A quick and easy hot sauce recipe that is tangy and garlicky and tart-sweet, more about the flavors of sweet chili and garlic than the heat of your typical hot sauce. Perfect for adding some zing to anything.

Sweet Garlic-Chili Hot Sauce served in a cute little jar

Sweet Garlic-Chili Hot Sauce Recipe

It's hot sauce making time again, my friends. Expect a LOT of new sauces and hot sauces coming your way because it's the end of our garden season here at Chili Pepper Madness and I'm in full-on preserving mode, trying to use up our crazy pepper harvest.

The garden produced copious amounts of peppers (and tomatoes) and I've been a cooking/preserving madman this past week, and I see no end to it in the near future.

I love it!

Delicious Frontera Sweet Pepper straight from the garden

Gorgeous little things, aren't they? These are sweet Frontera Chili Peppers.

They look and taste VERY much like Scotch Bonnet Peppers, but have practically ZERO heat. I was thankful to receive them, but thought, whoa! What am I going to do with these peppers when I have so many others popping out of the garden?

How about a sweet hot sauce? Yes!

That was easy, right? Viola - Sweet Garlic-Chili Hot Sauce.

Behold.

This is a super easy and FAST hot sauce recipe because we're not fermenting the peppers this time. I wanted to let the sweet, fruity flavor of the Frontera peppers come through, so I added a bit of honey and enough vinegar to give a good level of tanginess for a tart finish.

And! Let us not forget - GARLIC. I'm crazy for garlic and my taste buds go a little bonkers for the combination of garlic and peppers, especially in a hot sauce.

"Hot Sauce", by the way, is a bit of a misnomer here, as there is no heat to speak of with this particular sauce.

The focus is on the fruity, sweet, tangy flavor, but since the resulting sauce is quite vinegary and has the consistency of your typical Tabasco brand hot sauce, it's more identifiable as a hot sauce than a simple chili-garlic sauce, which is thicker and more akin to a cross between a sauce and a chili paste.

If you’d like a thicker sauce, reduce the vinegar by half or more.

Give this one a try, my friends. It's great for drizzling over anything for a tangy, sweet pop of flavor. No fermenting here, so you can have it ready in very little time.

If you can't find Frontera Sweet Peppers, any thinner walled sweet pepper will do. Or, try making this with Scotch Bonnet peppers for a very similar flavor but LOTS of nice heat.

Enjoy!

Sweet Garlic-Chili Hot Sauce in a cute little jar

Recipe Tips & Notes

To let the sweet, fruity flavor of the Frontera peppers come through, add a bit of honey and enough vinegar to give a good level of tanginess for a tart finish.
If you don't have Frontera Sweet Peppers, any thinner walled sweet pepper will do. Or, try making this with Scotch Bonnet Peppers for a very similar flavor but LOTS of nice heat.
You can process this hot sauce for longer storage. Just be sure to use proper canning/jarring safety procedures.
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 more Hot Sauce Recipes or learn more about How to Make Hot Sauce.

Storage & Leftovers

This sauce 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.

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.

Check out These Related Recipes

Holding a small jar of the amazing Sweet Garlic-Chili Hot Sauce

If you enjoy this recipe, I hope you'll leave a comment with some STARS. Also, please share it on social media. Don't forget to tag us at #ChiliPepperMadness. I'll be sure to share! Thanks! -- Mike H.