Homemade Hot Sauce
Our favorite homemade hot sauce recipe is easy to make with just a few ingredients, and you can adjust it exactly to your family's preferences.
Do you like it spicy, sweet and tart, or somewhere in between?
Hot sauce is a condiment we use a lot of in our house, but when we found out how easy it is to make at home, we were blown away.
What Makes Hot Sauce Hot?
Something called capsaicin is the element in chile peppers that gives us a burning sensation in any bodily tissue it comes in contact with. And, while we may not like it on our fingers as we're chopping away, for some reason we love the sensation in our food.
Hot sauces are typically made from three basic ingredients: chile peppers, vinegar, and salt.
That's it.
Really.
And, you can use any chile you prefer.
What Are The Best Peppers For Homemade Hot Sauce?
You can check our our guide to fresh chile peppers if you really want to dive into choosing the perfect chile for your hot sauce.
However, of the hot peppers, these are most common to use for hot sauce:
- Habaneros rank one of the hottest peppers on the Scoville scale (right up there with Scotch Bonnet). These are for if you like your sauce FIERY!
- Cayenne peppers are mid-range in heat (with Serranos), and are the most common pepper to be used for the dried red pepper spice or red pepper flakes.
- Jalapenos, which come in the lowest of what we would classify as 'hot' peppers, right there with Guajillos. (Anaheim and Poblanos rank even lower for spice.)
- Chipotles, which are smoke dried jalapenos that give excellent depth to your sauce.
The chile that you choose will determine the heat as well as a lot of the character of your sauce.
If you choose a chipotle, for example, you will get a nice smoky flavor in your sauce. A habanero, on the other hand, will add a bright and sweet, intense heat to the condiment.
How To Choose Peppers For Our Homemade Hot Sauce Recipe
We often grow jalapenos, and find that they are the easiest for us to use, since we're most familiar with their heat tendencies.
When choosing a jalapeno, the smoother the skin, the milder it will be.
If you pick a jalapeno that is full of tan veins or scars, then you know you're in for a pretty spicy pepper.
Also, the longer a jalapeno stays on the vine, the more flavor it develops. This is why the more mature, red jalapenos tend to have a sweeter flavor than the green jalapenos.
For our hot sauce, just one, veined, red jalapeno was perfect for the heat and color we wanted. Not too hot, but enough to give a kick that would intensify the more sauce we used.
How To Make Hot Sauce With Fresh Chile Peppers
With so few ingredients, the process to making hot sauce is quite simple.
To make this basic hot sauce, we simmer the chile with onion and garlic for extra flavor. Once the veggies are tender (and the onion and garlic no longer taste raw), we let the mixture cool slightly before blending it smooth with some vinegar for that characteristic hot sauce tang.
With so few ingredients, the quality of your ingredients matters quite a lot. Make sure everything is flavorful and of good quality, and you will be on your way to a wonderful, homemade hot sauce!
Homemade Hot Sauce
Ingredients
- 1 large red jalapeno or hot pepper of choice, veined
- ½ onion, chopped
- 2 garlic cloves, chopped
- 1 c water
- 1 c white vinegar
Instructions
- In a medium saucepan, combine pepper, onion, garlic, and water. Bring to a boil, and simmer, uncovered, for 20 min, until veggies are soft. Remove from heat and let mixture cool slightly.
- Place pepper mixture in the bowl of your food processor and process with vinegar until smooth.
- Sauce will keep in the refrigerator for up to 6 months.
Nutrition
Sarah founded Curious in 2010 as a way to save her recipe creations and share culinary experiences. Her love for cultural cuisines was instilled early by her French Canadian Grandmother. Her experience in the kitchen and in recipe development comes from over 10 years working in professional kitchens. She has traveled extensively and enjoys bringing the flavors of her travels back to create easy-to-make recipes.
is there no salt in this recipe?!
No, we don't find we need it. But you can always put a pinch or two in if you like!
I just got done using this recipes and actually bumped up the amount of peppers and used 5 jalepenos I grew myself had turned color so should be a little hot and added a habanero to the mix as well and added extra garlic and this sauce literally tastes like straight vinegar. Used the 1 cup like it said and got done and tried it and it's awful
Hi Aaron. We're sorry you're not a fan of this hot sauce. It is a vinegar heavy hot sauce. The flavor will develop over time, however it if tastes like straight vinegar after 5 jalapenos, a habanero, and garlic, my best guess is that your ingredients were not at their flavor peak. Or, is it possible that you didn't add the water to your sauce (which dilutes the vinegar) or boil the sauce (which cuts the vinegar bite)?
I used a combination of white, apple cider, and white balsamic vinegars to equal a cup.... so much more flavor!!
Changing up the vinegar is a great way to add additional flavor to the recipe! Thanks for sharing Keri!
Do you add in the vinegar while blending or do you do it while cooking it?
Hi Andrew, We add the vinegar while blending. Cooking vinegar tends to take the bite out, so by adding the vinegar after the sauce has been cooked your hot sauce still has a nice vinegar tang. Enjoy!
I have to say I never tried to make my own sauce. I always wanted to but couldnt find a good recipe. I used this, came out a bit thin added corn starch and its PERFECT has flavor like I never tasted before. Used 2 habenero and 2 wiri wiri with the exact recipe. Omg wow thank you so much!
So glad you enjoyed the hot sauce! Adding corn starch is a great idea to thicken it up slightly. Sounds like your sauce packs some heat!
I love your style
Thanks Ferdinand!
LOVE hot sauces, but never thoguht to try making my own. Thank you for making it doable!