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 few options:
- Do not strain the sauce.
- Strain, but add some of the pulp back into the sauce to thicken.
- Use less vinegar.
FIRST, 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.
You can also use only 1/4 cup vinegar, process, then add more to thin as desired.
This is 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.
- Pour into bottles and refrigerate until ready to use!
Video
Notes
Nutrition Information
Edward H. says
I have a scotch bonnet plant that is loaded with fruit and a pineapple about half way through growing that I am growing just for this recipe, I do not have any jalapeno's though, could I use Ankor sunrise or Dragon thai chili instead? They are both very robust little peppers but not I am not sure how well they would mate with the S.B. What would you suggest? Use just the S.B. or add one of the others?
REPLY: Edward, I think you can make this with Thai chilies. I think the combination would be wonderful, actually. Let me know how it turns out for you. -- Mike from Chili Pepper Madness.
Keeli Ross says
I don't have a food processor what else could I use to make it?
REPLY: Keeli, try a blender instead. -- Mike from Chili Pepper Madness.
Dan says
I'm going to have some Carolina Reapers this summer, and I'm looking for a sweeter sauce recipe for them. Do you think it would be problematic to substitute the habaneros with the Reapers?
REPLY: Dan, not at all. Give it a try and let me know how it turns out for you. -- Mike from Chili Pepper Madness.
Dawn says
I love this sauce! Last time I left it chunky and we were using it as a dip with tortilla chips, sweet chili Doritos and salt and vinegar chips! Besides using it on rice and other stuff lol I am making another batch today and this time I am using a fresh pineapple to see the difference.
Michael Hultquist - Chili Pepper Madness says
Outstanding! Great tip.
Marcia says
I only have the chocolate habeneros. Will these be ok to use and how many would I use. They are much hotter than the traditional orange habeneros.
REPLY: Marcia, yes, you can sub in chocolate habaneros. The flavor and color will be different, but it will still be good. You also use half the amount of chocolate habaneros and use other milder peppers to about the same weight for more body to the sauce. -- Mike from Chili Pepper Madness.
Matt says
Can you use other fruits besides pineapple?
REPLY: Matt, absolutely. Look at some of the other hot sauce recipes in our Hot Sauces section of the site. I've made several with other fruits. -- Mike from Chili Pepper Madness.
Andreas says
Made this one yesterday. I have used canned pineappled, fresh parsley instead cilantro, but added 1/2 teaspoon of ground coriander/cilantro seeds. Also, replaced part of white vinegar with homemade red wine vinegar..
I didn't strain the sauce but blend until very smooth.
Overall, very nice sweet, hot and acidic sauce.
Next time I'll try to replace most of the white vinegar with milder one.
Michael Hultquist - Chili Pepper Madness says
Great, thanks for checking it out!
Ann says
How long does it keep?
REPLY: Ann, this is high vinegar content, so will last quite a while. -- Mike from Chili Pepper Madness
Dawn says
Can I use can pineapple or do you think it would make a big difference in the end results?
REPLY: Dawn, yes, you can use canned pineapple in this. No problem! -- Mike from Chili Pepper Madness.
Janice says
My habernero's are not ready can I use jalapeño instead??
REPLY: Janice, yes, you can use jalapenos. The flavor won't be the same, but it should taste rather nice. Jalapenos would be a nice sub. -- Mike from Chili Pepper Madness.
Lp says
Yummm, Buying a pineapple tomorrow to do this with some whitish yellow Santa Fe peps I have piling up
Michael Hultquist - Chili Pepper Madness says
Sweet!
Ray says
Why do you cook it before bottling?
REPLY: Ray, cooking it melds the ingredients and completely changes the flavors overall. -- Mike from Chili Pepper Madness
joanie says
This stuff is delicious!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Michael Hultquist - Chili Pepper Madness says
Awesome. ROCK ON!!!