Easy Homemade Hot Sauce Recipe

Homemade hot sauce not only allows you to add layers of flavor to your food. It is also a perfect way to utilize your bountiful pepper harvest.

Learn with us how to make a rich homemade hot sauce in this detailed guide.

How to Make Homemade Hot Sauce | Two Ways

How to Make Fermented Homemade Hot Sauce

Things You’ll Need

1 ½ pounds peppers (sweet or hot)
4 cups of filtered water
6 garlic cloves
1/3 cup vinegar (white vinegar or apple cider)
4 teaspoons of salt
1 tablespoon sweetener (maple syrup or honey), optional
½ teaspoon emulsifier (xanthan gum), optional

Equipment You’ll Need

Gloves
Knife
Chopping board
Saucepan
Quart jar
Cheesecloth and rubber bands or a fermenting lid
Strainer
Blender or food processor
Funnel
Storage bottles

Instructions

Thoroughly clean your peppers regardless of whether they are store-bought or organic.
Next, with your gloves on, cut off the pepper tops and cut lengthwise. Now, remove the stems and seeds. You can, however, keep the seeds depending on the flavor profile you want.
Meanwhile, peel your garlic cloves.
Next, in a medium saucepan, heat your filtered water and salt. Bring this to a simmer until all the salt dissolves to make the brine. Turn off the heat and cool to room temperature.
Transfer the pepper slices and garlic cloves to a clean quart jar and add the brine. The pepper slices and garlic should be fully submerged.
Next, cover the jar with a cheesecloth held in place with a rubber band or fit a fermentation lid on the jar. After that, place in a dark and warm spot in your kitchen for up to seven days, or once the brine starts looking cloudy and bubbly. The level of flavor you want will dictate how long you will ferment your peppers.
Strain the peppers and reserve the brine.
Next, transfer the fermented garlic and peppers into a blender. Add vinegar, sweetener, and a cup of the brine and blend until smooth and creamy. Add more brine until the sauce reaches the desired consistency.
Lastly, you can add a teaspoon of xanthan gum and blend for an additional two minutes.
Fit your storage jars with a funnel and transfer your homemade hot sauce. Store this in the refrigerator for up to six months.

How to Make Quick Homemade Hot Sauce

Things You’ll Need

1 ½ pounds peppers (sweet or hot)
2 cups of filtered water
6 garlic cloves
1/3 cup vinegar (white vinegar or apple cider)
2 teaspoons of salt
1 tablespoon sweetener ( maple syrup or honey), optional
½ teaspoon emulsifier (xanthan gum), optional

Equipment You’ll Need

Gloves
Knife
Chopping board
Saucepan
Blender or food processor
Funnel
Storage bottles

Instructions

Thoroughly clean your peppers.
Next, with your gloves on, cut off the pepper tops and cut them lengthwise. You may choose to keep or remove the stems and seeds as well. Remember to peel your garlic cloves at this point too.
Combine the peppers, garlic, salt, filtered water, vinegar, and sweetener in a saucepan and place over medium-high heat.
After the mixture comes to a boil, reduce the heat further and let it simmer for about ten minutes or until the peppers are soft.
Next, transfer the mixture into a blender and blend till smooth. Leave the vent open but covered with a towel for steam to escape. Remember to sprinkle xanthan gum at this point if you will be using it.
Lastly, let the sauce cool if it is still hot. Once cooled, pour this into storage bottles fitted with a funnel to avoid making a mess. Store this in your refrigerator for three weeks.

Pro Tips

If you choose to skip the xanthan gum, your sauce will separate while in storage. Give this a shake, and it will be ready to use.
If you choose to mix sweet and hot peppers, stick to peppers with the same color to avoid ending up with brown-colored hot sauce.
Moreover, you can choose to process the fermented hot sauce in a water-bath canner under the right safety conditions.
Using apple cider vinegar will give your sauce a fruity flavor profile.
If you like your hot sauce chunky, use a food processor instead of a blender.
Feel free to add other preferred fragrant veggies like onions.

Watch this video from Joshua Weissman on how to ferment and make your own hot sauce, easily:

There you have it, homesteader. With this guide, you get to make homemade hot sauce whenever you want and customize it to fit the flavor profile and heat level you want at half the cost.