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.
Lynda Lee Davenport says
Love this sauce, We have a huge variety of Peppers in our garden, I love trying different recipes but this is by far my favorite!!
Michael Hultquist - Chili Pepper Madness says
Great, Lynda! Thanks!
Ron says
I roasted the peppers on the grill whole. 1/3 red jalapeños and 2/3 red Havasu's. All peeled easily. Sauce came out awesome.
Michael Hultquist - Chili Pepper Madness says
Awesome!! Glad you enjoyed it, Ron!
Tim says
Our sauce came out VERY thick, even after having passed it through the processor several times. Any ideas what could have gone wrong?
Michael Hultquist - Chili Pepper Madness says
Tim, you can easily just add more vinegar or a bit of water to thin out the sauce to your preference.
michael says
i’m harvesting tons of green jalapeños and long red cayenne’s! love the sound of your red jalapeño hot sauce
Michael Hultquist - Chili Pepper Madness says
Nice! I LOVE this recipe! I hope you enjoy it.
Marisa says
Sheer perfection. Couldn’t stop eating it directly out of the food processor with chips. Can’t wait to see how it tastes in a few days.
Michael, this was my first recipe of yours. Certainly won’t be the last. Thank you!
Michael Hultquist - Chili Pepper Madness says
Excellent! Great to hear, Marisa. Glad you enjoyed it and I hope you find many more.
Mike says
Great sauce! We just made a batch and love it. How long will it keep in the refrigerator? We made a big batch.
Michael Hultquist - Chili Pepper Madness says
Thanks, Mike. I have a section in the post about this. Here is the info: "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." Enjoy!!
W says
SO good! I added serranos for extra heat and used green jalapeños because that’s what I can get. A little more salsa-y than what I was expecting, but I already have so many plans for this! I’ll be making this over and over!
Michael Hultquist - Chili Pepper Madness says
Excellent!!!
Marlon says
the nutrition chart is based in which dose of salsa
Michael Hultquist - Chili Pepper Madness says
Marlon, about 2 teaspoons or so. Enjoy.
VKernaghan says
Vinegar throws off the true flavor of most any sauce or sala. People get used to it thinking it's vital to the recipe, but it's added to commercial products as a preservative. Then recipes try to copy the store bought or make it better thinking the vinegar is required. The best jalapeno sauace/salsa I ever tasted is Pedro's Jalapeno Salsa from Albuquerque, NM. It's a difficult brand to find (has Pedro wearing a white trucker's cap on the label) and is made without vinegar. There's also another brand by the same name, but it's a completely different, mostly tomato-based Pedro. The original Pedro passed away 4 or 5 years ago. RIP Pedro!
Michael Hultquist - Chili Pepper Madness says
Right, vinegar is not a requirement, though a very good preservative. I enjoy the flavor of vinegar, as do many people with salsas or sauces, but it is optional. If preservation is a consideration, you can consider citrus, which is also acidic with preserving properties. All the best!
Michael P says
What is the purpose of skinning the peppers after roasting them? Wouldn't the blackened skins give it an earthy smokey flavor? I was thinking of roasting the garlic too. Would love your thoughts. Can't wait to try!
Thanks.
Michael Hultquist - Chili Pepper Madness says
Michael, yes, you can keep the skins for that charred flavor if you want to. However, they can cause a textural issue for some people. They tend to be papery and can float in the sauce if you don't process it enough. Let me know how it goes for you. Enjoy!
Liz says
Made it today with a bunch of jalapeños that went red as I didn’t end up picking them while green. Ended up adding some cherry tomatoes to the roasting pan (just a big handful of last remaining fruit on the vine). I ended up thinning the sauce a bit with water & vinegar, and my peppers didn’t skin well so they went into the blender with skins! - it all turned out great! I wanted to jar/can mine to give as gifts - just for reference my 1lb of peppers made three 1/2-pint jars plus just shy of a 1/4 cup to keep in the fridge and use right away. Thanks for the great recipe!
Michael Hultquist - Chili Pepper Madness says
Excellent! Glad you enjoyed it, Liz, and thanks for the notes!
Matthew says
Just made a bottle of this last night, I decided the weather had probably turned for autumn now so had to pick a lot of green jalapeños, however they still made a really tasty sauce using this recipe and also used a few homegrown tomatoes for it as well.
It's currently in the fridge for a few days but it already tasted good out the pot 😀
Thanks for a great recipe and love your website, there's so much good information. Going to be having a go at growing some different chillis next year including some Bhut Jolokia.
Michael Hultquist - Chili Pepper Madness says
Thanks, Matthew! Good luck with the ghosts!!! =)
Gretchen says
Thanks for a great recipe! I had reddened jalapeños on hand along with some Hungarian hot, and searched for a hot sauce recipe... and found you! This was my first try at making hot sauce and it definitely won’t be my last. I used oven roasted tomatoes and garlic because I was already making a roasted tomato sauce, and a ripe mango to use as well. I swapped the red wine vinegar for apple cider vinegar because I thought it would pair better with the ripe mango. Turned out great! It’s wonderful freshly made, and looking forward to tasting it in a few days when the flavors have melded. I’ll be delving into more of your pepper recipes : ) Cheers!
Michael Hultquist - Chili Pepper Madness says
Thanks, Gretchen! Super happy you enjoyed it. Cheers!