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
Tammy MacDonald says
I added some liquid smoke, garlic and onion powder (also used double the peppers) It is amazing!
Michael Hultquist - Chili Pepper Madness says
Very nice! Sounds great, Tammy!
Steve says
I tried recipe, the 1 cup of vinegar, at least with the way my batch came out, overpowers aloe other ingredients. Is this a typo in the recipe?
Michael Hultquist - Chili Pepper Madness says
Steve, no, this is definitely a very vinegar forward hot sauce, like Tabasco. Next time you can adjust to your own personal tastes. Apologies for any surprises.
Dean says
I used 12 carolina reapers i grew myself, they were quite small hence adding more. I then halved the rest of the ingredients and added some mango, came out very good. Thanks!
Michael Hultquist - Chili Pepper Madness says
Nice, Dean! That's going to be some awesome hot sauce! I love it.
Maxim Dubinin says
Greetings from Russia. This sauce is fantastic! I've cooked it with yellow habaneros from my greenhouse. Thank you!
Michael Hultquist - Chili Pepper Madness says
Wonderful, Maxim! Thanks!
Darryl says
Absolutely loved this! Such a flavor punch
Michael Hultquist - Chili Pepper Madness says
Great! Thanks, Darryl!
LILLIAN says
The recipe was simple and easy to follow. I made this and used scotch bonnet and one ghost pepper. I had no cilantro so I used parsley and the some of the tops from the green onion. I also used a yellow bell pepper and one spoon of sugar and 2 ounces of pineapple juice. It was hot! I added 2 teaspoon of the pulp back to the strained liquid.
I sealed mine by boiling the bottle in hot water. The next one will be done wit mango and scotch bonnets only
Michael Hultquist - Chili Pepper Madness says
Excellent! Thanks, Lillian! Super happy you enjoyed it.
Maura says
Fantastic Sauce Michael - as usual, you never disappoint! I doubled the recipe (used 10 Habaneros) and I had a lot of 'pulp' leftover after straining so I put it in a container and am using is as a relish - it's delish! This said, I have 2 questions:
1) The sauce is very spicy (the taste is amazing), if I wanted to tone down the heat just a bit what do you suggest I can add? maybe more vinegar? Lime juice? perhaps a little sugar? Pls let me know.
2) I wear gloves when I cut peppers but the pepper oil/juice always ends up on my hands anyway - any suggestions on how I can get the pepper oil off of my hands (soap and water doesn't seem to work).
Anyway -- thanks in advance and thank You for another wonderful sauce recipe! !
Michael Hultquist - Chili Pepper Madness says
Thanks, Maura! Glad you are enjoying it. Yes, there is definitely some heat here. To cut the heat, some sugar and more vinegar could help, or you can try adding in more pineapple to dilute that heat. Dilution is the best way without altering overall flavor. For the burn, check out this page on How to Stop the Chili Pepper Burn: https://www.chilipeppermadness.com/cooking-with-chili-peppers/how-do-you-stop-the-chili-pepper-burn/. Be sure to check out all of the comments below. Lots of other ideas for you!
Guy says
Made the sauce , added much more cilantro and did one cup pineapple and one cup fresh peaches and Wow what a great sauce , so easy to make and used the peppers that we grew in our garden , strained half and not the other half , the strained half not as hot as the un-strained but both super delicious !
Love your Blog !
Michael Hultquist - Chili Pepper Madness says
Awesome, Guy! Glad to hear it! Super happy you are enjoying the sauce.
Frank says
Love the recipe Mike!
Is there a desired temperature to cool to after simmering?
Michael Hultquist - Chili Pepper Madness says
Thanks, Frank! 200 degrees F is the target temp for hot packing, though since I keep mine refrigerated and use it rather quickly, I just cool it enough so it doesn't burn my hands when I bottle it up (holding the bottles). I hope this helps!
Greg says
Greetings from southern Spain. Your recipe inspired me to make a hot sauce with pineapple which I never made before. I've used all kinds of fruit in my sauces for over 40 years but never tried using pineapple. It just so happened that I got 2 fresh pineapples imported from Cuba as a x-mas present and went looking for a pineapple recipe for hot sauce. I used one of my own recipies with some other ingredients but the result was fantastic and one of the tastiest hot sauces I ever made. Here is how I made it. I used a lot of ripe red habaneros from my garden (4 handfuls), 2 fresh pineapples from cuba, a handful of fresh ginger, and frsh chopped garlic, a few teaspoons of ground cucuma, a yellow onion, a fresh yellow bell pepper, a fair amount of sea salt, 2 cups of organic apple cider vinegar, 1 large fresh lemon juiced and enough purified water to slowly cook the brew down for a half hour. I first well grilled the bell pepper, trimmed and cored sliced pineapples, stemed hot peppers and peeled and quartered onion on a cast iron skillet. I put that in a food processer with the other ingredients and pureed the mixture. I cooked and strained the sauce through a strainer and the rest is history as I will be making this sauce until they day I die. Thanks for the wonderful inspiration!
Michael Hultquist - Chili Pepper Madness says
Greetings, Greg! What a wonderful sounding sauce! Very happy to have inspired you! I love it. Sounds delicious. Enjoy.
Kris says
I used scotch bonnet peppers! It was fabulous!!
Thank you for a great recipe.
Michael Hultquist - Chili Pepper Madness says
Perfect, Kris! Scotch Bonnets are GREAT for this! Glad you enjoyed it.
Bob Isaacs says
After you cook the sauce and put in a gallon jug for 2-3 weeks then bottle it in woozy bottles does it need to be refrigerated, I make hot sauce and never refrigerate it so I was wondering about this particular recipe
Michael Hultquist - Chili Pepper Madness says
There is a lot of division on this, Bob, particularly in the hot sauce making community. If your pH is low enough, many people feel you can keep it out of the refrigerator. I think you can for a little while, but I personally prefer to keep mine in the fridge because pretty much anything can go bad eventually. But others argue it affects flavor. It's really your call. One thing, though. Fruit-based sauces don't last as long as those without fruit, so that is something to keep in mind. If you keep it out, I would just keep an eye on it to make sure it doesn't start to go bad, which you can see with odd growth or bad smells. I hope this helps.
Lori S says
Can you hot bath this
Michael Hultquist - Chili Pepper Madness says
Lori, yes, but be sure to check the pH for longer keeping. It is best at 3.5 or below for home preserving.