Best Substitutes for Red Chili Flakes

Out of Red Chili Flakes? Here are the best alternatives that work in cocktail recipes.

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Original Ingredient

Red Chili Flakes

Other Intensely pungent nose with fiery capsaicin heat and dried pepper warmth. Palate burns with aggressive spice and fruity-hot undertone. Long, searing finish with persistent chili fire.

Recommended Substitutes

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Cayenne pepper

Use as a 1:1 substitute unless otherwise noted.

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Hot Sauce

Use as a 1:1 substitute unless otherwise noted.

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Tabasco sauce

Use as a 1:1 substitute unless otherwise noted.

General Substitution Tips

  • Match the alcohol level: a 40% spirit needs a similarly strong replacement or adjust volume.
  • For liqueurs, dilute spirits + simple syrup can replicate sweetness and proof.
  • Citrus substitutions: lemon and lime are mostly interchangeable at a 1:1 ratio.
  • For bitters, Angostura is the most neutral substitute for most other aromatic bitters.