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.



Scott Davis says
Hi Mike,
I made mine with a 4 to 1 ratio of Fresnos to Jalapeño. Really delicious. Even my wife likes it.
I am also made a fermented green Jalapeño hot sauce, good too. But I am thinking of also trying this and cooking it with a little vinegar and garlic. What do you think?
Thanks, Scott Davis
Michael Hultquist - Chili Pepper Madness says
Thanks, Scott. Yes, this would be good with garlic, and if you cooked it down with a bit of vinegar. I do this with a lot of my homemade hot sauces. I'm sure it would be great. Let me know how it turns out for you. Enjoy!
Anthony Gould says
What is tomato sauce in your reference?
I live in South Africa where tomato sauce is what Americans call ketchup.
Michael Hultquist - Chili Pepper Madness says
Anthony, tomato sauce is really just pureed tomatoes, so instead of tomato sauce, you can just use fresh tomatoes in the recipe. Just be sure to process the final sauce. Please let me know how it turns out for you.
Winnie Sauer says
I live in the Southwest, where chiles rule! Love your recipe! Really quite easy. At the end of the season I found myself with a bush filled with red jalapenos. What to do? Pinterest, of course. I found your recipe and it sounded perfect. I followed the recipe almost to a tee, however being savvy at roasting chiles I left them whole and put them under the broiler watched them carefully, turning occasionally until they began to blister. Put them in a plastic bag to sweat and cool enough to easily peel. Completed the sauce, bottled it, and it will be served on our "tacos on white" tonight! I look forward to making more of your recipes! Thanks!
Michael Hultquist - Chili Pepper Madness says
Perfect, Winnie. Thanks!!
Mike says
I made two batches today, love it. One batch with red and one with green jalapenos, also tried liquid smoke in one and I think it turned out great. Thanks for the recipe.
Michael Hultquist - Chili Pepper Madness says
Excellent, Mike. Thanks!
Ruan says
Just made it! Great back palate heat with a beautiful creamy texture. Thx for the recipe!!
Michael Hultquist - Chili Pepper Madness says
Excellent, Ruan! Glad you enjoyed it!
Chris says
Made this sauce and tossed some wings in it, super tasty and was mild enough for my grandfather to eat a whole mess of wings (he doesn’t handle spice very well)
Michael Hultquist - Chili Pepper Madness says
Thanks, Chris. Glad your grandfather enjoyed it.
Kennedy J O'Brien says
I have a nice crop of jalapenos. Will try this recipe this weekend. Thank you, Mike!
Ken
Michael Hultquist - Chili Pepper Madness says
That's great, Kennedy. Let me know how it turns out for you! Definitely one of my favorites.
Brandon says
Do you have any suggestions for hot sauce using the green Hatch peppers? Hatch peppers are in all my local grocers right now but there are very few red ones. Thank you!
Michael Hultquist - Chili Pepper Madness says
Brandon, I just posted a Roasted Hatch Chile Sauce recipe tn pods. can try with the green pods. There are many different recipes on my Hot Sauce Recipes page that you can use to incorporate Hatch peppers. Take look there and let me know if any of them jumps out. I'm happy to help you adapt any of them.
Jonny says
Just made my first ever batch of this and it tastes great! Mixed some Jalepenos with mixed Red Chillis and threw in a little balsamic vinegar to compliment the tomato.
Michael Hultquist - Chili Pepper Madness says
That's great, Jonny. I think the balsamic would add a nice touch of sweetness. Glad you enjoyed it.
Kevin says
Hi
Can you roast chillies that you have already frozen
REPLY: Kevin, I haven't really tried this. When the frozen peppers are thawed, they can be a bit soft, so you may be able to roast them if they were kept whole. I think it could work, but it would be better if they were roasted before freezing. -- Mike from Chili Pepper Madness.
Lara Rizzi says
Hi, is it safe to hot water bath the hot sauce in the jars with swing top lids?
REPLY: Lara, I don't think so. The lids need to make a proper seal. I've never done it with swing top lids. -- Mike from Chili Pepper Madness.
Natalie Chandler says
This looks like a great recipe and I cant wait to try it! I was wondering were you get your cute jars?
REPLY: Natalie, I get some locally but you can also order them online. -- Mike from Chili Pepper Madness.
Lisa says
I love this sauce! I have made it several times using long red chilies mixed with jalapenos home grown. It's addictive!
Michael Hultquist - Chili Pepper Madness says
Thanks, Lisa! It's definitely one of my favorites.