The Absolute Best Mambo Sauce Comes From A Family-Owned Company

If you own a grill or have ever been to a summertime backyard barbecue, there's a good chance you've dabbled in your fair share of condiments. From ketchup and mustard to buffalo and barbecue sauce, you may even think you've tried them all. Let us introduce you to a sauce that — whether you've already heard of it or not — is sure to change your sauce game  ... mambo sauce. Similar to barbecue sauce or a spicy ketchup, mambo sauce is a sweet, tangy, slightly spicy sauce that is one of D.C.'s best-kept secrets, often accompanying takeout food or fried appetizers. For an authentic take on this East Coast classic, Capital City's Mambo Sauce, available on Amazon, can take your fried chicken and grilled burgers to a whole new level.

The company's flagship product, Mild Mambo Sauce, is a traditional version that offers a tangy, sweet flavor to your food. Their other sauce — the Sweet Hot Mambo Sauce — is a similar, spicier take on their flagship, with notes of cayenne and habanero peppers balancing out the sweetness.

While the Capital City mambo sauce may be a household name in the D.C. area now, the Black-owned company has humble roots. Founded by couple Arsha and the late Charles Jones in the suburbs of Maryland, the sauce first began as a beloved family recipe that later became a hit at multiple mom-and-pop shops around D.C. — now, it's a nationwide brand, selling upwards of 60,000 cases of the iconic sauce every year.

There's no debate that the classic way to eat your mambo sauce is slathered on a chicken wing, but the sky really is the limit here. You can drizzle your sauce over barbecue pulled pork nachos, dip fries and chicken nuggets into it, or even use it as a topping for your deconstructed egg roll in a bowl.

I decided to put the Capital City Sweet Hot Mambo Sauce on a classic chicken breast and paired it with some roasted potatoes and broccoli. The sauce added the perfect amount of sweetness and spice to the dish, without being too overpowering or burn-your-taste-buds-off spicy. While the sauce did the trick just topped on the chicken, it also would make a great marinade for chicken breasts, infusing even more of its addictive flavor into the meat. 

With its bolder flavor profile, the Sweet Hot Mambo sauce would also pair well with any meal that could benefit from an added kick, such as a smoky charred steak, loaded fries, or a spicy stir fry. The Mild Mambo sauce, with its sweet and tangy notes, is ideal for foods where bold heat might overpower other flavors. I might pair the Mild with fried fish, barbecue chicken wings, or on a bacon blue cheese burger. No matter the dish, Capital City Mambo Sauce is proof that family recipes crafted with care can transform even the simplest of meals into something special.