The Secret Ingredient You Put On Everything

We all have a favorite ingredient -- one that we toss (often inappropriately) into our recipes or that we douse on all of our food. For many it's hot sauce, ketchup or even tartar sauce -- but the real kicker is what those foods are poured on (we sort of love the idea of ranch dressing on pizza).

We polled our coworkers here at HuffPost and put together a slideshow of the ingredients we use most often. But we want to know what yours are, too. Do you have a secret ingredient you can't get enough of? Share yours with us in the slideshow below!

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Comments

[Amy Roberson]

02:20 PM on 05/04/2012

Balsamic Glaze. On everything. I have heard it is even delicious on ice cream.

[Lily P]

10:21 AM on 04/29/2012

Cinnamon is awesome on ground beef.

[Cupik]

02:21 PM on 04/27/2012

Caesar Dressing - a slim stripe on roasted salmon

I really wish someone would concoct a better ketchup - without all the sugar and more tomato flavor.

[Philovitist]

01:38 PM on 04/27/2012

Grapes.

[rickyleepotts]

01:11 PM on 04/27/2012

I eat two eggs every morning... And I cover them with this stuff. The hotter the better!

[luckylily88]

01:02 PM on 04/27/2012

Green chile goes on everything in my house. Pizza, sandwiches, steaks, chicken, eggs... EVERYTHING. Mom and I split a 40 pound bag every September and stuff our freezers with it.

[rickyleepotts]

01:12 PM on 04/27/2012

Oh nice... That sounds good.

[Dave Ryan MD]

05:49 AM on 04/27/2012

We use Tabasco in nearly everything. After that, I'm thinking garlic and lemons are my wife's top ingredients. Mine are meat rubs and sauces.

[rickyleepotts]

01:12 PM on 04/27/2012

What kinds of rubs?

[Dave Ryan MD]

12:24 AM on 04/30/2012

BBQ rubs. Paprika. Brown sugar. A little pepper. Onion/garlic powder. I loosely follow Kansas City BBQ "rules." I've tinkered with fish rubs, beef, chicken. Am always trying something new.

[Tommy6860]

04:41 AM on 04/27/2012

Powdered extremely hot Indian (from India) red pepper. I put it in many things.
Olive/grape seed oils
Garlic
Balsamic vinegar

All of these are nearly a must ingredient in most of what I eat.

[thebarbecuemast]

04:28 AM on 04/27/2012

peppers are in 99 percent of my food and also ginger and galanga

[rickyleepotts]

01:13 PM on 04/27/2012

I do like ginger.

[AnnoyedCanuck]

04:15 AM on 04/27/2012

- Kosher salt - has larger, airier crystals than standard table salt, which makes it more versatile to cook with and less intensely salty in taste.

- Horseradish (not the creamed kind, just the ground horseradish root) - I keep this on hand in case I need to make a cocktail sauce (with ketchup, a squeeze of lemon and a shot of hot sauce) or a horseradish sauce for meats, potatoes or veggies (with mayo, sour cream and/or yogurt, and chives or parsley). Great with steaks and on sandwiches.

- Vermouth - use this instead of white wine for cooking. It lasts much longer, so you can just use what you need and keep the rest in the fridge.

- Pomegranate Molasses - This is pomegranate juice, boiled down into a thick, tart-tasting sweet & sour syrup. It's a staple throughout the Middle East and is becoming popular in North America. If it's not at your grocery, look for it at a Greek, Turkish, Arab or Israeli market. It has all kinds of uses: as a glaze for meats, ingredient for sauces, dressings, cocktails, etc. Great stirred into sparkling wine.

[planetjeffy]

02:12 AM on 04/27/2012

Clements Jaques green chili is the best.
http://www.mymexicanpantry.com/clemente-jacques--salsa-verde.html
They also make sweet chipotle sauce and mushed japapenos (not together) that go great on everything too.
Dang...now I am hungry.

[eloseddie]

02:03 AM on 04/27/2012

What! No TAPATIO????

[Dashartha]

01:53 AM on 04/27/2012

Homemade mayonnaise goes on so many things.
Oh, and hoisin sauce (cut with a splash of dumpling vinegar) is fun

[jmichaelmunger]

10:03 AM on 04/27/2012

Anytime I make pasta salad, potato salad, egg salad, tuna salad... I make my own mayo.
Oh the difference it makes!

[rickyleepotts]

01:13 PM on 04/27/2012

How do you make mayonnaise?

[Dashartha]

02:35 AM on 04/28/2012

Mayonnaise in it's most basic form is an emulsion of egg yolk, lemon juice and oil (olive, canola, whatever), most commonly combined/flavoured with Dijon mustard; if you cut jar mayonnaise with some Dijon mustard, you'll get a pretty good idea of what the homemade sauce tastes like. It's not always counted as a "Mother sauce," but you can add pretty much any flavouring you want to that basic emulsion ex. Lemongrass mayo, dill mayo, etc.
You can find a pretty decent recipe that doesn't get into the usual arguments over oil types and whether a whisk, a mortar and pestle or a blender makes the best mayo. Food people are nerds.
Got sidetracked... you can find the recipe here: http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Homemade-Mayonnaise-241868
Happy cooking!

[jimmythegreek]

12:47 AM on 04/27/2012

Grilled Turkey & Cheese on Milton's + Sriracha/Ketchup mix. Some kettle chips to dip with as well.

[BlueZoo]

12:46 AM on 04/27/2012

Cannot and will not live without Siracha and Tabasco! Siracha on foods, Tabasco in vodka!

[rickyleepotts]

01:14 PM on 04/27/2012

In vodka? Interesting...