WARNING! This seriously Fiery Habanero Hot Sauce is not for the faint hearted! Get past the heat though & you will find that it has a depth of flavour that a lot of hot sauces don’t. It has plenty of zing, a bit of tang & hints of sweet red pepper & maple. Are you brave enough?
This post contains affiliate links. Read my disclosure policy here.
It is International Hot & Spicy Food Day tomorrow and here is my contribution. I don’t go by half measures. This Fiery Habanero Hot Sauce is HOT.
I am a massive spicy food fan. I use a lot of hot sauce but the one I like most from my local farmer’s market is nearly $9 a bottle. It is delicious but with the way we go through it, I decided that it was time to come up with my own version and I couldn’t have timed it better.
My first few attempts didn’t go too well. They were far too hot.
Incredibly and inedibly hot.
My lips and tongue were numb for hours after trying them and I couldn’t find anyone brave enough to stand in for me as taste tester. I had to carry on my mission alone.
It was a difficult process as obviously hot sauce needs to be hot but not so hot that it burns the top layer off your tongue!
HOW IS THE CHILI PEPPER HEAT SCALE MEASURED?
The heat of chili peppers or products derived from chili peppers, is measured with the Scoville Heat Scale.
The scale is named after William Scoville who developed the test in 1912 and works by measuring the level of the chemical compound capsaicin.
Until recently, extract from the pepper was continually diluted until it was no longer detectable to the people tasting it. The final amount of dilution gave the pepper its measure on the Scoville scale. Now a more modern method of measuring the heat is utilized and this is called high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC). Peppers are dried then ground up then water is filtered through. A machine is then use to measure the heat. This method is of course much more accurate than relying on human taste buds.
I love this humorous article written by Anna Maria Barry-Jester called “Rating Chili Peppers On A Scale Of 1 To Oh Dear God I’m On Fire“.
It goes into a lot more depth about the whole subject and is a good read.
Habaneros, as used in my Fiery Habanero Hot Sauce, have a Scoville rating of between 100,000 – 350,000. They are up there with the wonderful Scotch Bonnets which are another of my favourites. Compare this to the very popular Jalapeño pepper which has a Scoville rating of only 3,500-8,000. A significant difference, but although very hot, this Fiery Habanero Hot Sauce has a great depth of flavour. It’s not all about the heat. You get the fiery heat first, then a sharp tang from the vinegar, combined with hints of sweet red pepper and maple. It will make the perfect addition to your dinner table.
HOW TO MAKE HOT SAUCE
FOR INGREDIENTS & FULL INSTRUCTIONS PLEASE SEE THE RECIPE CARD AT THE END OF THIS POST
Making your own Hot Sauce is really quite simple.
My recipe is a little different to most in that I like to add some onion and bell peppers for extra depth of flavour.
Here’s how I make it:
STEP1
Sauté the chili peppers with the bell peppers and onions.
STEP 2
Blend the sautéed peppers and onion with the remaining ingredients.
I love my Blendtec for recipes like this.
STEP 3
STEP 3Decant into bottles.
It’s that easy!
WHERE DID I BUY MY LITTLE SWING TOP BOTTLE?
I get asked all the time where I got the little swing top bottle my hot sauce is in in my photograph. It came from a store called Canadian Tire and it was only a couple of dollars.
If you aren’t in Canada though, I found some similar looking ones on Amazon which you can find here:
They will be really handy for storing all kinds of homemade sauces or for making a big batch of this Fiery Habanero Hot Sauce.
If you like a bit of spice in your life then you need to try this Fiery Habanero Hot Sauce recipe soon!
It is so incredibly cheap to make and lasts in the fridge for ages and ages.
You can use it in so many ways. My favourite way to eat it is drizzled on avocado toast. I also love it with rice dishes like my One Pot Spicy Rice, in salad dressings, swirled into soups, in hummus or guacamole and with crispy tofu.
It also makes a fabulous gift for that hot sauce lover in your life.
Give it a try soon!
DID YOU MAKE THIS RECIPE?
If you did, be a ☆ and let me know what you think by rating it and commenting below. Tag me on Instagram too. I am @avirtualvegan and my hashtag is #avirtualvegan
Fiery Habanero Hot Sauce
Ingredients
- 1 teaspoon oil , any neutral tasting oil
- 6 habanero peppers
- 2 large red bell peppers
- 120mls | 1/2 cup distilled white vinegar
- 1/2 medium onion chopped roughly
- 2 fat cloves of garlic chopped roughly
- 180mls | 3/4 cup water
- 2 tablespoons maple syrup
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
Instructions
- Remove the seeds from the bell peppers and chop into chunks.
- Cut the habeneros in half and remove the seeds
- Over a medium heat sauté the onions and bell peppers for a few minutes until beginning to soften, then add the habeneros and garlic and sauté for a little while longer until soft and slightly caramelized. Make sure you have a window or door open and an extractor fan on if you have one, to ventilate your kitchen. When the habaneros start cooking you will get chili pepper fumes which might make you cough a bit or make your eyes smart.
- Turn off the heat and transfer to a blender.
Add the remaining ingredients to the blender, adding just enough water to get it to the thickness you like. everyone likes their hot sauce different thicknesses so add enough to suit you. It's best to do it gradually though and blend in between so you don't accidentally add too much.
- Blend until completely smooth.
- If you do not have a high powered blender you may find some pieces of pepper skin floating about. If these bother you then just strain the sauce through a sieve.
- Decant into bottles or jars and store in the fridge. I didn't bother sterilizing my jars/bottles as I know I use my hot sauce quite quickly. If you want it to keep for a long time then it would probably be wise to sterilize your jars first. It should then keep well for a few months.
Recipe Notes
The amount of water you add is totally up to you. More water and you will get a thinner sauce, less water and your sauce will be thicker. If you add the amount of water exactly as specified the sauce will be quite thin, like Frank's Hot Sauce kind of thickness.
Stephanie says
Wow this recipe is SMOKIN!!! Soo good and spicy! Followed the recipe exactly and it turned out just perfect.
Thank you
CL says
This recipe kicks ass! I, like many others, deviated, though only slightly so. I had 12 red habaneros so I used them all. I only had 2 yellow bell peppers, so I used those. I used 6 cloves of garlic. I didn’t have white vinegar so I used 50/50 apple cider vinegar and rice vinegar. Then I added 2 teaspoons of course ground pepper and 1 teaspoon of kosher salt. With a half cup of water I filled a 1 pint jar. Thickness was slightly thicker than Siracha but way thicker than Franks. The sauce is a pretty bright yellow with heavy black pepper specks throughout. It’s a striking but great looking sauce.
The heat is nice with steady and building heat profile. Less sharp than just eating the peppers raw. The sauce well loved among my friends and I am sad I could only make a pint. I need to come up with more peppers before it’s too late to find them.
A Virtual Vegan says
Thank you Chris! I love the “kick ass” description and I hope you find more peppers soon so you can make more!
Cynthia Essiambre says
Great recipe! I love the addition of maple syrup for sweetness. I didn’t add any water, I like my hot sauces thick.
Richard says
Fantastic, I used chocolate habanero peppers. I will try a new batch with ghost peppers (perhaps just three)
A Virtual Vegan says
Thank you. I’m so pleased you enjoyed it. I’d love to try it with ghost peppers too!
toni says
I was wondering about the type of vinegar you use – Distilled white vinegar. I understand this is a type of vinegar that is common in some countries and after reading a few different web pages about the topic I think this is probably the clear type vinegar made from spirits – maybe. But what is the strength? I have a bottle of what I believe to be the correct type, it has 10% acetic acid so pretty strong. Perhaps the one required in your recipe is closer to 5% so I need to dilute it?
A Virtual Vegan says
I do use distilled white vinegar and it is clear and it’s 5% acetic acid. 10 % acetic acid vinegar is labelled as cleaning vinegar here. I think it would be really strong tasting. I guess you could dilute it though.
Kat says
I made this today, perhaps with a bit too much water (1/2 cup was a bit much, my bad) because I did not heed your instructions, but OMGOSH this is my absolute favorite hot sauce! So simple, so cheap and easy! I am amazed at the complexity of flavors! I used it right away to flavor some homemade hummus, total hit! Thanks for sharing this recipe! I will definitely be making this over and over again!
A Virtual Vegan says
I’m so pleased you are enjoying it Kat. Adding it to hummus is a great idea!
Rhonda says
I made this recipe today. It turned out great. I actually doubled it because I had 12 peppers. I did not add the water. I just blended it with all of the other ingredients after sautéing the vegetables and the texture was fine, just like a hot sauce.
Karen Martin says
Just finished canning a bushel of tomatoes!! I have 2 gallons of scotch bonnets and habaneros coming on. I’ve been looking for a good hot sauce, so I may give yours a try. What do you think about water bath canning jars? I don’t eat the hot sauce but my husband does, so it will need to be canned, I think. Thanks.
A Virtual Vegan says
I’m sorry but I know nothing about water bath canning jars. Lucky you thought having that lovely haul of homegrown produce!
Marcia says
I have actually pressured canned my habanaro sauces by cold packing sterile jars after grinding all ingredients in a food processor. I brought canner up to 15 lbs of pressure for 10 minutes. They lasted in pantry until gone. Did refrigerate product after opening. Great on everything!
Lawrence says
I made this with scotch bonnet peppers and enjoyed it. Doing it again with habaneros because I love the flavor.
A Virtual Vegan says
I bet it is was awesome with scotch bonnets!
Matt Hadden says
I have Habaneros in the garden, are you using green ones? Or do you wait for the red ones at the end of the season?
A Virtual Vegan says
I used red ones but you could use green instead. You could make some now with green then some with red later and have the best of both worlds. The flavor will be different with each but good either way!
Bert says
Made a double batch. Increased garlic by roughly 50% (6 v. 4 cloves). Tastes delicious! A bit watery. I think I would skip the H2O or significantly reduce it next time.
Kevin Freestone says
this sounds very similar to my sauve. only I roast the.peppers before removing the skins and then chopping the flesh. I use brown sugar instead of syrup.
I shall.cetainly give this a go. thanks.
A Virtual Vegan says
You’re welcome. I hope you enjoy it!
Rick Thiemke says
I love hot sauces, but only as long as they have flavor and not to the point that all you can taste is heat and no flavor. I used to make and sell BBQ sauces that I used habañero peppers to spice it up.
So I’m eager to try this hot sauce. I’ll let you know afterwards.
A Virtual Vegan says
I do hope you enjoy it Rick. Let me know!
Frank says
Where did you get the bottles from, they are as good as the sauce you made. I really liked the sauce.
A Virtual Vegan says
So glad you are enjoying the sauce Frank. I got the bottles from a store called Canadian Tire. They were only a couple dollars each. Amazon have some similar ones if you search ‘swing top bottle’. These look pretty close https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B001C3ZUZE/ref=as_li_qf_sp_asin_il_tl?ie=UTF8&tag=avirveg05-20&camp=1789&creative=9325&linkCode=as2&creativeASIN=B001C3ZUZE&linkId=8cb7d7150707ee562128dac08b7b90cb and they are only $2.25 for 4!
Brooke says
Had a bunch of habaneros in the garden and was looking on Pinterest for recipes to use them in other than my usual stews, saw your pepper sauce recipe and gave it a try and it turned out fabulous! Thanks for the yummy sauce!
A Virtual Vegan says
That’s great! So glad you like it. Thanks for letting me know :O)
lyn Gilbert says
This is delicious..mine is very thin and runny..is that right??
A Virtual Vegan says
Hi Lyn, It is a thinnish sauce. Kind of like Frank’s Hot Sauce thickness if you have ever tried it? Not like thick sriracha sauce. You could easily make it a little thicker next time by using a bit less water, or if you wanted it thicker now you can roast a bell pepper and blend it all up again. That would give it a little more substance. I am glad you like it though. It’s a real favourite of mine. I am a hot sauce addict!
Arlene Gallegos says
I like the idea of the roasted pepper it would give it a smoky flavor which would add depth to the flavor. The maple syrup interests me
A Forks Tale says
OMG! I am in love!! This looks soooo good!
A Virtual Vegan says
Ha ha! Thank you. Let me know what you think if you try it :0)
Jennifer Andrews says
I’ve always wanted to try making hot sauce at home. The best kinds have good flavour underneath the layer of heat, which this recipe sounds like it has! Must give it a try. Thanks for the recipe 🙂
A Virtual Vegan says
Let me know what you think when you try it Jennifer :0)
Gloria @ Homemade & Yummy says
Wow…my husband loves hot sauces…I will have to give this one a try!
A Virtual Vegan says
Let me know what he thinks Gloria!
flatlandfresh says
I love hot sauce especially on avocado toast! This recipe sounds great. I make most things I can myself but never thought of doing hot sauce. The hint of maple also sounds really interesting!
A Virtual Vegan says
Thank you! You should try it. It takes hardly any time at all and is sooo good :0)
ceecee says
We love hot sauce in our family and often talk about making our own – this is perfect. thanks!
A Virtual Vegan says
Great! It’s so very easy and tastes so much better than store bought. Let me know what you think when you make it!