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
KO says
Is there an alternative to the "vinegar" flavor in it? I saw you compared it to tabasco (which I hate) and am not a fan of what taste like vinegar based hot sauces. But the Pineapple Scotch Bonnet sounds like something else I make, I've never tried hot sauces tho
Mike Hultquist | Chili Pepper Madness says
KO, if you're not crazy about the vinegar flavor of this sauce, you can make it with only half the vinegar, and don't strain it. Leave it thicker. You could actually replace vinegar with water, but it won't keep for long. If you do this, use it within a week or so. It will still taste great.
KO says
Thanks Mike, I can't believe I just found your website. I've been growing Scotch Bonnets since I saw Bobby Flay Throwdown vs Ripe Restaurant. Couldn't get them locally so I ordered seeds and grew them to replicate the Jerk Ribeye on that show.
Mike Hultquist | Chili Pepper Madness says
Welcome!!
Hep says
not a fan of the vinegar taste either, in all my hot sauce recipes I usually sub it for Apple cider vinegar, the little bit of added sweetness also counteracts the heat a little and especially in this case works well with the pineapple
Michael Hultquist - Chili Pepper Madness says
Yep, ACV is usually a good substitute. I like it!
Bill Schwager says
I haven't made this yet but in general how do you know if hot sauce in still good, what signs do you look for?
REPLY: Bill, if you see any signs of fuzzy growth on the top, or any weird fizzing in the closed bottle, it's probably bad in some way. Sometimes the crusting at the top can foment growth, so be sure to keep the top of the bottle clean. A hot sauce with high vinegar content will last years in general, though. -- Mike from Chili Pepper Madness.
Bryan says
What about using a fresh Mango. I think that would be good
REPLY: Bryan, mango would be great here! -- Mike from Chili Pepper Madness.
alicia says
I actually make mango chutney pepper sause to sell in my country
Michael Hultquist - Chili Pepper Madness says
Sounds delightful!
jacque says
I made this recipe but it lost it's heat the next day. Right after I made it, the taste was great - a lot of heat with the flavor of pineapple- really delish. I put in in my glass sanitized hot sauce bottle and put in the fridge. The next morning it lost almost all of it's heat. I was so bummed. Do you know why that may have happened?
REPLY: Jacque, sauces do tend to mellow, though it is odd after only a day. It is possible the fridge cooling made a difference, though it's probably just a blending of the overall ingredients. -- Mike from Chili Pepper Madness.
Sandybluetoes says
Do you have to use cilantro? Not a fan of cilantro
REPLY: Sandybluetoes, no, you can omit, or replace with an ingredient you prefer. -- Mike from Chili Pepper Madness.
Janet says
Can you use pineapple juice instead of pineapple chunks, since you have to blenderize anyway?
REPLY: Janet, it will work but you won't have quite as much substance in the final sauce. Let me know how it turns out for you. -- Mike from Chili Pepper Madness.
Shannon says
I used scotch bonnet peppers (relatively same scoville) and they are beautiful! I haven't tasted it yet...still cooling off. But everyone in the house is asking me why their eyes are burning. LOL
Michael Hultquist - Chili Pepper Madness says
Awesome! Yeah, those fumes can get ya!
kristin says
So good! Added some garlic which was a delicious addition. Glad to have a recipe that will help me use up my habaneros! Thanks for the great recipe!
Michael Hultquist - Chili Pepper Madness says
Awesome, thank YOU!
Ron says
Can You leave it out at room temperature
REPLY: Ron, yes, you can, though it won't last as long. I prefer to store it in the refrigerator. -- Mike from Chili Pepper Madness.
Ann says
Can you can it in jars like salsa?
REPLY: Ann, yes, you can, as long as you follow proper canning procedures. Let me know how it turns out. -- Mike from Chili Pepper Madness.
Mikael says
Great recipe! I added some ginger to it and is very happy with the result. I will definitely make some more of this addictive sauce. ⯑
Michael Hultquist - Chili Pepper Madness says
Thank you, Mikael! Super happy you liked it.
Eric Gribbell says
Made this today and love it! I love habaneros and pineapple, so this had to be the first sauce I tried. Thank you for posting such an easy and flavorful recipe, and explaining the process so well! I've made hot sauce before with fermentation, and never realized making hot sauce could be so simple and delicious as this version. I followed the recipe pretty closely and my batch yielded 5 woozy bottles (I sampled half a bottle already just amazed that I made something so tasty!) Now I've got all kinds of ideas to create something else. Let me work out a few ideas and if successful, I'll be sure to share! Thank you so much for teaching me the art of hot sauce!
Michael Hultquist - Chili Pepper Madness says
Excellent, Eric! Glad you enjoyed it. Thanks for much for your comments! Take care.
Oston says
Great sauce and a flexible one as well. I didn't have white vinegar and lime so I used apple vinegar and lemon and it became very nice nevertheless. I think this sauce is a great start for experiments as well. Thanks for sharing it!
Michael Hultquist - Chili Pepper Madness says
Of course! Super happy you enjoyed it.
Thuli says
Hi.i want to make this sauce but in big plastic container.what should I use to preserve it for longer?restaurant business
REPLY: Thuli, I suggest checking with restaurant supply stores for storage containers. If the sauce is properly acidic, it will last a while in the refrigerator. Just keep a lid on it. -- Mike from Chili Pepper Madness.