Imagine you're eating an incredibly bland dinner. What will you do to save your meal? You'll reach for your hot sauce of course! Whether you are having an absolutely boring meal or you just want to add a little more spice, hot sauce gets the job done at making anything better. But sometimes even your bottle of market bought hot sauce falls short. What to do then?
If you want to enjoy the best hot sauce then your best bet is to make it on your own. Trust us, it is not as difficult as it sounds! If you know the right ingredients and know what you want from your hot sauce, then you can even craft your own personal hot sauce variety!
I love Buffalo everything. Its spicy and adds the perfect spiciness to my dishes. Try my favorite Buffalo recipes.
- Grilled Buffalo Chicken Wraps
- Grilled Buffalo Chicken Skewers
- Buffalo Chicken Pizza
- Buffalo Chicken Taquitos (Air Fryer & Baked)
- Low Carb Buffalo Cauliflower Mac and Cheese
- Keto Buffalo Chicken Casserole
- Baked Buffalo Wings
- Buffalo Chickpea Quesadillas with Mexican Cheese Sauce
- Buffalo Cauliflower Burrito
- Buffalo Cauliflower Tacos in Air Fryer
- Buffalo Chicken Enchilada Bites - Easy Chicken Appetizer
- Ranch Cheddar Buffalo Chicken Pinwheels - Ranch Tortilla Roll Ups
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🙋♀️ What is the most important ingredient for Hot sauce?
Without a single doubt, the must have ingredient that your hot sauce must have is Chilli peppers. Not only does it give your hot sauce it's distinctive bright colour but it also makes it actually hot.
Whether you have hot sauce made in the United States or a hot sauce from a Asian country, it will have chilli peppers in them. Most common chilli peppers that are used for making hot sauce include the extremely spicy Habanero Peppers. But if you want something on the sweeter side then you also have options in mild chilli pepper varieties like Banana Peppers.
🥘 What can I add in Hot Sauce?
Many people think that Hot Sauce is just made out of Chilli peppers. Nothing can be further from the truth. There are all kinds of crazy hot sauce varieties out there and some of them even include ingredients like fruit in it! In the end it really depends on what kind of hot sauce you want.
Do you want a hot sauce that is:
(1) flaming spicy;
(2) mildly spicy but flavourful;
(3) sweet and spicy;
(4) a bit of everything?
No matter what kind of hot sauce you want, we'll list out the ingredients that you can consider to include in your homemade hot sauce recipe.
For making this quick and easy ten minutes hot sauce you only need three ingredients.
1. Fresh Chilli peppers that are moderately spicy.
2. Vinegar
3. Salt
1. Chilli Peppers
You cannot skip this ingredient! Every hot sauce in the world has some variety of chilli peppers in it. And there are so many to choose from! From very hot, to mildly hot to sweet, it depends on your preferences to choose what chilli peppers you want to go in your hot sauce.
2. Vinegar / fruit juices
Spiciness and sourness go along together like peas and carrots. It is a tried and tested combination and a must have in your hot sauce. You also have plenty of options to choose from. While you can always use the good old simple vinegar, why not try something experimental and use apple cider, malt vinegar or even red wine vinegar? Fruit juices like lemon and orange juice also make for good addition if you want to add a bit of sweet element to the sour and spicy mix.
3. Fruit and vegetables
Sounds weird, right? Adding fruits and vegetables in your hot sauce! But isn't tomato a common ingredient in most hot sauces? And tomato happens to be a fruit just so you know! But besides your regular tomato you can also use pineapples if you are into hot sauce that is on the sweeter side. As for vegetables, root vegetables like garlic and onion always make a great addition to any hot sauce, especially the Asian ones like schezwan hot sauce.
4. Your selected seasonings
There are so many different seasonings out there that it is hard for us to list them all.
But the most basic ones you should definitely add in your hot sauce includes:
- ground black pepper
- onion powder
- garlic powder
- dried herbs
- Red pepper flakes
- Salt
Don't underestimate the power of salt in your hot sauce! Not only does it adds to the flavour and is a permanent seasoning, but it also acts as a natural preservative agent for your hot sauce.
If you use your salt wisely you won't even need to add any artificial preservatives in your homemade hot sauce!
👩🍳 How to make Homemade Hot Sauce?
There is no one true recipe for a perfect hot sauce because it is just so subjective to everyone.
So we really suggest you to experiment with the ingredients and make your own blend. But to get your started we will give you the recipe for the most basic and easy Hot Sauce!
Once you have all the ingredients assembled, you can start on your Hot Sauce. Use the measurements that you are comfortable with!
1. Give your chilli peppers a good wash under tap water. Then pat them dry and cut off their stems. You don't need them. You can also slit your chilli peppers lengthwise and remove their seeds if you want to reduce the spice level.
2. Take your washed and slit chilli peppers along with the vinegar and salt and combine them in a blender or a food processor. Don't add any water, instead just add a bit more vinegar if you think it's becoming too thick. You can either go for a smooth consistency or a more chunky consistency with bits of chilli peppers still visible.
3. Now this mixture is still raw and not adept for use. You will need to cook it until the flavours are all out. To do that pour this mixture in a saucepan and let it gently simmer for around fifteen minutes over low heat. Make sure to give it a stir in between as you don't want it sticking on the bottom of the pan. Bring it to a quick boil again before you switch off the heat.
4. It's time to bottle it and store. You can store this hot sauce as is with the pulp in an air-tight container or strain it through a strainer or fine mesh sieve to get the pulp and seeds out and then store it. It really depends on what you want. Either way, your hot sauce is ready now!
🧊 How to store Hot sauce?
Hot sauce is best stored in a air-tight glass bottle. Don't keep it in warm temperature as then there's a risk of it fermenting and going completely sour.
So instead store it in a cool place like the sauce shelf of your refrigerator. To summarize it, keeping your hot sauce airtight and cool is the way to go.
⏱ How to preserve Homemade hot sauce?
The average shelf life of homemade hot sauce is 2-4 months.
Considering that it doesn't have any artificial preservatives, it will not last as long as the store bought ones. But there are other natural ways you can preserve your hot sauce for longer.
Namely by lowering the pH levels of your hot sauce. You can do this by following methods.
- Just add more vinegar to lower the pH level. Since vinegar is an acid, you can make your hot sauce more acidic in its composition, hence making it last longer.
- You can ferment your chilli peppers beforehand and then make your hot sauce with them. This hot sauce with fermented chilli peppers will last for quite a long time as long as you store it properly.
- If you want to check the pH level of your hot sauce just use a pH strip. Ideally you should aim for a pH level that is between 3.5-4.0 to be able to keep your hot sauce at the optimum acidic level.
Hot sauce is the life on any dinner table so why not wow everyone with your own homemade hot sauce? We hope that with this guide you have become interested in exploring what you can do in the hot sauce world! Maybe you can even come up with a recipe that will sell a million of bottles!
Other Sauce Recipes to try:
- Best Enchilada Sauce Recipe
- Pineapple Chili Sauce
- Harissa Paste Recipe
- Keto Ketchup (without refined sugar)
Homemade Hot Sauce
Ingredients
- 1 lbs Chili Peppers chopped (red Jalapenos, Cayenne or Tabasco Peppers)
- 1 cup White Vinegar
- ½ teaspoon Salt use about 2-3 teaspoon of salt for fermented version
- 1 litre Water unchlorinated (for the fermented version)
Instructions
- Chop the Chilis and combine them with salt and Vinegar in a saucepan. Cook over medium high heat and allow it to come to a quick boil.
- Now, simmer over low heat for about 8-10 minutes to soften up the chilis.
- Allow it to cool down to room temperature. Now, transfer this to the food processor. Blend until smooth. If its too dry add just 1 tablespoon of water at a time and blend until smooth.
- Use a strainer to sieve out the pulp and remaining solids. Transfer the sauce to clean and dry bottles and refrigerate until use.
Notes
FOR THE FERMENTED VERSION
- Chop the Chili Peppers and closely pack them in an air-tight jar. Leave atleast 1-2 inches of head space above them
- Mix Unchlorinated Water with salt to make Brine solution and pur this over the Chili Peppers
- Cover with the lid tightly and allow it to ferment for 1-2 weeks in a cool and dry place away from direct sunlight. (At about 55-75F for ideal fermenting)
- After 2 weeks check the Chili Peppers. When they are done fermenting, you'll see that the brone will turn cloudy.
- Unscrew the bottle and transfer all of it (including the brine) to a saucepan or pot and simmer for 10-15 minutes over low heat. (You can sieve out the brine and just use the Fermented Chili Peppers alternatively).
- Cool it down to room temperature and blend in a food processor until smooth
- Sieve the pulp and solids using a strainer, and store the sauce.
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