How to Make Hot Sauce (Homemade Hot Sauce Recipe)

This homemade hot sauce recipe is one I make every summer when peppers start piling up in the garden! Over the years, thousands of readers have used it to learn how to make hot sauce at home, either by fermenting the peppers or making the quick cooked version that's ready in about 30 minutes.

🔍 Recipe At-A-Glance: Homemade Hot Sauce

• ⏰ Prep Time: 10 minutes
• 🗓️ Fermentation Time: 5 days (or skip this using my quick cook version)
• 🌶️ Flavor Options: Anywhere from mild to super spicy
• 🎁 Good For: Everyday eating, awesome gifts, stocking stuffers, host or hostess gifts, teacher gifts, preserving your harvest, selling at farmer's markets
• 🧡 Difficulty: One of the easier fermentation projects out there, or make it easy-as-can be using the quick-cook option

"This might seem melodramatic, but this recipe kinda changed my life. On a whim I looked online for a hot sauce recipe, and I happened upon this one. I'm so glad I did! I absolutely encourage everyone to try the fermented version."

- JOEL -

🌶️ The Ingredients You Need

• Peppers: Jalapeños, reapers, Thai chilies, habanero, bell, cayenne, ghost peppers, serranos, OH MY. Which peppers you use really depends on your personal heat tolerance and the flavor profile you're looking for.
• Water: I recommend filtered water (especially if you are following our fermentation version) to make sure your flavor is crisp as possible.
• Xanthan gum (optional, but recommended): This emulsifier helps keep your hot sauce from separating. You'll have to give your hot sauce a good shake before using each time if you don't include it.

Make sure to check the recipe card below for the full ingredients list, along with quantities and my expert tips and tricks.

🔥 How to Do Heat Variations

You are in complete control of your hot sauce! So no matter if you like it no-heat or burn-off-your tongue spicy, you are in charge.

I recommend tasting your peppers raw before blending them into your sauce. To test, I cut a pepper open and just lightly touch a cut part with a toothpick and then touch my tongue with the toothpick. You'll know very quickly what you're working with!

The pepper heat level wont change much after cooking or fermenting (although the flavor profile may end up more complex). If a pepper is hot raw, it's going to be hot in your hot sauce.

If you're new to hot sauce, here's my opinion: err on the mild side for your first batch. You can always blend in an extra pepper later, but you can't un-burn your tongue from a too-hot sauce.

From there, you can tweak your ratio until it's to your liking. Some heat-phobic folks use nothing but sweet bell peppers. Some heat lovers using nothing but hot peppers-so it really is up to you to pick your poison here.

In our house, I usually start with about start with a 3:1 ratio of sweet bell peppers to mild hot peppers (like jalapeños), and then toss in 1-2 habaneros when I want heat that shows up but doesn't dominate.

🫑 Best Peppers for Homemade Hot Sauce

Here are a few peppers that work especially well for homemade hot sauce:

• Jalapeños: Mild to medium heat with a fresh, bright flavor. Great if you want a hot sauce that has some kick but isn't overwhelming. I've found out over the years that jalapeños vary wildly on their heat level based on growing conditions! Some years, one jalapeño is enough to make a scorching hot sauce, and then the next I need 10! This is why I highly, highly recommend tasting your peppers raw first.
• Serranos: Similar flavor to jalapeños but noticeably hotter. A good choice if you want to bump up the heat a bit.
• Cayenne peppers: These are classic hot sauce peppers. They give that familiar bright red color and straightforward spicy heat.
• Habaneros: Very spicy, but also fruity and flavorful. If you want fruity heat, habaneros are the move, but they can be really spicy, so I almost always mellow them with a handful of bells.

These are just a tiny selection of peppers you can use. Use whatever you find at the store, farmer's market, or in your own garden. This is really a fun recipe to get creative! You can use just one type of pepper or mix several varieties together for a more complex flavor. Here's my rule though if using a mixed bag of peppers: keep your color family consistent so you don't end up with swampy brown sauce. Red peppers with red peppers. Green peppers with green peppers.

🫙 The Supplies You Need

You probably have all the supplies on hand to make this recipe, but if you want a few special items to make the project easier, here's what to grab:

• Fermentation weights and lids: If you want to make the fermented version of this recipe, some fermentation weights and lids make the process much easier.
• Wide mouth canning jars: To go with your fermenting weights and lids.
• Hot sauce bottles: You can put your hot sauce into any sealed container, but these hot sauce bottles are perfect for gifting.

🫶 Before You Start

Imagine you are in my kitchen with me, and I'm teaching you how to make hot sauce. Here is exactly what I'd tell you.

• Fermented is worth it (most of the time): I strongly prefer the fermented version. The flavor gets rounder, more complex, and has less of a sharp vinegar punch. Fermentation is what makes hot sauce taste like hot sauce. I get it though. Time is at a premium for all of us, so if you want something bright and immediate, the quick-cook version is your friend.
• Apple cider vinegar is undefeated: I'm team apple cider vinegar for hot sauce. White vinegar tastes a little one-note to me. I like the fruity flavor ACV adds.
• I don't chase maximum heat: I'm a firm believer hot sauce should taste good first and burn second. I like a sauce that I can put on eggs every morning without regretting my life choices. If you want to make the hottest hot sauce in the land just for funsies, you do you, but I also recommend making some "everyday" milder hot sauces.
• Xanthan gum truther: Xanthan gum isn't required, but I use it because I'm lazy and I don't want to shake the bottle every time I want a few drops. It's worth it. Especially if you are gifting your hot sauce.

📷 How to Make Hot Sauce (Fermented Version)

If you've ever made homemade sauerkraut, you already know the process we're using to ferment this hot sauce.

Step 1: Combine peppers and garlic in a wide-mouth canning jar.

Step 2: Make the brine by combining the water and salt in a saucepan and heating until salt is melted. Let cool.

Step 3: Cover the pepper and garlic with the brine, fit with a fermentation weight and lid, and let ferment out of direct sunlight for 5-7 days.

Step 4: The brine will look cloudy when it's ready-this means the fermentation is working!

Step 5: Drain the peppers, reserving the brine. 

Step 6: Combine the peppers and garlic, vinegar, honey or maple syrup, and 1 cup of brine in a blender.

Step 7: Blend until silky smooth, adding in additional brine to thin out if necessary. If you using the xanthan gum, sprinkle it in while the blender is running and blend for an additional minute.

Step 8: Bottle and label!

📷 How to Make Hot Sauce (Quick-Cook Version)

Step 1: Combine the peppers, garlic, water, salt, vinegar, and honey or maple syrup in a medium pan. Bring to a boil and simmer until the peppers and garlic have softened.

Step 2: Pour mixture into a blender and blend until very smooth. While the blender is running, sprinkle in the xanthan gum and blend for an additional minute.

❄️ Storage and Preservation Directions

• Fermented version: thanks to the beneficial bacteria, it will last 3+ months in the fridge easily.
• Quick cook version: lasts in the fridge for 2-3 weeks
• Freezing: Hot sauce freezes great for even longer preservation!
• Canning: If you choose to can hot sauce to extend the shelf life, use a hot sauce recipe that has been tested and proven safe for canning instead of my recipe here.
• Labeling: Make sure to label your hot sauce well so you know exactly what it is, what spice level it is, and when it was made. I have free labels you can download by filling out the form below.

🌮 Ways to Use Hot Sauce

Once you start making your own hot sauce, you'll find yourself reaching for it all the time. It's such an easy way to add a little heat and flavor to everyday meals. I have my hot sauce almost every morning on top of scrambled eggs with avocado.

• Drizzled over scrambled eggs or stirred into breakfast egg cups
• Spooned onto a plate of simple chicken quesadillas
• Added to a bowl of taco chili for extra kick
• Poured over a steak fajita bowl
• Mixed into easy slow cooker buffalo chicken dip
• Brushed onto oven baked chicken wings

🙋🏻‍♀️ Homemade Hot Sauce FAQs

🌯 Recipes That Will Go Great with Your Hot Sauce

If you tried this Homemade Hot Sauce or any other recipe on my blog, please leave a 🌟 star rating and let me know how it went in the comments!