A spicy habanero hot sauce recipe made with fiery roasted habanero peppers and plenty of garlic, ideal for spicing up your favorite foods.
Time for hot sauce, my friends! As as spicy food lover, I already know you love a good hot sauce. There are so many wonderful artisan brands out on the market, and I love so many of them, but I also LOVE making my own hot sauce at home.
Today we're making a wonderful Garlicky Habanero Hot Sauce with lots of fiery habanero peppers and loads of fresh garlic. I think you're going to love this one. It is huge on flavor with just the right combination of fruity heat and wonderful garlic.
Habanero peppers are no slouch when it comes to heat. These babies pack around 300,000 Scoville Heat Units on the Scoville Scale, and that is still plenty hot enough for some, even too hot for many, though it is somewhat tamped down in this recipe.
You will certainly get the heat and fruity habanero flavor, but the garlic is quite pronounced and somewhat vinegary with nice citrus tones. I was very happy with both versions. This is more of an everyday sauce, something you can splash on just about anything that needs a bit of moisture and would benefit from some garlic flavors, as well as heat.
For me, everything needs a little bit of heat and zestiness.
I would encourage my superhot loving readers to try this with New Mexico scorpion peppers. 7-Pot chili peppers would be nice as well, with their gentler blooming heat that builds to a powerful crescendo, though habaneros are still plenty good here, and they're much easier to find.
Let's talk about how we make it, shall we?
Garlic Habanero Hot Sauce Ingredients
- Habanero Peppers. 6-8, stemmed and halved - I used orange habaneros, though you can use red habanero peppers, or any variety of your preference. Try it with Scotch Bonnets, too.
- Olive Oil. 2 tablespoons.
- Water. 1 cup. For thinning the sauce to your preferred consistency.
- White Vinegar. 4 cups.
- Garlic Cloves. 20, peeled and coarsely chopped - yes, 20 garlic cloves! I love this nice and garlicky.
- Onion. 1, chopped.
- Sugar. 1 tablespoon or to taste.
- Worcestershire Sauce. 3 teaspoons.
- Lime Juice. ½ cup. Use 1/4 cup for less lime flavor.
- Ground Cumin. 1 teaspoon.
- Salt. 1 teaspoon.
How to Make Garlic Habanero Hot Sauce - the Recipe Method
Roast the Habanero Peppers. Preheat oven to 425°. Set peppers on a baking sheet and sprinkle with 2 tablespoons olive oil. Roast in the oven 15-20 minutes or until soft and skins begin to blister.
Cook Down the Ingredients. Heat a large pot to medium heat and add remaining ingredients. Bring to a boil then reduce heat to low and simmer about 20 minutes, or until onion and garlic soften. Add roasted peppers and simmer about 5 minutes.
Process. Transfer mixture to a food processor and puree until smooth. Alternatively, use an immersion blender and puree directly in the pot. Simmer another 5-10 minutes.
Serve it Up! Serve, or strain into sterilized bottles until ready to use.
Boom! Done! It's time for hot sauce, my friends! Drizzle it over your next plate of tacos, over sandwiches and burgers, spice up grilled meats, pretty much anything you're eating. I love this hot sauce. Such a great recipe.
Recipe Tips & Notes
Heat Factor. You'll definitely get a good level of heat from the habanero peppers. If you're looking for a milder version, use only 1-2 habanero peppers along with 1-2 bell peppers. You'll still get some wonderful flavor and heat. For an even hotter version, go with superhots, like the ghost pepper, Trinidad scorpion peppers, or the Carolina Reaper.
Frequently Asked Hot Sauce Questions
Here are answers to some of the most common questions I get on other sauces:
How long will this sauce keep?
It should keep a few months easily in the fridge, or even longer. It's all about the acidity. To be technical, target level ph for shelf stable foods is below 4.6 ph, but should probably be lower for home cooks, around 3.5 or so, to account for errors. If you're concerned, add more vinegar to lower the ph. Sauces made with fermented chili peppers will last even longer.
The best ph meters that I recommend are from Thermoworks. Get yourself a ph meter from Thermoworks today. I am a happy affiliate.
Where'd you get that sauce bottle?
I find them locally sometimes, but I also order through Amazon. Here is a link to some bottles I like (affiliate link, my friends!): Swing Top Glass Bottles, 8.5 Ounce - Set of 4. If you like the smaller bottles that most hot sauce makers use, here's another link: Hot Sauce Bottles, 5 Oz - 24 Pack.
Can I process this hot sauce for longer storage?
Absolutely. Just be sure to use proper canning/jarring safety procedures.
What should I do with hot sauce?
Aside from drizzling it over anything you please, here's a post I did about How to Cook with Hot Sauce. As if you need even MORE reasons to eat hot sauce. LOL. I hope you find it helpful!
Check out more Hot Sauce Recipes or learn more about How to Make Hot Sauce.
Try These Other Popular Habanero Hot Sauce Recipes
- Mango-Habanero Hot Sauce
- Caribbean Style Mango-Habanero Hot Sauce
- Pineapple-Habanero Hot Sauce
- Cilantro-Habanero Hot Sauce
If you enjoy this recipe, I hope you'll leave a comment with some STARS. Also, please share it on social media. Don't forget to tag us at #ChiliPepperMadness. I'll be sure to share! Thanks! -- Mike H.
Garlic-Habanero Hot Sauce Recipe
Ingredients
- 6-8 habanero peppers stemmed and halved
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 cup water
- 4 cups white vinegar
- 20 garlic cloves peeled and coarsely chopped
- 1 onion chopped
- 1 tablespoon sugar or to taste
- 3 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce
- ½ cup lime juice
- 1 teaspoon ground cumin
- 1 teaspoon salt
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 425°.
- Set peppers on a baking sheet and sprinkle with 2 tablespoons olive oil.
- Roast in the oven 15-20 minutes or until soft and skins begin to blister.
- Heat a large pot to medium heat and add remaining ingredients. Bring to a boil then reduce heat to low and simmer about 20 minutes, or until onion and garlic soften.
- Add roasted peppers and simmer about 5 minutes.
- Transfer mixture to a food processor and puree until smooth. Alternatively, use an immersion blender and puree directly in the pot.
- Simmer another 5-10 minutes.
- Serve, or strain into sterilized bottles until ready to use.
Notes
Nutrition Information
andrea howard says
would this be good with honey in place of sugar?
Mike Hultquist says
Absolutely! GREAT substitute. Enjoy, Andrea!
BRENDA says
I'm going to try this. I was wondering if you could pressure can this up to keep longer?
Mike Hultquist says
You can pressure can this, Brenda, absolutely. Enjoy!
Zach says
How long do you recommend to pressure can this recipe?
Mike Hultquist says
Zach, pressure canning isn't something I focus on, though I do have some information here: https://www.chilipeppermadness.com/preserving-chili-peppers/canning-or-jarring-chili-peppers/
Lindsay says
Hi Mike,
I made this sauce today and it has a really vinegary taste that overpowers the habaneros and the garlic. Is there any way to save this batch?
Mike Hultquist says
Lindsay, vinegar is there for both flavor and preservation. If there is too much vinegar, you can make another batch without vinegar and combine them, really just process your batch with more chilies and garlic. Dilution, basically.
Kyla says
Hi Mike,
I finally got around to making your Garlic Habanero Hot Sauce. I ended up tripling the recipe thinking making your recipe, as is, would not give me the output I was looking for ... boy was I wrong, lol. I ended up with 18 - 8 oz. jars that I ended up canning. My daughter gave a couple of jars to her boyfriend and a Mexican friend of hers happened to be there when they were taste testing it and she said they were obsessed with the sauce and could not stop eating it. Her Mexican friend, who is exposed to lots of hot sauces, said it was probably the BEST hot sauce he has ever had! Thought you should know you have quite the knack for creating the awesome sauces! Off to make more of your yummy sauces of yours!
Mike H. says
Hi, Kyla. I am super happy to read your feedback. Thank you very much and enjoy it!
Chris says
I just made some. Yummy but very very very spicy! Can I freeze the sauce? Just defrost when I need to use?
Mike Hultquist says
Chris, yes, this hot sauce freezes very nicely. Try freezing it in ice cube trays for smaller portions.
Paul:-) says
Hi to the both of you,
Love your Mango and Habanero sauce but that was made with 10 deribbed Habaneros. I’ll use the same amount for this but only derib half of them. I will get hotter!
Garlic, absolutely adore it so may well double!
I like some sauces chunky and that is the case with the Mango Habanero sauce. It’s not a splash or a drizzle, more of a large blob! Ketchup and English (hot) Mustard with Frankfurters and Gherkins is heaven
Mike Hultquist says
Yeah, this is a very loose sauce, definitely room for more peppers. And more GARLIC! Enjoy.
Kyla says
Hi Mike,
I've been watching a number of your sauce videos and trying which ones I'm going to attempt. I've got my list and it's growing! You make it hard to choose, lol! The only questions I have is I have not heard you mention how to store these and how long they last? Do they have to be refrigerated or can they be stored in your cabinets/pantry? Then what is the approximate shelf life Thanks.
Mike Hultquist says
Thanks, Kyla! I have a post here that you can refer to - Does Hot Sauce Need to Be Refrigerated? https://www.chilipeppermadness.com/frequently-asked-questions/refrigerating-hot-sauce/
Ben says
Can I sub lemon juice for the lime juice?
Mike Hultquist says
You can do that, Ben. Note the flavor and how you like it. Some people prefer lemon to lime. I hope you enjoy it.
Matt says
I'd like a garlic habanero hot sauce that is thicker with a more pronounced garlic taste. I made this recipe with half the vinegar (2 cups), half the lime (1/4 cup), and added a carrot (left all the other ingredients as is).
It was still too thin so I reduced it down to the desired thickness, but I didn't get the desired garlic taste. I'll try again again with more garlic (and maybe alter water/vinegar amounts) but thought I'd put it out there for suggestions.
Thanks
Mike Hultquist says
Matt, I suggest using my Habanero Hot Sauce Recipe as a base (https://www.chilipeppermadness.com/recipes/habanero-hot-sauce/) but with the following alterations:
1. Replace the habaneros with any chilies of your choice.
2. Instead of 1 ounce garlic, use 2-3 ounces, really to your preference. You can use equal amounts garlic and chilies, really, for a BIG garlic flavor.
Let me know how it turns out for you.
Paul says
This sauce is great! Habaneros aren't readily available where I live, so I used some firecracker chilis I had to hand, plus I added a bit more salt. The red onion I used resulted in a pink colour to the final product. I put some of the sauce on a pasta dish and it makes a very tasty difference.
Mike H. says
Absolutely delicious, Paul. Enjoy!
Kari says
I made this and OMG it turned out soooo goood! I have a habanero plant and plan to make more when I have more peppers. Wow!
Mike Hultquist says
Excellent! Thanks so much, Kari! Glad you love it!
Luke "Measurements" S. says
Why do you say 3 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce? 3 teaspoons is a tablespoon, you use the measurement of a tablespoon elsewhere.
Mike Hultquist says
Because I felt like it, Luke. LOL. You can use 1 tablespoon if you wish.
Michele Pierce says
oh my goodness. if your looking for the BEST hot sauce anywhere you have definitely found it. My husband and I both love the heat and flavor of this hot sauce. I am also going to try the same recipe but with ghost peppers this summer too.
Mike Hultquist says
Awesome! Thanks, Michele! Glad you liked it. It's perfect for ghost peppers, too. Enjoy!
PEDRO CELIDONIO FONSECA says
Mark, is it really 4 cups (1l) vinagre? Just made with 2 cups and it still looks watery.
Mike Hultquist says
This is meant to be very thin, but yes, you can dial back the vinegar amount to taste.