Make your own hot sauce at home with this quick and easy recipe that incorporates spicy habanero peppers, sweet pineapple and cilantro. Perfect for dashing over meals or spicing up your favorite cocktails. We like it for our Bloody Marys.
Pineapple-Habanero Hot Sauce Recipe
This hot sauce exists for 2 very specific reasons. FIRST, the habanero peppers are POPPING in the garden.
YES!
We seriously LOVE when the garden starts producing. So many fresh peppers! We can walk right outside and grab a few off the plants and get busy! Talk about living.
To quote my father-in-law, "Is this living or what?"
SECOND...Bloody Mary. If you are like us, you enjoy a bit of spice and kick to your Bloody Mary drinks, and this, my friends, is the solution. Pineapple-Habanero Hot Sauce.
To be honest, it's great on just about anything that can take the level of heat with the touch of sweet. It's on the vinegary side, which works for me for many things.
Think Tabasco sauce. It's about that consistency level, thin and "dashy". Dash it over chicken tacos or a fish fillet, over pork shoulder or sliced pork loin or pretty much any pork. Dash it onto your veggies.
Or hey, into your Bloody Mary!
Pineapple-Habanero Hot Sauce Ingredients List
You don't need many ingredients for this one. The list includes: Habanero peppers, pineapple, cilantro, lime juice, white vinegar and salt. Easy, right?
It is thinner because you'll strain this one at the very end. However!
Thicker or Thinner Sauce
If you prefer a thicker hot sauce, you have a couple of options. FIRST, just don't strain it. I don't like to keep this one completely unstrained because the ingredients chosen easily separate in the bottle.
No biggie, though, as you can simply shake up the bottle before each use. Or, SECOND, add a bit of the strained pulp back into the sauce before you bottle it.
That's what I did here. I took about a tablespoon of the pulp and swirled it back into the finished sauce, just for a bit of substance. I like the little swirlies you get in the bottle.
It's a vibrant and flavorful hot sauce recipe, ready and willing to go where your taste buds want to take you. It takes practically no time to make, which is nice.
I posted a VIDEO RECIPE below so you can see just how easy it really is. Making hot sauce at home is fun, isn't it? All you need are a few ingredients. I hope you enjoy it!
Patty's Perspective
Mike mentioned using this in your Bloody Mary, but give a dash into your beer. Seriously! I love it. Also, it was FUN making the video. I hope we do more of them!
Check out my other Hot Sauce Recipes, too.
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 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.
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. 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
- What is Xanthan Gum?
Check out more Hot Sauce Recipes or learn more about How to Make Hot Sauce.
Try it with Pineapple Fried Rice!
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.
Pineapple-Habanero Hot Sauce Recipe
Ingredients
- 5-6 habanero peppers coarsely chopped
- 2 cups chopped pineapple
- 1 handful cilantro leaves rinsed
- Juice from 1 lime
- 1 cup white vinegar
- ½ teaspoon salt
Instructions
- Add all ingredients to a food processor and process until smooth.
- Add to a pot and simmer over low heat for 15 minutes.
- Cool and strain, if desired. If you want a chunkier hot sauce, skip the straining. Or, strain and add a bit of the pulp back in to your desired consistency.
- Pour into bottles and refrigerate until ready to use!
Video
Notes
Nutrition Information
Lisa A Minnelli says
very good recipe! What is the shelf life?
Mike Hultquist says
Lisa, this should last 6 months or longer, especially in the fridge, due to the acidity. Hot sauces with fruit in them are better refrigerated. Enjoy!!
Summer says
Can I seal this in my woozy bottles like I do with other hot sauces?
Mike Hultquist says
Summer, you should be able to, but check the pH, as you do with your other hot sauces. You can always add a bit more acid if you need to. Enjoy!
Patrick says
This may sound stupid (sorry in advance), but do you leave the seeds in the habanero for this recipe? I recently made Habanero jelly with my last batch of habaneros and left the seeds in. I loved it but it was too hot for most people.
Mike Hultquist says
Patrick, I usually leave them in. You can definitely core out the insides for milder heat - the heat is in the whitish innards, not the seeds - but it's optional.
Pat Levesque says
Made it this afternoon.
I used fresh scotch bonnet from our greenhouse instead of habanero. It did the job!
Just great!
You were right on spot with the fruitiness of pineapple! Everything is well balanced!!
Thanks for the recipe!
Mike Hultquist says
Awesome!! Glad you're enjoying it, Pat!!
Nick says
I have never tried making a hot sauce before, but I have a big crop of yellow cayenne peppers this year. Would this recipe work with yellow cayenne instead of habenero peppers? How much should I use.
Mike Hultquist says
It sure would, Nick. It's hard to say amounts, as sizes vary, but I'd say 10-12 cayenne peppers, again depending on their size compared to a habanero. Enjoy!!
Scott says
Cracks me up when people say, 'yeah, I tried it, but added...'.
Respect the author - try it "as is" first! LOL. Thanks 'Mike' for the recipe!
Made exactly as per instructions. Always my starting point for any new recipe before I start tweaking, that's the fun of cooking adding your own spin!
Super simple and very tasty. Think I added a little too much cilantro. I added about 2 tablespoons back of the pulp. I prefer mine thicker, particularly when smothering those chicken legs.
Unfortunately (not really!) I have half a fresh pineapple left. Next batch already on the go with added garlic, ginger, carrot & onion and at least 5 tbs of pulp going back in after. Most hot sauce requires a good shake 😉
Oh and I make use of the 'side burner' on my bbq on the deck for hot sauces.
Made the mistake of making a Ghost pepper hot sauce of yours years ago in my kitchen. It didn't go down well with the family!
Keep up the great work!
Mike Hultquist says
Thanks for the comments, Scott. I appreciate it, and glad you enjoyed the hot sauce overall. Cheers.
maz says
I used tinned pineapple (drained) 1/2 c white vinegar, 8 habanero's, 3 large garlic, about 1/8 tsp black cumin, handful of cilantro, about 1 tblsp lime juice, 10 turns of himalayan pink salt. I ended up putting about 1/8 tsp tumeric as I thought too green. Whizzed in blender then cooked. Just experimenting, but it turned out good. I couldn't really taste too much of the pineapple, but it definitely had a sweet tone to it. I'll use fresh next time. I did not strain
Mike H. says
Thanks for sharing, maz, but have you tried following my recipe the way it is? Happy it worked out for you anyway!
gregg says
can i use bananas instead. and what proportions?
Mike Hultquist says
Gregg, I have not made with the bananas, though you can try it. It will change the overall consistency, though. Something to consider. Use 2 cups in place of the pineapple. You might need to thin with extra liquid.