This homemade Carolina Reaper hot sauce recipe is incredibly hot, made with roasted Carolina Reaper peppers, the hottest peppers in the world, garlic, and onion. If you love your hot sauce “hot”, it doesn’t get any hotter!
Carolina Reaper Hot Sauce Recipe
This is for you, my true chilihead friends. I know you love your hot sauce HOT, and it really doesn't get much hotter. I'm sure you have your own collection of artisan Carolina Reaper hot sauces in your stash, and there are a lot of great ones out there for sure.
I've tried so many and enjoyed a lot of them
But like anything, it's fun to make hot sauces on your own, like this one - my Homemade Carolina Reaper Hot Sauce. Yes!
This hot sauce is made exclusively with Carolina Reaper Peppers, one of the hottest pepper in the world, according to the Guinness world records. Yes, there are many other superhot peppers out there in the world and I have cooked with many of them.
Some of them can match the heat of the reaper pepper when comparing pod for pod, and some even seem hotter, but this pepper has achieved the peak heat of 2.2 Million Scoville Heat Units. That is incredibly hot!
If you'd like a comparison, consider it next to a typical jalapeno pepper, which averages about 5,000 Scoville Heat Units, and you'll find that the hottest Carolina Reaper is up to 440 times hotter. Or consider the ghost pepper, which you know is very hot. It reaches around 1 Million SHU, making the hottest reaper over twice as hot.
Talk about heat.
The Carolina Reaper is more comparable to other superhots like the Trinidad Moruga Scorpion Pepper or the Trinidad Scorpion Butch T.
Here's a little information about the Carolina Reaper.
About the Carolina Reaper
The Smokin’ Ed's Carolina Reaper® is currently the hottest pepper in the world. It is was developed by a grower named Ed Currie by crossing a Pakistani Naga with a Red Habanero type from St Vincents Island in the West Indies.
It was bred in South Carolina and tested at over 2.2 Million Scoville Heat Units (with an average of 1,641,000 SHU) by Winthrop University. It is also called HP22B pepper. As of 2013 it was over 7 generations old.
Despite the heat, which some people love, it is surprisingly fruity with a touch of sweet. It makes an excellent hot sauce.
Learn more about the Carolina Reaper here, including flavor profile, heat levels, and much more.
Let's talk about how to make Carolina Reaper hot sauce, shall we?
Homemade Carolina Reaper Hot Sauce Recipe
- First, heat your oven to 400 degrees. Set 8 ounces of Carolina Reaper peppers, 1 head of garlic (top slices off) and halved onion on a baking sheet. Bake them for 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. You may want to turn on the oven fan and open some windows. See my safety notes below.
- Add the peppers and onion to a food processor. Squeeze garlic out of their skins and into the food processor they go.
- Add in the vinegar and salt. Process until you get a chunky mixture. Watch out for the fumes!
- Add in a half cup of water and process again until the sauce starts to smooth out. Check it for thickness. If you’d like a thinner sauce, add in a bit more water a little at a time, processing, until you reach your desired consistency.
- If desired, you can strain the sauce to smooth it out, or use it as-is. If you do strain it, you can discard the pulp or dehydrate it to make a superhot seasoning powder.
- Pour into sterilized bottles and enjoy. The longer you let it sit, the more the flavors will meld.
That's it, my friends! This is pretty much the hottest sauce around. It will truly bring on the heat! Go for it, you crazy chilihead, you! I know you love cooking with hot peppers.
Safety Tips for Working with Carolina Reaper Peppers & Other Superhots
- Wear Gloves. Chili peppers, and superhots in particular, contain oils that can cause burning sensations on your skin if you touch them directly, particularly when you chop them or cut them open. It is best to wear gloves when working with them. Try not to touch other parts of your skin, like your face or elsewhere. If you do, see my page on How to Stop the Chili Pepper Burn.
- Avoid the Fumes. You're most likely cooking indoors in your kitchen, so beware of the fumes. These peppers give off fumes that can make it difficult to breath, a bit like pepper spray wafting into the air. Open up as many windows as you can, and use a fan to combat the fumes. Try baking the peppers outside, on your grill, for example, if possible.
See my page for further tips on Cooking with Superhot Chili Peppers.
Recipe Tips & Notes
- Cooking Method. I decided to roast my Carolina Reapers along with onion and a lot of garlic, but there are different ways to make this hot sauce. Alternative methods include chopping them and cooking them in a pan, boiling them and processing them, or processing them raw with other ingredients then cooking the resulting puree. You can also ferment the peppers to make hot sauce.
- Other Ingredients. I kept this rather simple with few ingredients in order to focus on the flavor and heat of the Carolina Reapers. Consider this a basic starter sauce. Feel free to incorporate other ingredients to your preference that you feel will compliment the flavors. Some ideas include fresh or dried herbs, ginger, cumin, chili powders, fruit like mango or habanero, or perhaps a citrus like lime juice or lemon juice. Try it with roasted carrots. You'll be surprised at the resulting body and mild sweetness.
- Vinegar. I've made this and recipes like it with a variety of different vinegars. It just depends on your flavor preference. Just make sure it is a good quality vinegar you enjoy. Using cheap vinegar will result in a cheap sauce. I often use white vinegar that is distilled, but I also enjoy apple cider vinegar for the extra tanginess and touch of sweet.
Frequently Asked Hot Sauce Questions
Here are answers to some of the most common questions I get about other hot sauces:
How long will my Carolina Reaper Hot sauce keep?
This hot 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 3.5 or so, to account for errors.
This particular sauce measured 4.3 pH for me, so if you'd like it to last even longer, add more vinegar or a citrus (such as lemon juice or lime juice) 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 those Hot Sauce Bottles?
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 (woozy bottles) that most hot sauce makers use, here's another link: Hot Sauce Bottles (Woozy 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. Also, I would lower the pH to 3.5 if you're running them through a water bath.
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!
Try Some of My Other Popular Carolina Reaper Recipes
- The Hottest Damn Hot Sauce I Ever Made (made with Carolina Reapers and other superhots)
- 5-Alarm Superhot Chicken Wings
- Reaper Chips (superhot tortilla chips)
Try Some of My Other Popular Hot Sauce Recipes
Got any questions? Ask away! I’m happy to help. 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.
Carolina Reaper Hot Sauce Recipe
Ingredients
- 8 ounces Carolina Reaper peppers stems removed - NOTE: go by weight, not size. This was about 20 pods for me, but mine were small this year
- 1 large bulb of garlic top sliced open to expose most of the garlic
- 1 medium white onion sliced in half
- 3 tablespoons good quality vinegar distilled white, champagne or apple cider vinegar for more tangy
- ½ teaspoon salt or more to taste
- 1 cup of water or more, as desired
Instructions
- Heat your oven to 400 degrees. Set the Carolina Reaper peppers, garlic and onion 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.
- Add the peppers and onion to a food processor. Squeeze garlic out of their skins and into the food processor they go.
- Add in the vinegar and salt. Process until you get a chunky mixture. Watch out for the fumes!
- Add in a half cup of water and process again until the sauce starts to smooth out. Check it for thickness. If you’d like a thinner sauce, add in a bit more water a little at a time, processing, until you reach your desired consistency.
- If desired, you can strain the sauce to smooth it out, or use it as-is. If you do strain it, you can discard the pulp or dehydrate it to make a superhot seasoning powder.
- Pour into sterilized bottles and enjoy. The longer you let it sit, the more the flavors will meld.
Video
Notes
Nutrition Information
AMBRA DOBBINS says
I have canned some Carolina readers in a hot water bath. Can I use them to make a hot sauce?
Michael Hultquist - Chili Pepper Madness says
Ambra, absolutely. They're perfect for this. You can just cook them down with the other ingredients, then process per the recipe. Let me know how it turns out for you.
Patrick says
Mike,
I'd like you to know that this sauce has brought all sorts of joy to my household. My daughter and I are blown away at not only the level of heat, but the flavor of it as well. This is an amazing recipe. My wife, on the other hand, finds it funny watching the wonderful pain this is causing the two of us who were brave enough to try it. Your recipes never disappoint.
-Patrick
Michael Hultquist - Chili Pepper Madness says
Thanks, Patrick! Super happy you enjoyed it! LOL, I can see the look on your wife's face. Haha.
Bryan says
Perfect, simple recipe! Plenty of room to play around. I just doubled it with another 8 oz. of Scorpion peppers and I absolutely love it! Thanks!!
Michael Hultquist - Chili Pepper Madness says
Great, Bryan! That'll bring the heat! Glad you enjoyed it.
Ken says
I smoked the vegetables on the grill and get them nice and charred instead of putting them in the oven. Flavorful!
Michael Hultquist - Chili Pepper Madness says
Very nice!!
Sean says
Sauce was great! My second batch I played with. Used red onion instead of white, and used 1/4 cup pineapple juice. Hot and sweet!
Michael Hultquist - Chili Pepper Madness says
Very nice! Glad you enjoyed it, Sean!
Kevin says
YOWZZZA!!
I smoke, vacuum seal, and freeze my peppers fresh from the garden. I figured leftover grilled onions would also be perfect.
What I wasn't thinking (until the taste test) was smoking the peppers takes most of the water weight out. So, I weighed out the 8 oz, but it was probably more like double that of fresh. Holy Cow!! This will make you sweat!
Michael Hultquist - Chili Pepper Madness says
It sure will, Kevin! Very nice!
Tyrone Corey says
Awesome recipe!! how long do you Dehydrate the left over pulp? I bought a new food Dehydrator appliance for the kitchen and wanna do it right!
thanks
Michael Hultquist - Chili Pepper Madness says
Thanks, Tyrone! I do 8-10 hours at 125 degrees F. I have a post on Dehydrating Hot Sauce Pulp to Make Seasonings: https://www.chilipeppermadness.com/recipes/seasonings-from-hot-sauce-pulp. Let me know how it turns out for you! Enjoy.
Hendrik says
8 ounces (around 225 gram if i'm correct) with 20 pods? Mine really aren't that small and with 20 pods I get up to 120 gram. I plan to make 2 litres so I will be needing a lot more peppers in any case..
Michael Hultquist - Chili Pepper Madness says
Hendrick, you can supplement with other peppers if desired. You'll still get plenty of heat.
John Coen says
This is Super Hot Death Sauce and I LOVE IT!!!!! Wow!!! My family had to close their bedroom doors and open the windows while I was making it. Everybody was coughing including myself!!! It was Awsome. I love this hot sauce. Thank you soooo much for the recipe. I will definitely be making this again in the future.
Michael Hultquist - Chili Pepper Madness says
Awesome, John! Glad you're enjoying it! Haha, yeah, extra hot!
Jim says
I just made a batch of this. I only had a few ounces of Carolina reapers and ghost peppers, so I substituted Serano peppers for the rest. Even so, this is ferociously hot! Just a drop of it from a toothpick on my tongue left my mouth on fire for quite a while. Great burn, great flavor but I cannot imagine making it with a full 8 ounces of Carolina reapers! Thanks for the great recipe!
Michael Hultquist - Chili Pepper Madness says
Hey, Jim. Oh yeah, this is some seriously HOT stuff with pure reapers!
Gloria O. says
Let me first say that I LOVE your website, This has become my go to for info/recipes. My question about this recipe is this: how long does it last? How long can I keep it in the fridge? It would be very helpful if you shared with us how long these awesome hot sauces last. Thank you so much, and thanks again for such a great website.
Michael Hultquist - Chili Pepper Madness says
Thanks, Gloria! I appreciate it. This recipe has a lot of vinegar so should last many months in the refrigerator. I have a paragraph on this in the middle of the post. I hope you enjoy it!!!
Melissq says
In the instructions you said after straining the sauce, you can save the pulp to make a super hot seasoning powder. How do you do that?? I hate wasting any of my precious reapers 🙂
Michael Hultquist - Chili Pepper Madness says
Melissa, I have a link for making powders from strained pulp here: https://www.chilipeppermadness.com/recipes/seasonings-from-hot-sauce-pulp/
Sherri Dodson says
Just made my first batch and it is off the chain. Can't wait to make another batch. I used apple cider vinegar for the extra twang. Definitely 5 stars.
Michael Hultquist - Chili Pepper Madness says
Excellent, Sherri! Yeah, this is some dang good HOT sauce for sure! I love it, "off the chain!". Most definitely. Glad you enjoyed it.