A hot sauce recipe made with your favorite hot peppers, garlic, honey and dark rum. Just a touch of sweet with your ideal level of heat. Drizzle it over everything.
Honey Roasted Hot Pepper Hot Sauce
Got another hot sauce coming your way, my friends. We're not fermenting the peppers this time - see "How to Ferment Chili Peppers" if you're interested in that subject - but instead working with fresh chili peppers that we'll be roasting.
Roasting your peppers is a good way to coax out additional flavors for your resulting hot sauce. It's a super simple sauce recipe with very few steps, though you'll be crazy happy with the end flavors.
I'm calling this a more generic "Hot Pepper Sauce" recipe as you can see because you can make this with any pepper of your choice, realistically.
I grew so many peppers in our garden this year and this is me basically using some of them up.
Notes on the Hot Sauce
I used a collection of Squash Red peppers, Jamaican Hots, and Brain Strain peppers, which are incredibly HOT, classified as superhot chili peppers.
I was going for something VERY hot that I can spoon into chili, which I LOVE making this time of year, or for swirling into soups and stews to bring up the heat of the entire pot.
Chili Pepper Substitutions
You are free to use whatever chili peppers you prefer to achieve a heat level you desire. You don't have to be a crazy man like me, eating the superhots. I'll have to make a milder version for Patty using a couple habanero peppers and rounding it out with sweeter peppers.
She loves a good hot sauce, too, but isn't a fan of the superhots. Too hot for her! I have some sweet peppers fermenting right now for her.
Here is that Recipe - Sweet Pepper Chili Sauce.
The process is easy enough to make the hot sauce.
Honey Roasted Hot Pepper Hot Sauce Ingredients
The full ingredients with measurements is listed in the printable recipe card at the bottom of the post.
- Hot Chili Peppers. You can use any of your favorite hot peppers for this recipe. Use a mix to your own heat and flavor preferences. I love making this with superhots.
- Garlic.
- Basil.
- Brown Sugar.
- Honey.
- Apple Cider Vinegar.
- Dark Rum. If you'd like to omit this, use more apple cider vinegar or apple juice.
- Salt.
- Lime Juice.
Making this Honey Roasted Hot Pepper Hot Sauce - The Recipe Method
In a nutshell, you'll chop your peppers and mix all of the ingredients, except the vinegar, together in a bowl. Spread it all out over a baking sheet and roast them in the oven for about 12 minutes to cook everything down a bit.
Cool it all slightly then process it all up in a food processor with apple cider vinegar.
You can strain the sauce at this point if you'd like a smoother sauce, but it's already pretty smooth. I didn't strain mine. You can still see some of the seeds in there. I sort of like that sometimes. Makes it feel more rustic, though go for your preference.
You'll definitely get your preferred heat along with a sweet finish from the honey and brown sugar, though it isn't TOO sweet. You'll also notice the pungency of the garlic, basil and dark rum for complexity.
Give a try, my friends! Let me know it turns out for you. I hope you like it!
Adjusting the Heat Factor
You will get a good range of heat depending on your peppers of choice, but note that the honey and brown sugar mellow out that heat slightly. If you're looking for hot sauce with a BANG, go with ghost peppers or hotter.
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? Storage Information
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 4.0 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.
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. I hope you find it helpful!
Check out These Related Recipes
- Sweet Habanero Chili Sauce
- Pineapple-Jalapeno Hot Sauce
- Ti-Malice - Haitian Creole Hot Sauce
- Caribbean Style Mango-Habanero Hot Sauce
- Pineapple-Mango Ghost Pepper Hot Sauce
- Homemade Caribbean-Style Sweet Chili Sauce
- Sweet Pepper Chili Sauce
- Hawaiian Chili Pepper Water
Check out more Hot Sauce Recipes or learn more about How to Make Hot Sauce.
If you try this recipe, please let us know! Leave a comment, rate it and tag a photo #ChiliPepperMadness on Instagram so we can take a look. I always love to see all of your spicy inspirations. Thanks! -- Mike H.
Honey Roasted Hot Pepper Hot Sauce Recipe
Ingredients
- 8 ounces hot peppers chopped
- 5 cloves garlic chopped
- 2 tablespoons fresh chopped basil
- 2 tablespoons brown sugar
- ¼ cup honey
- 3 tablespoons dark rum
- 1-1/2 cups apple cider vinegar 12 oz
- Salt to taste
- Juice from 1 lime
Instructions
- To a large bowl, add hot peppers, garlic, basil, brown sugar, honey and rum. Mix well.
- Spread the mixture over a baking sheet, reserving any remaining liquid from the bowl.
- Roast in the oven for 12 minutes at 350 degrees F.
- Cool slightly then add the mixture to a food processor with the reserved liquid, apple cider vinegar and salt to taste. Process until smooth.
- Swirl in lime juice and pour the sauce into a glass container or bottle. Cover and let it sit for at least 24 hours or longer for the flavors to blend.
Notes
Nutrition Information
Chris says
I just made a batch of this sauce using a mix of super hits I just picked from my garden as the first frost is going to hit any day now.
I followed the recipe to a “T” but it ended up really watery and bland. Plan on added some dry peppers I dehydrated earlier in the summer to try and thicken it up.
I stirred it with a spoon and made the mistake of licking it. I’ve been stuffing crackers in my mouth for the last half and hour to try to get feeling back in my face. The heat is still burning and I’m running out of crackers .
Mike Hultquist says
Chris, this is typically a thinner sauce, but you can thicken with more chilies as mentioned. Cheers.
Robert Senk says
I absolutely love this sauce; I have tried it with several different peppers and each variation brings a completely different flavor to it (even though it has the same base). Everyone that tastes this, loves it too. I do have a question though; since a lot of these peppers are seasonal, would you be able to make this sauce (and the same flavor profile) with fermented pepper mash? I wondered if I could take the mash and the rest of the ingredients (minus the lime juice) and simmer them to get everything to blend and soften up the peppers. Do you have any thoughts on this?
Mike Hultquist says
Robert, you can definitely do this. I do the same thing when my harvest explodes. I make quick mashes that I can incorporate into other things later. Enjoy!!
Victoria says
Two questions:
Any refrigeration necessary?
Also if I omit the lime (just because I don't love citrus). Will the acid in the ACV be enough to keep it?
Mike H. says
Victoria, it will keep a few months in the fridge - it's all about the acidity. So you just need to target level ph for shelf stable foods (below 4.6 ph), probably even lower to account for errors - around 4.0 or so. Add more vinegar to lower the ph. For longer storage consider canning.
Birdsong says
I just made this last night with some red jalapeños from our garden and it is crazy good! Thought about making another batch and switching out the honey with maple syrup. Great recipe. Thanks for sharing.
Mike Hultquist says
Great!! Glad you enjoyed it! I need to make another batch of this as well.
Robert says
Hey Mike,
Thank you for the recipe (along with the many other ones on your site)! I made this last night with a mix of almost everything I have in my garden right now. I doubled the recipe using red and green Serrano's, sweet banana peppers, cayenne, jalapeño, and 1 hatch chili. I used a spiced rum, and I roasted it on my smoker at 350 degrees for 25 minutes. The end result was amazing! This is a great base point to start playing around with different heat levels using different peppers. Do you think there would be any benefit or flavor boost if I were to use an unseasoned rice wine vinegar instead of the ACV? I was just wondering if you had any experience with that.
Thanks again for sharing!
Mike H. says
Hi, Robert, you are very welcome! Using the unseasoned rice wine vinegar will result in quite a unique flavor profile, because it has a milder and less tangy flavor compared to ACV. So if you want to experiment - go for it. Please come back to let me know how it goes.
Et says
This is my very first time making hot sauce (I only started eating/using it a few years ago). The recipe was super simple. So far so good! Love the sweetness, going to wait a day for flavours to meld then try on some eggs maybe.
Thank you so much for your blog!
Mike H. says
You are very welcome! I am really happy that you are enjoying it! =)
Terry says
Hey Mike I cant wait to make this but I have a question about the amount of peppers. I want to use hot paper lanterns because that's what's in my garden but 8 ounces seems like so much! I feel like I'm doing something wrong, I have like 26 peppers and I'm not even close to 8 ounces. What am I missing?
Mike Hultquist says
Terry, how many ounces do you have? You're measuring by weight, correct? 26 peppers should add up in weight. You can add in other peppers if you need to. You can really just make this sauce, but use a lot less vinegar so it doesn't get too loose. Then, add in vinegar until you achieve the consistency you prefer. Let me know how it goes.
Terry says
Ok, yeah I’m measuring by weight it just felt like too many peppers. Thank you!
Mike Hultquist says
Be careful with the roasting with smaller peppers. They're much easier to burn. =)
Jorge Jedwabnik says
Hey Mike, nice web site. Couple of questions. I'm a recovering alcoholic but love to cook and use hot sauces more than I use just plain spices.
Is the rum or any other type of alcohol necessary and what can I use as substitute? Secondly, If I want to make smaller batches, are the ingredients proportionally reduced or will it throw the balance of flavors off?
Thanks
Mike Hultquist says
Jorge, you can use apple juice for this. Not really the same, but it will still be good. Proportional, yes, though you may want to go easy on the apple cider vinegar. Use a bit less than you calculate, then add more as needed to achieve you preferred thickness/consistency.
Tim Young says
Hi.
I brew mead, and I'm interested in making a hot sauce that includes some. Perhaps something like this but the mead replacing the honey and rum. Do you have any thoughts on this? Many thanks.
Mike Hultquist says
Tim, I've never used mead to make hot sauce, but have used both honey and alcohol, and I'm sure you can use it. Use it in place of some of the liquids, blend, and simmer, then taste and adjust. I think it would be pretty awesome.
Chris Oram says
Hi Mike,
Interested in making this hot sauce but fresh habaneros are hard to come by where I live. I am however able to get as many dried ones as I want. Would this recipe still be ok if I didn’t roast the ingredients in the oven and just processed them instead and maybe simmered it lightly in a pot? Otherwise I may just use some other fresh chili’s I can get and throw some dried habaneros in for some heat.
Michael Hultquist - Chili Pepper Madness says
Hi, Chris. Absolutely. Just as you described. I have a post on this. You can make some great hot sauces from dried pods. Let me know how it turns out for you: https://www.chilipeppermadness.com/recipes/how-to-make-hot-sauce-from-dried-peppers/
Mike says
I added your ingredients to a blend of Carolina Reapers and Habaneros I was fermenting added onion and a bit more honey. You can actually taste the flavors of the peppers with the heat kicking in afterwards. A perfect way to tone down your super hots. THANK You!
Mike Hultquist says
Glad you enjoyed it, Mike! Nice.