A homemade hot sauce recipe made with roasted red jalapeno peppers, garlic, tomato and red wine vinegar. This is one of the most addicting hot sauces I've ever made. I already need another batch!

Happy New Year, friends! This is a very important post. It is the first of 2016, a brand new year, and there were so many possible recipes for us to post. As food bloggers, we think about food ALL THE TIME. It's just what we do, and we LOVE it. We're sure you could tell.
But! What to post?
We considered posting something light and healthy to kick off the new year with good eating habits. Nothing wrong with that. We like the watch our waistlines and what better time to recommit?
We also considered posting a Blood Mary recipe. Patty is an UH-MAZING Bloody Mary mixologist. Believe me when I say that. She has some homemade mixes coming up very soon. Can't wait for those! See Spicy Mexican Style Bloody Mary Recipe. Oh yeah!
In the end, we decided that the best recipe to kick off 2016 with a BANG is this - Roasted Red Jalapeno Pepper Hot Sauce.

Yes!
A great homemade hot sauce epitomizes everything we are at Chili Pepper Madness. Of course we love chili peppers, but we love everything bold and spicy and zingy and zesty and delicious! Insert more positive foodie words here.
Seriously! We love it.
This is one of my personal favorite hot sauces. It's SO simple, a Louisiana style sauce with a few extra ingredients added in to round it out.
Take a peek at it. YUM!
Let's talk about how we make it, shall we?
Roasted Red Jalapeno Pepper Hot Sauce Ingredients
- Red Jalapeno Peppers.
- Yellow Onion. Chopped.
- Garlic Cloves. Chopped.
- Tomato Sauce.
- Red Wine Vinegar.
- Lemon Juice.
- Salt.
How to Make This Homemade Hot Sauce - The Recipe Method
First we're going to roast our peppers. Heat your oven to 350 degrees. Slice the jalapeno peppers in half lengthwise and remove the stems. Set them onto a lightly oiled baking sheet and bake 20-25 minutes, or until the skins blister.
Remove the peppers and cover with aluminum foil or a towel to allow them to steam. Peel off the skins and toss them, or keep them to make this Homemade Roasted Jalapeno Pepper Seasoning. So good!
Set the peppers into a food processor.
Next, heat a small pan to medium heat and add chopped onion and garlic with a splash of olive oil. Cook about 5 minutes to soften.
Add the remaining ingredients and heat through. Into the food processor they go.
Process the sauce until smooth. You can also use a food mill if you’d like your sauce to be thick and consistent. Test for salt and serve!
Recipe Notes
I made mine a bit thicker so that it drips slowly from the bottle. It will coat the back of a spoon or stick to a chip if that is how you want to enjoy it. You can serve it as a finisher sauce to dazzle up just about anything savory, or you can use it to swirl into soups or stews to bring home the flavor.
Even consider this homemade hot sauce recipe as a starter for pasta sauces or even for dips. TOTALLY one my faves.
If you like your hot sauce a bit thinner, add in a bit of water or a bit more red wine vinegar. Just be careful not to overdo the balance of the vinegar flavor.
I like it thicker, but it works thinned out as well, and it will last longer.
Roasted Red Jalapeno Pepper Hot Sauce Recipe Bonus!
It's a great thing to make foods from scratch, isn't it? It is something we strive for here at Chili Pepper Madness, to work with fresh, healthy foods and turn them into bold and powerful flavors.
Ring in the New Year right with your own homemade hot sauce. Start here! Enjoy.
Safety Advice
When working with very hot chili peppers peppers, including superhot chili peppers, it is important to wear gloves when handling the peppers both in raw and dried forms. The oils can get on your skin and cause burning sensations. See above.
Need help? How to Stop the Chili Pepper Burn On Your Skin.
Also, pepper fumes may get into the air if you are not working in a well ventilated room, so you may want to wear a mask and possibly eye goggles.

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
- Green 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
- Datil Pepper Sauce
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.

Roasted Red Jalapeno Pepper Hot Sauce Recipe
Ingredients
- 1 pound red jalapeno peppers
- 1 medium yellow onion chopped (about 1 cup)
- 5 cloves garlic chopped
- 8 ounces tomato sauce
- ¼ cup red wine vinegar
- 1 teaspoon lemon juice
- Salt to taste
Instructions
- Heat your oven to 350 degrees. Slice the jalapeno peppers in half lengthwise and remove the stems. Set them onto a lightly oiled baking sheet and bake 20-25 minutes, or until the skins blister.
- Remove from heat and cover with aluminum foil or a towel to allow them to steam. Peel off the skins and discard.
- Set the peppers into a food processor.
- Heat a small pan to medium heat and add chopped onion and garlic with a splash of olive oil. Cook about 5 minutes to soften.
- Add all remaining ingredients and heat through. Into the food processor they go.
- Process the sauce until smooth. You can also use a food mill if you’d like your sauce to be thick and consistent.
- Test for salt and serve!
Video
Notes
Nutrition Information

This post was updated on 8/6/18 to include new photos and a video. It was originally posted on 1/1/16.
Paul Gardner says
can I substitute roasted Hatch green chili for the jalapeno?
Mike Hultquist says
Absolutely!!!
Christine says
I improvised with what I had on hand and used apple cider vinegar, enchilada sauce, and lime juice and it also turned out amazing! I look forward to playing around with this recipe more, thanks for the inspiration!
Mike H. says
You are very welcome, Christine. Enjoy!
Tique says
This is an excellent recipe -I’ve made it many times and my chilli loving grandsons love it. Thank you for sharing
Mike Hultquist says
Great to hear! Thanks, Tique! I'm sure they love you for it! =)
Gary C Brown says
Just made this sauce, and I used the pepper I had, red jalapenos, green jalapenos, and long hots. it came out great!!! Thank you for posting!
Mike Hultquist says
Glad you enjoyed it, Gary! Thanks for sharing!
Joellen says
Thank you for your recipe️ Its exactly what I have been searching for This will be remade , time and time again
Mike Hultquist says
Thanks so much, Joellen!
Robin says
Can I use green jalapeños ? I have a bunch of green ones
Mike H. says
Yes, you can, Robin. A few of my readers reported making it with green jalapeños, and they loved it!
Leigh Mugford says
I have made 2 batches now. the first is very thick like Ketchup or mustard viscosity . when I dilute with vinegar it is also a good pourable sauce. I smoke roasted red jalapeño red Serrano and yellow onions on the bbq with hickory chunks then peeled the skin off the peppers. I used passata tomato puree for the tomato. I added brown sugar more salt and vinegar to balance. the flavor as Mike says is addictive - I never would have added tomato on my own so thanks for sharing this great recipe.
Mike Hultquist says
Awesome! Glad you're enjoying it, Leigh!
Amanda says
What do you use for tomato sauce? Crushed, diced, or like tomato juice?
Do you remove the seeds or use them?
Mike Hultquist says
Tomato sauce, though crushed or diced will do. You can adjust with extra liquid if needed. I do not seed, but you can if you'd like. Enjoy.
Rye says
How would you do this style fermented?
Roast before ferment or after?
Mike Hultquist says
Honestly, you could do it either way, Rye. I would probably roasted them before fermenting. See my post on How to Ferment Peppers for further info: https://www.chilipeppermadness.com/cooking-with-chili-peppers/how-to-make-fermented-pepper-mash/
David says
I’ve made this sauce 2 times now, both half sized batches. Turned out amazing! One of my favorite hot sauces now. Thanks for a great, easy to follow recipe.
Mike H. says
You are very welcome, David. Come back for more ideas!
MaryBeth says
Can this sauce be canned?
Mike Hultquist says
MaryBeth, I haven't measured the pH of this, but if it's 3.5 or lower, absolutely. 4.6 is shelf stable, but I recommend 3.5 for home preserving with a water bath. You can always add more vinegar and/or citrus to lower it. Or look into pressure canning.
Mark says
Made our third batch today. Roasted our peppers on the grill this time. The smoky flavor is amazing! Thank you for my new favorite jalapeño sauce!
Mike Hultquist says
Outstanding!! I love to hear it. This is one of my favorites. Glad you enjoyed it, Mark.
Alison Leonardi says
Ahaha. I removed stems AND seeds! Whoops. It was very difficult to remove the skins from those tiny jalapenos and I didn't even try with the habaneros. I used a mix because I didn't have a pound of either and, oh boy, is it fiery. Loved the recipe just as it is, but added 3 mangoes because it was too hot to be used. Excellent flavor and thanks for the storage tips! I agree about the vitamix and it is definitely going into meatloaf.
Mike Hultquist says
Excellent! Thanks, Alison!
Matt says
Awesome recipe...made it several times, but I recommend using a Vitamix blender, which will pulverize everything (seeds and all) into a nice smooth sauce. Thanks for posting.
Mike Hultquist says
Thanks for sharing, Matt! Glad you like it!
Tique says
Can you use passata instead of tomato sauce or is that the asame thing in the US
Mike Hultquist says
You can use them, Tique. Pretty much the same thing.