This Superhot Hot Sauce Recipe is made with a variety of superhot chili peppers including carolina reapers, 7-pot peppers and scorpion peppers. It's extremely hot and not for the faint of heart. For true chiliheads only!
Superhot Hot Sauce Recipe
OK, my friends. It's time to reveal one of the hottest hot sauces I have ever made in my own kitchen. Yes, it's homemade and it's crazy hot. Crazy hot in a good sort of way, the way only a serious chilihead can enjoy. This might just be the hottest hot sauce in the world that you can make right at home!
I grow a big variety of chili peppers every year. I love a range of heat and flavors, from flavorful sweet peppers all the way up to superhots with their incredible heat.
I use them in so many ways, and one of my favorites it making homemade hot sauce. I do enjoy milder sauces that focus on flavor over heat, but every now and then, I want some seriously heat in my hot sauce. That's when this hot sauce comes in - a hot sauce made from superhot chili peppers.
Superhot Hot Sauce Ingredients
- Superhot Chili Peppers - Use reapers, scorpions, 7 pots - use your favorite varieties - stems removed – use a mix! Anything over 1 Millions Scovilles, baby!
- Garlic
- Basil Leaves
- Vinegar
- Salt
Hot to Make Superhot Hot Sauce
Roast the peppers. Heat an oven to 400°F. Set the superhot chili peppers and garlic on a baking sheet and bake them about 15-20 minutes, or until the skins slightly char. Keep an eye on these. You don't want them to burn, and watch out for any fumes.
NOTE: Alternatively, do this on your grill outside.
Process the ingredients. Add peppers to a food processor. Squeeze garlic out of their skins and into the food processor they go. Add basil leaves and process.
Vinegar. While processing, add in vinegar until it is nicely pureed. Watch out for the fumes!
Salt and strain, if desired. Add salt and stir. Push the sauce through a strainer or use a food mill to really strain it, if desired. Adjust with more vinegar or water to your desired consistency.
NOTE: I don't always strain. It really depends on how thick you want your hot sauce.
Bottle it up. Pour into bottles and enjoy. Give to your friends! The longer you let it sit, the more the flavors will meld.
Recipe Tips & Notes
- Protect yourself from fumes. Aside from the obvious heat you will achieve with this sauce, you must also beware of fumes in the kitchen. Make this sauce in a well ventilated room. Open the windows if you can. Pepper fumes can be rough, especially with superhots. Consider a mask and/or goggle to protect your eyes.
- Also, wear gloves. I cook with superhots all the time and the oils usually do not bother my skin, but when cooking with a large amount, cutting them open, handling them, you will get some on your skin. It may burn, but if not, it can still burn other parts of your body that you touch.
- Let it sit. Once you've made the hot sauce, jar or bottle it and let it sit a week or two for the flavors to truly meld, though you can eat it right away if you'd like.
Where did you get that hot 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.
How hot is this superhot sauce?
With superhots, you can expect a wide range of heat, though the majority of them start at over 1 Million SHU. Some will approach or surpass 2 Million SHU, which is somewhat insane, but again, these are ranges so you can typically expect your pepper heat to fall in the middle somewhere.
The heat depends on many factors, such as soil and growing conditions of the particular peppers. Well, my peppers must have been grown under some ideal conditions, because they were HOT. I didn't want them to go to waste, so I turned the majority of them into a hot sauce that I still have today.
This is a Louisiana style hot sauce with a few extras added in for flavor. A Louisiana style hot sauce consists of peppers and vinegar, and they're extremely popular.
With good reason. This superhot version brings in the variety of superhots and adds in roasted garlic and basil. That's it, with a bit of salt. You can expect variable results depending on the chili peppers you choose to work with.
To push for the top end of the scale, use only Reapers or 7-Pot Brain Strains if you can get them. Pure Scorpions would be crazy killer hot. Or vary it up like I did. You can also make this with roasted jalapenos, or pretty much any pepper you prefer.
Choose your peppers with love. That is always a good place to start.
Storage
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.
I have not measured the ph of this sauce, but I won't have it around very long anyway. If you're concerned, add more vinegar to lower the ph.
The best ph meters that I recommend are from Thermoworks. Get yourself a ph meter from Thermoworks today. I am a happy affiliate.
See my post on "Does Hot Sauce Need to be Refrigerated?"
Enjoy More Hot Sauce Recipes
- Homemade Sriracha (both fermented and non-fermented varieties)
- Cayenne Pepper Sauce
- Ti-Malice – Hatian Creole Hot Sauce
- Ghost Pepper Hot Sauce
- Habanero Hot Sauce
- How to Make Hot Sauce: The Ultimate Guide
- More Hot Sauce Recipes
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.
Superhot Hot Sauce Recipe (The Hottest Hot Sauce I Ever Made)
Ingredients
- 1 pound superhot chili peppers (reapers, scorpions, 7 pots - use your favorite varieties) stems removed – use a mix! Anything over 1 Millions Scovilles, baby!
- 4 cloves garlic
- 12 large basil leaves
- 1 cup vinegar + more as needed
- 1 teaspoon salt
Instructions
- Heat an oven to 400 degrees. Set the superhot chili peppers and garlic on a baking sheet and bake them about 15-20 minutes, or until the skins slightly char. Keep an eye on these. You don't want them to burn, and watch out for any fumes. Alternatively, do this on your grill outside.
- Add peppers to a food processor. Squeeze garlic out of their skins and into the food processor they go.
- Add basil leaves and process.
- While processing, add in vinegar until it is nicely pureed. Watch out for the fumes!
- Add salt and stir. Push the sauce through a strainer or use a food mill to really strain it, if desired. Adjust with more vinegar or water to your desired consistency.
- Pour into bottles and enjoy. Give to your friends! The longer you let it sit, the more the flavors will meld.
Video
Notes
Nutrition Information
NOTE: This recipe was updated on 11/26/21 to include new information, photos and video. It was originally published on 11/20/15.
David says
"it can still burn other parts of your body that you touch"
Sounds like you've learned this from experience, too, Mike. To any guys preparing to make this, make sure you don't over-hydrate yourself before beginning the process. 😉
Michael Hultquist - Chili Pepper Madness says
Yep, some of us learn the hard way!
Patrick says
Mike,
It’s almost 11:30 on a Friday night, and making this is how my wife and I decided to spend our evening. The kids haven’t been to sleep from the coughing and sneezing from us both. My 12 and 10 yo daughters both tried it and gave their approval.
With all that said, making this is one of the most fun nights we’ve had in a while, and the sauce is fantastic. Thanks for another great recipe.
Michael Hultquist - Chili Pepper Madness says
Haha, thanks, Patrick. Yeah, this can clear a room! Or a whole house! Glad you enjoyed it, and agreed, such a fun family activity!
Deon Collins says
Hi Mike,
a mate of mine just gave me a bunch of reapers and ghosts. I live in a small studio apartment and from reading through the comments it seems that baking them would basically make my apartment unlivable for a time. i have a barbeque on my balcony though, am i able to grill them, and if so how long for? or instead of timing it should i be watching for some light scorching (or heavy) of the skin?
Thanks,
Deon
Michael Hultquist - Chili Pepper Madness says
Hi, Deon. Yes, the fumes would really get you in a small apartment. You can definitely do it on the grill, but you should probably avoid direct heat unless you want to more quickly sautee them, which is OK. You can set the peppers onto trays and basically bake them on the cooler side of the grill, covered, until they char just a bit. Definitely don't over char them or you lose the flesh. Another option is to just do a light grill on them, or you can even just process them whole with the other ingredients then simmer that sauce in a pot to cook it through and develop flavor. Let me know if this helps and how it goes for you.
Scotty Smart says
Hi Mike,
Have you tried smoking the ingredients as opposed to baking?
Want to try as will be banished from doing this inside!
Then wanted to add Thai Basil and Smoked Paprika powder.
Any Thoughts or advice.
Best Regards
Michael Hultquist - Chili Pepper Madness says
Scotty, yes, I have made different sauces with smoked peppers (and "baked" on the grill) and they come out great. The smoking process adds a nice flavor touch, IMO. Thai basil and smoked paprika are excellent additions. Let me know how it turns out for you!
Johan Botha says
Hi Michael
I am getting my first batch of mixed superhots tomorrow: various 7 pot strains, two reaper strains, various ghost strains (chocolate versions in the 7 pots, ghosts and a chocolate bhutlah too), habaneroXghost cross and some moruga scorpions.
It will be a random mix in a 2 pound batch, so I was thinking of doing two batches of this sauce (one straight, one tweaked). Can I just go ahead, or are there any peppers that won't play well in this recipe?
Also, I wont be able to make the sauce until next week, will it be okay if I freeze the pods and use them when I get a chance to make the sauce?
Michael Hultquist - Chili Pepper Madness says
Hi, Johan. Awesome. Any of these peppers will work with this sauce. I have made it with ghosts, scorpions, 7 pots, etc, and many variations. Chocolates will give a darker color sauce. Scorpions have more of a stinging, immediate bite and some people sense a touch of bitterness. Ghosts and 7 pots have more of a blooming heat and are fruitier. Some factors to consider. Otherwise, have at it! Let me know how they turn out for you. I'd love to hear.
Brian says
Hi Mike, I have a question for you. I am going to make some of my super hot Carolina reaper sauce. Usually I have fresh peppers, but this time my pepper guy is sending me a 1/2 of gallon of Carolina reaper mash I have never used mash before, just fresh peppers. My batches are one batch = 6/5 oz bottles
How many ounces of the mash do you think I should use for one batch of 6 bottles. I was considering 8 oz total, but I wanted a really hot, you think that will be too much or too little. Thanks
Michael Hultquist - Chili Pepper Madness says
Hey, Brian. I guess it's hard to say, as it depends on what other ingredients you're using and how much vinegar you want to use. 8 ounces sounds good, but then you have 22 more ounces to fill, + more if you're straining. You could go up to 15 and even 20 ounces if you want more pure reaper flavor/heat. Sorry if this isn't helpful.
Dwayne Mouton says
Hi Mike . I noticed one of the responses mentioned smoking the peppers for a couple hours rather than baking. I want to try this method so my wife doesn’t divorce me. I have an electric smoker but I’m not sure how long are at what temperature to smoke them. Any suggestions.? Thanks.
Michael Hultquist - Chili Pepper Madness says
HI, Dwayne. I hear ya! Check out my post on How to Smoke Chili Peppers. This should help! Good luck! https://www.chilipeppermadness.com/preserving-chili-peppers/how-to-smoke-chili-peppers/
Kristi says
Can you do this recipes with dehydrated carolina reapers? I dehydrated ALOT of them so i could later down the road.
Michael Hultquist - Chili Pepper Madness says
Absolutely! Check out my post on How to Make Hot Sauce from Dehydrated Peppers: https://www.chilipeppermadness.com/recipes/how-to-make-hot-sauce-from-dried-peppers/
Michael Jenkins says
Instead of the oven do yourself a favor and use a smoker for a few hours. It adds so much flavor to the sauce and saves your ears from listening to people complain about the fumes.
Michael Hultquist - Chili Pepper Madness says
Yes, would be amazing with a smoky addition.
Bill says
Hi Mike. Big fan of your site!
I'm up to my ears in a few varieties of ghost peppers and chocolate scorpions. I've made loads of other hot sauces but never with superhots. I'm wondering how fermenting will effect the heat levels. I'd like to maximize heat and flavor and also have a long shelf life. My plan was to ferment the peppers, garlic and basil; and then blend with vinegar afterwards. Do you have any input for fermenting superhots, especially with regards to the heat level? Thanks!
Michael Hultquist - Chili Pepper Madness says
Thanks, Bill. Fermenting does tend to mellow things, but you'll still get a LOT of heat from the superhots. Very enjoyable! Ferment them as any other pepper. Let me know how it goes for you.
Courtney says
Great recipe. Everyone thought this was delicious. And a little goes a LONG way but with great flavor. I used 7 Pot, jalapeño and an unknown (given to me by a friend), I used probably around 1.5 Cups of white vinegar, close to 30 fresh basil leaves, no clue about salt but I used a pink salt (4-5 really hefty pinches), 8-9 cloves of garlic roasted with the peppers along with drizzled with olive oil. This is my first time doing this and it turned out great.
When they mention fumes that’s hilarious. Wear a mask, goggles or maybe char these suckers on a grill.........OUTSIDE! Feels like your kitchen/house was sprayed with mace versus air freshener!
Michael Hultquist - Chili Pepper Madness says
Thanks, Courtney. Glad you enjoyed it. Yes, the fumes can really get you with superhots! Oh boy.
Greg says
Do you have have any recipes for wing sauce using trinidad scorpion peppers?
Michael Hultquist - Chili Pepper Madness says
Not specifically, Greg, but you can easily use this very recipe but sub in scorpions. You can scorpions for just about any of my sauces. If you're looking for a Buffalo Wing Sauce recipe, try this one and use scorpions: https://www.chilipeppermadness.com/chili-pepper-recipes/sauces/homemade-buffalo-sauce/
Jamie says
Just made this sauce with my reapers, ghosts, chocolate habs and scorpions! Such a killer pairing of peppers for this recipe and the color is beautiful
Michael Hultquist - Chili Pepper Madness says
Excellent!!