The Spicy Addition That'll Change Your Peanut Butter And Jelly Sandwiches Forever

A peanut butter and jelly sandwich is the ultimate kids' comfort food that many people have brought with them into adulthood, a quick, easy, and filling snack that conjures up happy childhood memories by taste alone. But if you're going to have peanut butter and jelly as an adult, you may want to jazz things up a bit, and what better way to do that than with a pop of heat? Pull out that bottle of red sauce with the rooster on the front and spice up your PB&J with sriracha.

The popular Thai hot sauce gets its spicy, sweet, tangy, and garlicky flavor from red jalapeno peppers, vinegar, garlic, sugar, and salt. Combine that with peanut butter and jelly, and you're hitting multiple flavor notes — from sweet in the jelly and sriracha, to savory from the peanut butter and garlic, and saltiness in the sauce and peanut butter, with sriracha's spicy heat balancing and amplifying them. Sriracha is also thicker like ketchup, which will blend in better with the peanut butter and jelly than a thin hot sauce. Don't put on too much though; use just enough to enhance, but not overpower, the sandwich.

The combination isn't unusual. Peanut sauce is used in many Southeast Asian countries, including Thailand. Many versions of peanut sauce combine spicy heat and sweetness with peanut flavor, sometimes with sriracha. Add a spot of jelly, and now we're really talking. Try an orange-cardamum cranberry sauce for your jelly for a bright burst of flavor, or even a sweet-smoky bacon marmalade for a truly savory experience.

Using sriracha is a flavorful way to spice up a peanut butter and jelly sandwich, but there are other options to get that kick too. For example, canned chipotle pepper is one spicy ingredient that elevates peanut butter and jelly sandwiches.

Drizzle on some spicy honey for a mellower heat and added sweetness, or swap out the grape or strawberry jelly for jalapeno pepper jelly – the first PB&J was made with an unusual jelly after all (though not a spicy one) — which brings spiciness but is sweet too. Try hotter pepper jellies like habañero, but perhaps less of it because a little will go a long way! Put peppers on the sandwich, just like those chipotles, or picked Thai chiles, or even thin slices of jalapeno pepper, which also add an element of crunchy freshness. You can also roast some spicy peppers in a pan with a touch of curry for a complementary flavor that highlights the sweet and savory notes of a PB&J.

You can use the peanut butter, jelly, and sriracha combo beyond the inside of two slices of bread as well. Whip up a glaze with the three ingredients and some soy sauce and toss just-cooked fried chicken wings in it for a savory-sweet meal or party-time snack.