Simple Hot Sauce Recipe
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I love making my own condiments like this Homemade Hot Sauce recipe! Not only is it a frugal alternative to store-bought brands, but you know exactly what ingredients go into it and you can leave out all the stuff you can’t pronounce!
Homemade Hot Sauce
Since I grew up in New Mexico, I didn’t learn what hot sauce was until my early twenties.
That may seem a bit bizarre, but let me explain. Where I live, the terms hot sauce and salsa are used interchangeably. We put “hot sauce” on everything, and by hot sauce, I mean blended tomatoes, jalapenos, onions and seasoning… or what everyone else thinks of when they hear salsa.
When I was a waitress in college, a customer asked for hot sauce and I showed up with a bowl of salsa. He looked at me like I had lost my mind. Another, brighter waitress than I, explained to me that hot sauce is a vinegar-based pepper sauce, like Tabasco or Cholula.
I have learned to love and appreciate hot sauce since then and have learned to make it from scratch, without too much effort or time. Below is a quick and easy hot sauce recipe, which is not to be confused with a quick and easy salsa recipe.
Hot Sauce Recipe
(Makes about 1 cup of hot sauce)
What You Need:
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 8 Fresno peppers
- 1 red bell pepper
- 3 cloves garlic
- 1/2 cup water
- 1/3 cup apple cider vinegar
- salt to taste
How to Make Hot Sauce:
Remove the stems from the fresno peppers and dice them. If you like a milder hot sauce, discard the seeds. For a hot sauce with heat, leave the seeds in.
Remove the stem and seeds from the red bell pepper and dice. Peel and dice the garlic cloves.
Warm the olive oil over medium heat in a medium-sized pan. Add in the diced peppers and cook until the peppers start to soften, about 10 minutes. Add in the garlic and stir until fragrant, about 1 minute. Add in the water and let the sauce simmer until the water has evaporated, about 15 – 30 minutes.
Allow the mixture to cool.
Transfer the cooled pepper mix into a blender or Magic Bullet, then add apple cider vinegar and salt. Blend well, until the hot sauce is nice and smooth. Store it in a clean jar and refrigerate it for up to a month.
Want to print this Easy Hot Sauce Recipe? Grab it below:
Hot Sauce Recipe
Ingredients
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 8 Fresno peppers
- 1 red bell pepper
- 3 cloves garlic
- 1/2 cup water
- 1/3 cup apple cider vinegar
- salt to taste
Instructions
-
Remove the stems from the fresno peppers and dice them. If you like a milder hot sauce, discard the seeds. For a hot sauce with heat, leave the seeds in.
-
Remove the stem and seeds from the red bell pepper and dice. Peel and dice the garlic cloves.
-
Warm the olive oil over medium heat in a medium-sized pan. Add in the diced peppers and cook until the peppers start to soften, about 10 minutes.
-
Add in the garlic and stir until fragrant, about 1 minute.
-
Add in the water and let the sauce simmer until the water has evaporated, about 15 - 30 minutes.
-
Allow the mixture to cool.
-
Transfer the cooled pepper mix into a blender or Magic Bullet, then add apple cider vinegar and salt.
-
Blend well, until the hot sauce is nice and smooth.
-
Store it in a clean jar and refrigerate it for up to a month.
Ready to make more of your own homemade condiments? Here are a few to get you started:
Homemade Ketchup with Fresh Tomatoes
Homemade Worcestershire Sauce Recipe from Scratch
If you love this Homemade Hot Sauce Recipes you will absolutely love my book, Little House Living: The Make Your Own Guide to a Frugal, Simple, and Self-Sufficient Life. It features 130 recipes just like this one that are perfect for your household!
What do you love a good hot sauce recipe on?
This Hot Sauce Recipe was originally published on Little House Living in September 2014. It has been updated as of September 2019.
Thanks for this. We were just talking about making hot sauce. Maybe we will adapt your recipe and make our own “family label” hot sauce.
Nice tradition for us to start.
I have never made my own hot sauce, but this looks good. Thank you for sharing!
Since I really don’t like sweets, but love savory dishes, I love hot sauce on just about everything! Thanks for the recipe!
Thanks for the recipe. What is the other term or another name for fresno pepper? We have here chili peppers, they are small red peppers and taste hot. Are they the same with fresno pepper?
Red bell peppers are available here in our place.
Hi Bernaditta,
I am not familiar with any other name that this pepper goes by, but this recipe can really be adapted to use with different types of peppers. You just want to check the scoville scale level for the pepper you choose, to make sure it isn’t too hot for your tastes.
I know the fresno pepper is similar to the jalapeno, and has a similar heat level, so that may be a good substitute. Of course, you’ll come up with a different color, but it should still taste good!
Hope that helps,
Andrea
What a great recipe. I will have to try making my own hot sauce. I never have tried this but it should be on my “to do” list. Thanks for linking at Pintastic Pinteresting Party.
Living in the Southwest, my family loves hot sauce! Thank you so much for sharing your recipe at the Merry Monday Link Party! I’ll have to give it a try!
I make a hot sauce also, however, it is different than this one. I will definitely have to try this one, I love hot sauce on eggs/omelets, sandwiches, tacos, burritos, breakfast scrambles, the list goes on and on!! Thank you for the recipe.
Love that salsa and hot sauce are interchangeable for you. Thanks for sharing on Let’s Get Real
Sounds delicious- I’ve only ever made a meat hot sauce that is regional. Can’t wait to try this- pinning!
Thank you so much for sharing this! I don’t use hot sauce often, but do need it sometimes for certain recipes. I really dislike buying store-bought sauces because of the sodium and preservatives, and try to make my own whenever I can. I will definitely be using this next time I need some hot sauce, pinning for later!
I may have to make this. Hubby is obsessed with hot sauce! Thanks for posting it to the wonderful Wednesday link party.
Thanks so much for sharing this awesome post with us at Full Plate Thursday. Have a great week and hope to see you again real soon!
Miz Helen
My husband LOVES hot sauce in his beans. 🙂 This sounds like a tasty version! Thanks so much for sharing it with us.
I love hot sauce. Can this be canned ? I would love to know how long to process if possible to can.
It’s possible but you would need to bring the recipe to your local extension office to get safe times/temps/pressure instructions for your area.
You think I would be able to freeze this?
You should be able to but it might separate a bit after thawing.