the acidic and spicy elements; with no other ingredients, this is a fast route to climb up the pepper Scoville scale. So start light, using a milder bottle from a brand like Cholula or Yellowbird, which pack in less heat. Then add more hot sauce in quantity and intensity; better start slow than vice-versa.

If you're really into the melding of such flavors, consider even puréeing hulled sunflower seeds into a standalone hot sauce of their own. Whether it's chipotle flavored or a Thai curry condiment, there's something to the pairing of seed and pepper that really shines.