Award-Winning Cuban Hot Sauce from Miami

At Barbaro Mojo, we take pride in crafting our hot sauces exclusively in small batches. As the makers behind each fiery creation, we embrace our beginnings in the industry, handcrafting our sauces with care in shared kitchens or co-packing spaces. Unlike mass-produced options found in grocery stores (no disrespect to Tabasco sauce!), our approach allows us to prioritize quality with responsibly-sourced ingredients like garlic, jalapeno, vinegar, habanero pepper, carrot, cilantro, and more.

Our hottest sauce is Matanza

Start with our recipes page (90+ recipes), the sauce pairing guide, and our free recipe eBook. New recipes and videos land on the blog, and our newsletter below sends the best ones.

Pork (lechón, pulled pork sandwiches), grilled chicken, seafood tacos, black beans & rice, and breakfast eggs are house favorites. The citrus bite also brightens up salads and roasted veggies. See Recipes

Yes, because every sauce starts as mojo criollo, they already contain citrus, garlic and salt. Use ¼ cup per pound of protein, marinate 30 min (fish) to overnight (pork), then grill or roast. The sugars in Piñazo and Best Day Ever caramelize beautifully.

Mojo is a centuries-old Cuban marinade made with sour orange (or a citrus blend), garlic, onion, cumin, oregano and olive oil. Barbaro Mojo takes that same base, folds in peppers ranging from jalapeños to Carolina Reapers, and bottles it as a ready-to-pour hot sauce essentially turning the classic marinade into a condiment you can use every day. The long answer, with heat ratings, is in what is mojo hot sauce (and is it spicy)?

Jalabáo– Green, mild (3 of 10) jalapeño-based sauce with bright citrus.

Piñazo™– Sweet-heat pineapple sauce with Fresno, habanero & Reaper; fruity punch and a medium finish (6 of 10).

El Havanero– Classic red habanero sauce; tomato-forward, garlicky and hot (9 of 10), the hottest of our everyday line.

All current core flavors are gluten-free and vegan, with no dairy, eggs or wheat. The sauces are made from vegetables, fruit, spices, citrus and vinegar, with a little xanthan gum so they do not separate. The sour orange juice in our house-made mojo carries small amounts of food-safe preservatives (potassium sorbate and sodium benzoate). Piñazo uses pineapple juice instead of sour orange, so it has neither, and no xanthan either. Check the label on any new release.

No. While the recipes celebrate Cuban flavors and the founders are Cuban-American, every bottle is produced in the United States (currently in Miami) with a co-packer to ensure FDA-compliant food safety and faster U.S. shipping.

• Lechón asado: brush Jalabáo on crispy pork skin at the end of roasting.
• Ropa vieja: stir 1–2 tsp of El Havanero into the tomato broth.
• Tostones: drizzle Piñazo over twice-fried plantains.
• Cuban sandwich: replace yellow mustard with a thin layer of Best Day Ever for a sweet-heat kick.

See Recipes and Videos

Barbaro Mojo's sauces start with mojo criollo a sour-orange, garlic-heavy marinade that's the backbone of countless Cuban dishes. Combining that citrusy tang with fresh chiles and traditional island spices creates a flavor that's bright and zesty first, then spicy, instead of the vinegar-forward burn typical of many U.S.-style sauces. See Recipes and Videos

Barbaro Mojo has earned seventeen honors across seven competitions. The three most recent wins:

• Jungle Jim's Weekend of Fire 2026: Piñazo won People's Choice (1st place); Matanza took 2nd place for Best Hot Sauce and Best Day Ever took 2nd place for Best Hot Specialty Sauce.
• The Austin Chronicle Hot Sauce Festival 2025: Matanza won 2nd place in Commercial Bottlers, Pepper Sauce.
• Scovie Awards 2025: Grand Prize for Product Packaging, plus two 2nd places for Jalabáo and Piñazo.

See every award on the awards page.

Yes, we welcome wholesale inquiries and partnerships. If you're interested in carrying Bárbaro Mojo in your store or restaurant, please reach out to us via our Contact Us page. We'd love to collaborate and bring authentic Cuban flavors to your customers

Yes! Cuban hot sauce does exist, and it's unlike anything you'll find in typical Latin or American hot sauces. Cuban hot sauces, like those from Barbaro Mojo, are inspired by traditional island flavors, using ingredients such as garlic, sour orange (naranja agria), cumin, and chili peppers. Unlike vinegar-forward sauces, Cuban-style hot sauce balances zesty citrus, savory spices, and subtle heat, often drawing from mojo criollo, a beloved marinade in Cuban cooking.

If you're searching for a Cuban-style hot sauce that’s bold, flavorful, and rooted in heritage, Barbaro Mojo is the real deal.

Our five sauces run from 3 to 10 on the Barbaro Mojo Cuban heat scale (1 to 10, not Scoville). The lab-tested numbers are on the Scoville page.

Jalabáo™ (3 of 10, mild): fresh, tangy jalapeño and green bell pepper.

Piñazo™ (6 of 10, medium): pineapple and habanero with a little Carolina Reaper.

Best Day Ever™ (8 of 10, hot): mango and habanero with a little Carolina Reaper.

El Havanero™ (9 of 10, hot): habanero and tomato, tomato-forward and garlicky. The hottest of our everyday line.

Matanza (10 of 10, extra hot): our hottest, built on habanero and Carolina Reaper. Limited edition.

"Bárbaro" is a Cuban expression meaning "awesome" or "fantastic," and "Mojo" refers to the traditional Cuban marinade made with garlic, citrus, and spices. Together, "Bárbaro Mojo" embodies our commitment to delivering an authentic and exceptional Cuban flavor experience in every bottle. Read more about the meaning of Bárbaro

Cuban mojo sauce, also called mojo criollo, is the foundational sauce of Cuban cooking. It's a citrus-and-garlic preparation made from sour orange juice (naranja agria), fresh garlic, olive oil, cumin, and oregano. Cubans use mojo as both a marinade for meats (especially pork for lechon asado) and a finishing drizzle on yuca, rice, and sandwiches. Traditional Cuban mojo sauce isn't spicy on its own; that's where Barbaro Mojo comes in. Our hot sauces take the mojo flavor base and add Caribbean peppers for heat. See our full Cuban mojo sauce recipe. A Cuban mojo hot sauce takes that tradition one step further: Barbaro Mojo sauces are built on a mojo criollo base of citrus and garlic first, with peppers added for heat, so they taste like Cuban cooking rather than vinegar.

Miami's hot sauce scene grew out of the city's Cuban-American community. Barbaro Mojo is a Miami hot sauce brand born from authentic Cuban kitchens, founded by a Cuban entrepreneur in Miami who wanted bottled heat that actually tasted like the sauces his family made at home. We craft every batch in Miami using the citrus-garlic-cumin mojo flavor profile that defines Cuban cooking. If you're looking for a Miami hot sauce that's not just spicy but specifically Cuban-spicy, that's our whole reason for existing.

Barbaro Mojo is a small-batch Cuban hot sauce made in Miami, but we don't run a retail storefront, walk-up counter, or pickup window at our kitchen, so please don't visit our production address. The best place to buy Barbaro Mojo in person in Miami is Bodega Ortega, a neighborhood bodega in Coconut Grove that keeps our sauces in stock and stays open late, 7am to 10pm every day. Find them at 2859 Bird Ave Ste 1L, Miami, FL 33133. Prefer to shop from home? Order any sauce shipped straight to your door from our online store, or see every spot that carries us on our retailers page.