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
Seb Munsch says
Hi!
I have a jar of dried Caroline Reapers, how can I adapt these to make a hot sauce. Can’t find much info online….?
Michael Hultquist - Chili Pepper Madness says
Seb, I have a recipe post for How to Make Hot Sauce from Dried Peppers here: https://www.chilipeppermadness.com/recipes/how-to-make-hot-sauce-from-dried-peppers/. I hope this helps! Enjoy.
Tim Bohmann says
Hi,
Can you go into more detail on the amount or weight of dried peppers to use in this recipe? Would approximately 1 oz of dried reapers steeped and reconstituted be close? I've read elsewhere that dried peppers can be 1/10 the weight of fresh. This sounds like a great recipe. I would also like to try this sauce with dried chipotles or habaneros.
What's a rule of thumb for fresh vs dry?
Thanks for all you do for us chili-heads!
Mike Hultquist says
Tim, these are the conversions I follow, based on my own measurements: 4 ounces fresh pods = 1 ounce dried pods = 3 tablespoons chili powder. I hope this helps.
Matt says
I just made around one cup of this with fresh reapers and a habanero. I gassed out the house while making it. I can barely touch this chilli sauce and my wife who was in the kitchen at the time wants a divorce.
Sarah says
Do you keep the seeds in when roasting and blending? I’ve heard it can cause bitterness
Michael Hultquist - Chili Pepper Madness says
Sarah, I usually keep them in, but you can remove them if you'd like. Some people do find the seeds bitter.
Randy says
I’m a canning rookie , if I get my ph at a safe level how long to I need to water bath my sauce to keep in in my pantry?
Michael Hultquist - Chili Pepper Madness says
Randy, if you want to keep it in the pantry for a long time, it is best to process it in a water bath. It will probably still last long without it, but safer to process.
delia says
cant wait to try this! - is it shelf stable if you follow the recipe or do you recommend using citric acid as well or something to assist?
Michael Hultquist - Chili Pepper Madness says
You can use that, or use any citrus or even vinegar for acidity.
Ann Marie says
Please help. First time going to try this Carolina reaper recipe. Am wondering if I can use white wine vinegar and in place of water if pineapple juice can be substituted to sweeten up the flavour
Love all your comments and recipes
Thank you.
Michael Hultquist - Chili Pepper Madness says
Hi, Ann. Yes, you can use white vinegar in place of the water. Also, yes, you can use pineapple juice or other juice to change up the flavor. Let me know how it goes for you. Enjoy!
Andrew says
Hi, I’m planning on making this recipe this weekend with reapers I’ve been growing at home. I’m concerned about the weight for the reapers. It calls for 8oz of reapers (about 20 for you) but I weighed some of my reapers and they range between .05-.10oz each which would mean I need around 100 reapers to get 8oz’s. They are fresh not dried so I have no idea why they weigh so little. Anyways, should I add 20 reapers (or more) then just add jalapeños to make up the difference in weight to get to 8oz?
Mike Hultquist says
Andrew, yes, you can do that. Or make a half batch.
Jim S. says
This simple recipe has become my go-to for making sauce from superhots. I still have a few bottles from last year. I make sure the pH is below 3.4 or so (using cider vinegar) and the sauce is shelf stable. It as good now — or better — as when I made it last Fall. The beauty of this sauce is that it lets the flavor, not just the heat, of the Carolina Reaper take center stage. I believe roasting the peppers is key; it adds depth to the flavor that you won’t get from simmering on the stove.
This year, I grew some of my own Reapers on three different plants. I have already bottled some sauce from those Reapers and I expect to get at least one more harvest before the Illinois Fall temps shut things down.
Thanks for sharing this great recipe and the many others on your site!
Michael Hultquist - Chili Pepper Madness says
Thanks for sharing, Jim! Glad to be helpful!
Samantha says
I just made 2 batches for gifts, and cannot wait to share them! Wondering if you think a jar would be ok long enough to ship it to someone before going in the fridge? (2-3days)
Michael Hultquist - Chili Pepper Madness says
Samantha, people mail hot sauces all the time, but I think you should water bath these and seal them. Then wrap them up like crazy, because bottles are easy to break.
Cheryl Ashbaugh says
I just made this. This is my first time growing Carolina Reapers and the plant was super prolific! Didn't know what to do with them. Ive never made hot sauce before. Does it need to be refrigerated after being bottled? Will it last several months. I was thinking to give some away for Christmas.
Michael Hultquist - Chili Pepper Madness says
Cheryl, yes, best to keep it in the refrigerator and it should last several months. Technically, with enough acidity (3.5 pH or lower for home preserving), you could keep it out of the fridge, but refrigeration is more guaranteed. You could also process with a water bath to be shelf stable.
Sandy says
I know this is just a “base” recipe to get us started. Do you like to add fruit? If so, what kind and how much with your measurements above? I’m looking to try to make a sauce with tomatoes as the “fruit”. I’ve been told and have read to not ferment the tomatoes with the peppers because of how the sugars breakdown and you lose the flavor of them. Any advice, suggestions, and/or opinions are much appreciated!
Michael Hultquist - Chili Pepper Madness says
Sandy, yes, I add fruit quite often and all sorts of other ingredients. It's really easy to combine peppers with just about anything else you'd like to create a new sauce. I have a lot of other Hot Sauce Recipes that you can review here: https://www.chilipeppermadness.com/chili-pepper-recipes/hot-sauces/. Just swap in reapers. Let me know what you come up with. Enjoy!
John says
well its hot outside. Carolina reapers are red and ready. Today I tried this recipe and its hot sauce for sure.
My face and nose are burning from cooking these up. I haven't tried the sauce yet and I am still canning them for long term use. I cut garlic but it didnt seem ready. I just peeled them and added to blender. I very sure that this will be a sauce to spice up about anything. Thanks for tips and recipe.
Mike Hultquist says
Enjoy, John!
JayCee says
I want to make this sauce just hot and also incorporate into another one like a sweet flavor but unsure of how to do it
Mike Hultquist says
JayCee, you can swap out some of the reapers with milder peppers easily. Works great. I do this all the time.
Christoffer says
Just made it out of homegrown chocolate Reapers. Tried a couple of drops. Brutal.
Michael Hultquist - Chili Pepper Madness says
Yeah, that's some heat right there!
Jeff says
What is the purpose of roasting the peppers? Is it for flavor?
Thanks!
Michael Hultquist - Chili Pepper Madness says
Yes, Jeff. Flavor. However, you can make this recipe by simmering the ingredients instead.
Ben Willis says
Mike,
Thanks so much for this awesome recipe. I just made my second batch. Unfortunately, our reaper plant got a form of blight where all of the leaves were wilted even though it was well watered. Other plants in our garden doing fine though, but sadly, had to take out the reaper. But first, it produced dozens of little tiny red reapers! They are _so_ hot!
So in honor of our lost reaper plant, I went a little nuts today. Using your base recipe, I also added fresh lemon juice, and a fresh mango. I used apple cider vinegar. I also added some bright yellow Fatali peppers, thankfully the Fatali plant is doing great! Got almost 5 bottles and I still have some tiny red Reapers left! Had a few tastes already, OMG it is soooo good and hot!!
In closing, I'd like to make a recommendation - I roast my peppers outside on our barbeque, to keep the fumes out of the house. I use a cast iron skillet and just put it on the grill. I setup a little table in our back yard and have a little outdoor hot sauce making party!
Thanks again!!
Ben
Michael Hultquist - Chili Pepper Madness says
Awesome, Ben. Thanks for sharing. And yes, roasting peppers OUTSIDE is a great idea. Glad you enjoyed it!!
adam smith says
I'm curious how you would do these recipes with crushed Reaper peppers. I know it can't be the same 8 ounces of that. I started buying Reapers and Chocolate Bhutlahs about two years ago, dehydrated them, crushed them, and put them in a jar. I still have probably 95% of the jar, and I'd guess there's about 2 pound's worth of crushed Reapers and Bhutlahs. I've bought a few sauces from Amazon that are actually really good, but not quite as hot, and since I have the crushed peppers I'd love to make my own. Using is "raw" is difficult, because as much as I love the heat, dried Reapers are even hotter than fresh, and I can literally only use what probably works out to be 1/10th of a teaspoon in a bowl of chili.
The other thing I'm wondering is how long do these keep jarred?
Michael Hultquist - Chili Pepper Madness says
Adam, I have a post on this for How to Make Hot Sauce from Dried Peppers you can review: https://www.chilipeppermadness.com/recipes/how-to-make-hot-sauce-from-dried-peppers/. It will detail measurements and steps. Hot sauces will last a very long time if you include vinegar or some other acid, which preserves them. I hope this helps.