Homemade Cayenne Pepper Sauce
A recipe to make your own homemade cayenne pepper sauce in your own kitchen, with store bought or garden grown cayenne peppers, garlic, vinegar and salt. It’s super easy and super flavorful.
Cayenne pepper sauce is by far one of the most popular hot sauce varieties in the U.S. You’ll see it packed into specialty hot sauce bottles all over the place, and there are some pretty famous cayenne pepper sauce products out there.
Perhaps you’ve heard of some of them – Frank’s RedHot? Original Louisiana Hot Sauce? Crystal?
Yeah, some big names out there making some pretty awesome cayenne sauces. I love them all. The thing is, when your garden is EXPLODING with several cayenne pepper type varieties, you really gotta make some yourself, because if there’s anything better than hot sauce, my friends, it is Homemade Hot Sauce!
YES!
So yeah, we’re talking Homemade Cayenne Pepper Sauce and it’s fabulous.
BOOM!
I’m making this particular sauce purely with cayenne peppers, though I’m adding in some garlic for a bit of extra flavor. I flat out LOVE garlic in sauces.
Brings it over the edge for sure.
About the Cayenne Peppers
You may have heard of cayenne chili peppers, but there are also a number of cayenne types out there, so you don’t have to limit yourself to what you find in the stores.
Check these babies out, picked straight from my garden.
Don’t get me wrong. Store bought cayenne peppers are outstanding for this sauce, but I’ve made with this other cayenne types that I grew in my own garden, like the ones above, including:
Yes, I’ve even made this Cayenne Buist’s, which are yellow pods, and the hot sauce came out great. It’s a super simple base recipe, but that’s the great thing about it.
You’re free to play around with it and include other ingredients to your preference.
So let’s talk about how we make this sauce, shall we?
How to Make Cayenne Pepper Sauce – The Recipe Method
First, gather up your cayenne peppers. Clean and dry them.
Chop up the cayenne peppers along with garlic cloves and add them to a pot with white wine vinegar and a bit of salt.
Bring the mix to a boil, then reduce the heat to low and simmer everything for 20 minutes. The peppers and garlic will be nicely softened.
Cool the mixture slightly, then transfer it to a food processor or blender. Process it until the sauce is nice and smooth.
Strain the sauce through a fine sieve if you’d like a smoother sauce, or pour it into bottles as-is for a thicker sauce.
Done! Simple enough, right?
Some Recipes Notes and Information on Yields
My included recipe yields 5 ounces of strained sauce, which is the size of a typical hot sauce bottle. To make enough strained cayenne pepper sauce to fill a 5 ounce bottle, you’ll need to start with 10 ounces of cayenne peppers, 6 garlic cloves, and 1/2 cup of vinegar. Plus some salt.
This is approximate, but should get you quite close. And note again that this is STRAINED. Unstrained, the above measurements will yield you about 1-1/3 cups of cayenne pepper sauce.
Straining definitely thins out the sauce, though you can also thin it and/or stretch the sauce out by adding more vinegar or water, or perhaps another liquid, such as lime juice or beer. Consider the flavor possibilities.
Just be sure to weigh out your peppers first based on how much you’re looking to make.
Fermented vs. Non-Fermented Cayenne Pepper Sauce
As you’ll see, this is a fresh pepper hot sauce, meaning I did not ferment it. I have no preference over fermented or non-fermented hot sauces, as either has their advantages, though fermenting your peppers first does mellow them out considerably.
If you’re interested in fermenting, check out my post on How to Ferment Chili Peppers, and simply incorporate them into the recipe below.
Learn More About Hot Sauce Making
That’s it, my friends! I hope you enjoy the hot sauce! Go cayenne!
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.
Need help? How to Stop the Chili Pepper Burn On Your Skin.
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
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!
Try Some of My Other Popular Hot Sauce Recipes
- Homemade Sriracha (both fermented and non-fermented varieties)
- Roasted Red Jalapeno Hot Sauce
- Fermented Aji-Garlic Hot Sauce
- Honey Roasted Hot Pepper Hot Sauce
- Spicy Serrano Hot Sauce
- Ti-Malice – Hatian Creole Hot Sauce
- Ghost Pepper Hot Sauce
- Superhot Hot Sauce (The Hottest Damn Hot Sauce I Ever Made)
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.
- 10 ounces cayenne chili peppers
- 5-6 cloves garlic
- 1/2 cup white wine vinegar
- 2 teaspoons salt
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Chop up the cayenne peppers along with garlic cloves and add them to a pot with thee vinegar and a bit of salt.
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Bring the mix to a boil, then reduce the heat to low and simmer everything for 20 minutes.
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Cool the mixture slightly, then transfer it to a food processor or blender. Process it until the sauce is nice and smooth.
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Strain the sauce through a fine sieve if you'd like a smoother sauce, or pour it into bottles as-is for a thicker sauce.
Heat Factor: Medium. Cayennes have a fairly decent level of heat.
See the recipe discussion for notes about straining and how it affects the amount of finished hot sauce.
22 comments
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Can’t wait to try this! I have cayenne peppers in the garden. Love raw oysters and have been looking for a great sauce.
Thanks, Debbie. I hope you enjoy it.
First time trying this recipe…AMAZING! I also added 3 habaneros and 3 jalapenos to the mix. The flavor is just awesome with enough heat, but not too crazy. It was a little thicker then I was expecting, but you could add water to thin if you wanted. Highly recommend this recipe, THANK YOU!
Awesome, Sean! I appreciate the comments! Super happy you enjoyed it. Time for more hot sauce!
Hi, all these recipes turn out way too thick for me. I even tried simmering this one less. I had to add double the amount of vinegar otherwise it just would not pass through the sieve. Any ideas on what I might be doing wrong?
Luke, the best way to thin out thicker sauces (which are more like pastes than a sauce) is to add in a bit of liquid to thin it out. Try using water, stock, vinegar, or something like lime juice or even beer if you’d like. Your choice may affect the flavor, obviously, so choose accordingly. I sometimes need to add a splash of water here and there to thin things out. Let me know if this helps.
Hi Mike!
I nearly chocked myself to death several years ago by putting dried ceyenne peppers in the food processor. I have about 8 oz. of dried ceyenne peppers from our community garden. If I just cook them down with vinegar, salt & garlic will I be safe putting them into the food processor now?
Hi, Karen – I’m sure you’d be safe, but if it bothers you, you can always keep a window open and try to get some ventilation. Sometimes peppers can be quite “fumey”, as you’ve experience. Let me know how it works out.
Mike,
Do you have a source for fresh cayenne peppers. I have never seen them in the stores around here in Northern California. Or would dried work?
John, I typically grown my own, but I can also sometimes find them in stores near me. If you can’t find them, yes, you can rehydrate dried cayenne peppers and use those. Here are some links to help you. How to Rehydrate Chili Peppers. Also, Chili Pepper Seeds and Plant Resources.
Do you have to dry the cayennes? I dont have access to a smoker or dehydrator currently and was hoping to maybe roast them in the oven and then peel them prior to adding them in for the recipe. Would this work?
Justin, no, you do not have to dry the cayenne peppers. I just cooked them down in a pot, raw, with garlic, vinegar and salt, then processed them to form the sauce. If you dehydrate them, they will need to be rehydrated to make the sauce. You can smoke them as well for some extra smoky flavor. Let me know how it goes for you.
Hi Mike. Im looking at smoking some defrosted chillies from last summers crop and making a sauce. Have Cayennes and some hot carribean mixed chillies. Would this recipe work or would you make adjustments?
Hey, Jason. I have a page on How to Smoke Chili Peppers that will let you know exactly what you need to do. Basically, smoke the peppers then finish them off in the dehydrator and grind them. Let me know how it works out for you.
Hi Mike. I did a little experiment. I smoked some cayennes for 30 minutes so they we still soft, and collected the juice that came out. Basically followed this recipe but added the smoking juices and some smoked paprika and tomato paste. Ended up with a thick, deep red smoky chilli sauce which goes great with all sorts of meat.
Perfect, Jason! Sounds awesome! I love smoking peppers as well. Nice.
Mike, Do you think I could mix Habeneros with Cayennes for this sauce? Trying to use up the last of the peppers in my garden 🙂 Thanks!
Liz, absolutely!! You’ll get some extra kick for sure! Let know how it comes out for you.
Love homemade sauce! Looks yum.
Thanks, Sheenam!
Would straining affect the level of heat in the sauce or does it permeate through the cooking process?
Jake, it will permeate through the sauce, so straining really won’t affect the heat. Enjoy!