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
William Brecheen says
Sorry for my ignorance, but am going to make this tomorrow with Scorpions and Naga Morich. When you say 8 oz. of peppers, do you mean 1/2 lb. or do you mean a cup? It would obviously make a difference. Lol
Michael Hultquist - Chili Pepper Madness says
1/2 a pound by weight, William. Good luck!
William Brecheen says
Thank you
William Brecheen says
Never mind. I read the other comments and got my answer
Matt says
We made this hot sauce and it came out great. But it's a bit more vinegary flavored than we'd prefer and not as hot as we'd like. We have more chili peppers in hand. What do you recommend to lessen the vinegar taste and increase the heat with the batch we made? We'd like to take the batch we have and modify it. Can we do that. We only made it a few days ago and it's been sealed in the fridge since. Please help us. Thank you
Michael Hultquist - Chili Pepper Madness says
Matt, you can make another batch without all the vinegar, then combine the two batches to balance out your preferred flavor. That's the best way, really. Or just reprocess your current batch with more roasted peppers, perhaps a touch of water if it gets too thick. Let me know how that turns out for you.
James Bell says
I just tried this recipe last night, and I tasted it tonight. I am very impressed. Are used a combination of consisted of mostly Carolina reapers, one cow horn, and one jalapeño. Karam are used a 23-year-old dark rum. The one thing I might mention about the recipe, is how bad it sticks to the pan during roasting. When I make it again, I will try to use some parchment paper or a silicone baking sheet. Overall I really like the sauce. When trying it tonight, I did not know what to expect for sure. But the sweetness of the honey, rum and brown sugar played well with the hot peppers. Very nice heat buildup on the back that lasted for just a little bit. I am looking forward to using this later. Thanks for the great site, with all the great recipes.
One question though, what are your thoughts about leaving the seeds in the sauce? I did not strain it yet, but at the same time I am concerned about them causing a better affect as it sits.
Michael Hultquist - Chili Pepper Madness says
Excellent, James. Thanks. For the seeds, I usually just leave them in, but you can either core the peppers first or strain afterward. Some people report a bitterness with the seeds, but that's mostly if they are ground or cut open. Most times I really don't notice an effect. I'll usually remove the seeds when cooking with dried pods.
Philip says
I presently have some serranos fermenting. Do you see an issue roasting them after fermenting?
Michael Hultquist - Chili Pepper Madness says
Philip, I don't see any issue with that. They will probably be pretty soft, though. Are you fermenting them whole? I suppose you can do that, perhaps broiler method.
Mark says
Just made this sauce with a scorpion tail peppers. Super hot but tasty. But the sauce is a little thin. Any suggestions for thickening?
Michael Hultquist - Chili Pepper Madness says
Mark, you have a few options. You can process in more peppers to thicken it up, or you can add the sauce to a small pot and let some of the liquid simmer out of it until it thickens. Or, mix in a bit of corn starch in a pan as a thickener. As you heat it, the sauce will thicken up. Just use a little at a time. Let me know if this helps.
Robert says
Mike,
I was just going to ask the same question about thickening up the sauce. I have made this a few times with different chili's and I find the thinner walled chilis resulted in a thinner sauce. I saw that you use carrot in another habanero sauce and it got me thinking... If I cooked the carrot in a vinegar/water brine (1:1) until the carrot was soft, would adding some of the cooked, pickled carrot into the thin sauce make it thicker? Or does the thickening with the carrot only happen when you cook with them?
Thank you for your time and all of your great recipes!
Mike H. says
Thank you, Robert. Adding cooked, pickled carrots to your sauce can help thicken it slightly, as the softened carrots will blend more easily and add some body. However, for a more substantial thickening effect, it’s usually best to cook the carrots directly with the sauce so they break down fully and integrate into the texture as it simmers.
Robert says
Thank you for your response Mike. I think I found part of my problem. I made a batch last night in the oven (prior attempts have been on my pellet smoker) and I let the peppers roast for closer to 25 minutes resulting in a softer pepper; these blended way better and the sauce did not separate after sitting overnight. I think the peppers I roasted on the Recteq were still a little too raw so I ended up with more of a minced pepper and garlic mixed with vinegar than a smooth finished product. For the time being, I think I will keep that carrot for your other Habanero Hot Sauce recipe. 🙂
Emanuele says
Made this today, and it's amazing. Didn't use rum though. I found it too runny after blending with the vinegar, so boiled it down a bit to thicken it up, then quickly gave it another whizz in the blender. Came out perfect!
Michael Hultquist - Chili Pepper Madness says
Perfect, Emanuele! Glad you liked it!
Carolyn says
When the recipe says to spread mixture over baking sheet, reserving any remaining moisture from the bowl. What do you do with the liquid that is left over - do you discard it or add it back in when you process the mixture in the food processor?
REPLY: Carolyn, good catch. You can add that to the food processor as well. I've updated the recipe. -- Mike from Chili Pepper Madness.
Tom says
Hi,
I've just made this tonight (tried some using California Reapers, it's like pure fire!), when you say let it sit is that on the side or in the fridge?
Does it make a difference either way?
Many thanks for the recipe!
REPLY: Thanks, Tom. You can let it sit in the fridge for a day or so. Glad you like it! -- Mike from Chili Pepper Madness.
pieter says
do you have to use rum or is there a substitute
REPLY: Pieter, you can omit the rum if you'd like. -- Mike from Chili Pepper Madness.
Deb says
In the first responsor you say 20-30 ghost peppers? Really that many?
Thanks,
Deb
REPLY: Deb, yes, you can make this sauce with that many peppers, but if that is too many, try it with 10, or a mixture of peppers. See how that goes for you. Just measure out 8 ounces of peppers on a kitchen scale. -- Mike from Chili Pepper Madness.
Linda Crowley says
I'll be using ghost peppers-how many do you recommend?
REPLY: Linda, you could use 20-30 ghost peppers for this, or you can mix it up and use a blend of peppers. --Mike from Chili Pepper Madness.
Karen says
Would you call 8oz of peppers a 1 cup measure? Also, what are your thoughtson using whole frozen peppers if I defrost them? Thank you.
REPLY: Karen, typically 8 ounces is 1 cup, but I would go by weight rather than volume in this case, though it's pretty close either way. Yes, you can use thawed frozen peppers. No problem. Let me know how it turns out for you. -- Mike from Chili Pepper Madness.
Dave says
In your instructions on the apple cider vinegar was is 15 or 1 point 5 cups.
REPLY: Dave, it is 1-1/2 cups. -- Mike from Chili Pepper Madness.