This hot sauce recipe is made with fiery devil's tongue peppers for a nice level of heat, along with lots of garlic, ginger, turmeric and honey for a touch of sweet. Let's make hot sauce!
It's hot sauce making time in the Chili Pepper Madness kitchen again, my friends. Then again, when is it NOT hot sauce making time. I make hot sauces all year long, but right now I'm making a lot more because my garden is exploding with peppers.
Literally EXPLODING! I don't know how many pounds of peppers I've pulled from my wonderful little garden. And I am truly a lucky man to have all of these wonderful chili peppers.
I preserve chili peppers in so many different ways, but making hot sauces is one of my favorites. Hot sauces will last for many months (or longer) and you can drizzle them on just about anything. I grew more than twenty varieties of chili peppers this year and one of the most productive plants by far was my Devil's Tongue pepper plant. Holy peppers!
I got dozens and dozens of pods from that plant. I am freezing some, drying some for making powders, creating some quick chili pastes, and of course making hot sauce with them, which I'm sharing with you below.
About Devil's Tongue Peppers
Devil's Tongue peppers are similar in color and shape to the Fatalii pepper, but with smaller pods and smoother skin. The peppers mature to a bright yellow or yellow-orange and has a sweet, fruity flavor, if you can get past the intense heat.
The peppers were discovered in Pennsylvania growing among other habanero peppers, so it would appear it is a habanero type, though its exact origins are unknown. The heat level rivals that of the habanero and is still much hotter than most peppers.
Learn more about Devil's Tongue Peppers here.
Let's talk about how we make our own devil's tongue hot sauce at home, shall we?
Devil's Tongue Hot Sauce Ingredients
- Devil’s Tongue Peppers. See notes for alterative peppers.
- Carrot. Peeled.
- White Onion. Peeled.
- Garlic. I like a lot of garlic!
- Ground Ginger.
- Ground Mustard.
- Honey. Optional.
- Turmeric.
- Sea Salt. I used smoked sea salt.
- Ground Black Pepper.
- Apple Cider Vinegar.
- Water.
How to Make Devil's Tongue Hot Sauce - the Recipe Method
First, chop the peppers, carrot, onion and garlic. Add them to a pot with the remaining ingredients.
Bring to a boil then reduce the heat and simmer for 15 minutes. You can simmer longer if you’d like to develop the flavors more.
Cool slightly then pour the mixture into a food processor or blender. Process until smooth.
Add a bit more water if you’d like to thin the sauce out a bit to your preference.
You can serve it as is or strain it through a fine mesh sieve for a much smoother hot sauce.
Store in airtight containers in the refrigerator.
BOOM! Done! That's it, my friends! Look at that vibrant color. Looks wonderful, doesn't it? It's nice and SPICY. I love it. I hope you enjoy it.
Recipe Notes & Tips
- Yield. This recipe makes 1.5 cups strained when I added a touch more water. You can thin it out further with more water, or skip the straining for a chunkier sauce. It also upscales very nicely, so if you want to make a double batch, just double all of the ingredients.
- Heat Factor. HOT. Devil’s tongue peppers pack a nice punch of heat.
- If you can’t find devil’s tongue peppers, use habanero peppers or scotch bonnet peppers instead. Realistically, this hot sauce recipe will work with ANY type of pepper.
- pH/Acidity. I measured this sauce at 4.1 pH. If you’d like to preserve the hot sauce in a water bath, I suggest adding more vinegar or a citrus, like lemon or lime juice, to achieve a pH of 3.5 or lower.
- Safety. It is best to wear gloves when working with hot peppers. Hot peppers contain oils (capsaicin) that can cause burning sensation on your bare skin. Gloves will help. If you do feel the burn on your skin or when eating peppers or hot sauce, see my post on How to Stop the Chili Pepper Burn.
Frequently Asked Hot Sauce Questions
Here are answers to some of the most common questions I get about other hot sauces:
How long will this Devil's Tongue 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 4.1 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.
The National Center for Home Food Preservation provides home canning instructions and many recipes that have been tested for food safety. NCHFP.uga.edu.
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
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.
Devil's Tongue Hot Sauce Recipe
Ingredients
- 8 ounces devil’s tongue peppers see notes for alterative peppers
- 4 ounces carrot peeled
- 4 ounces white onion peeled
- 2 ounces garlic or more as desired – I like a lot of garlic
- 1 tablespoon ground ginger
- 1 tablespoon ground mustard
- 1 tablespoon honey optional
- 1 teaspoon turmeric
- ½ teaspoon sea salt I used smoked sea salt
- ½ teaspoon ground black pepper
- ½ cup apple cider vinegar
- ½ cup water + more as desired
Instructions
- Chop the peppers, carrot, onion and garlic. Add them to a pot with the remaining ingredients.
- Bring to a boil then reduce the heat and simmer for 15 minutes. You can simmer longer if you’d like to develop the flavors more.
- Cool slightly then pour the mixture into a food processor or blender. Process until smooth.
- Add a bit more water if you’d like to thin the sauce out a bit to your preference.
- You can serve it as is or strain it through a fine mesh sieve for a much smoother hot sauce.
- Store in airtight containers in the refrigerator.
Notes
Heat Factor: HOT. Devil’s tongue peppers pack a nice punch of heat.
If you can’t find devil’s tongue peppers, use habanero peppers or scotch bonnet peppers instead. Realistically, this hot sauce recipe will work with ANY type of pepper.
pH: I measured this sauce at 4.1 pH. If you’d like to preserve the hot sauce in a water bath, I suggest adding more vinegar or a citrus, like lemon or lime juice, to achieve a pH of 3.5 or lower.
Nutrition Information
Glenn says
Thanks for all that you do.
The recipe is awesome but I do not have Devil Tongue peppers so I had to do 50% Habanero and 50% Serrano peppers and it came it out great. I like garlic so the two ounces listed in recipe is good but more would be better. I did use sugar in instead of honey and also added teaspoon of spoke paprika and the sauce came out really good and it almost gone. I will be making this again this weekend with habaneros only. Another great hot sauce recipe from a true master. Thanks so much.
Mike H. says
Sounds great! Enjoy the process, Glenn. Come back to let me know how it goes, will you? =)
Jim markham says
how much vinegar or lemon juice do I add to can it.
Mike Hultquist says
Jim, it's best to get a pH meter to be sure. However, you can replace half or all of the water with vinegar (so another 1/4 cup to 1/2 cup).
James says
Great taste! I used 2oz of Yellow Fatali (all I had) and 6oz of Yellow Jalapenos. I used 1 tablespoon brown sugar allulose instead of honey to avoid adding sugar.
Mike Hultquist says
Awesome, James! Very happy you enjoyed it!
isen says
wow this is a powerful sauce. had me sitting on the couch rethinking my life choices for a good 10 min.. .
1 thing i didn't like was the turmeric after taste I will either half that or leave out altogether, gave it a very overpowering taste.
really great sauce . appropriately named
Mike Hultquist says
Glad you enjoyed it, Isen. Yes, easy to skip the turmeric next time.
David Dollard says
Loved this recipe. Made it last year and almost done the bottle. Waiting on my latest harvest of devil’s tongue to make another batch. Goes great on pizza btw.
Mike Hultquist says
Nice! Glad you enjoyed it, David. A favorite of mine for sure.
Connecticut garden go says
Curious, how long will this pepper sauce last in the refrigerator?
I'm going to try the recipe using the new super hot *Death Spiral Pepper* I grew this year. It has been an outstanding producer with at least a hundred peppers on each plant.
I'm not a fan of hot anything, but my son-in-law eats hot peppers like potato chips. I'm going to use some of the peppers to make him hot sauce, which I have never done before, but since I don't know how to can I want to make sure the sauce will last a while in the fridge without going bad.
Thanks for the info, excellent website. Especially for someone like myself who doesn't eat the hot peppers but is looking for info for someone else. You made it so easy to understand. Much appreciated. Let me know if you want to try the seeds of the new death spiral pepper. I have them available. Look the seeds up on Baker Creek seeds they also have a video about the pepper on their YouTube channel. Thanks again
Michael Hultquist - Chili Pepper Madness says
Thanks! I have a paragraph on this in the post:
HOW LONG WILL THIS DEVIL’S TONGUE 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 4.1 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.
Marquez says
Could this be fermented instead?
Michael Hultquist - Chili Pepper Madness says
Absolutely. Enjoy.
Raef Dresbeck says
Ive never made a hot sauce before but this recipe was super easy to follow. I made it with Thai green chilis because that’s what I had at the time and it turned out great! I really like using the chunky version as a salsa or spread on naan bread with chicken.
Michael Hultquist - Chili Pepper Madness says
Awesome! Thanks, Raef! Glad you enjoyed it!
Dee says
Hi Mike
I have just found your recipe and it sound like just what hubby is after... our problem is we want to make quit a large batch and process it so it last for some time. How long do you process the jars in a water bath for them to last longer?
Michael Hultquist - Chili Pepper Madness says
Dee, I don't have a dedicated page to canning hot sauce with the water bath method, though I do have information on various pages. I recommend this resource for the Principles of Home Canning for now: https://nchfp.uga.edu/publications/publications_usda.html. Good luck.
Doug Cutrell says
I made this using 8 oz of fatali peppers. I let kept it on a low simmer for a full hour, adding an extra 1/2 cup water (maybe more) to keep the liquid level constant over that time. I used almost double the garlic and added about 1/4 cup of lime juice at the end, after the long simmer, so it will keep longer. The result is delicious! All of the flavors are prominent, despite the blistering heat. The inherent fruitiness of the fatali peppers is complemented by the lime. If I do it again, I will use fresh ginger and replace half of the lime juice with distilled white vinegar.
Michael Hultquist - Chili Pepper Madness says
Excellent! Glad you enjoyed it, Doug! Thanks for sharing.
Josh says
Hi Mike,
I love the recipe. A few questions though.
I have a ph of 4.7 and lowered it to 4.4 by adding lemon juice and more vinegar. Do I need to lower it more and how long will it last if I do not. Will the ph be affected if I strain the sauce? Finally, will lowering this ph level affect the flavor profile dramatically?
Thanks,
Josh
Michael Hultquist - Chili Pepper Madness says
Thanks, Josh. 4.4 is good enough, really. Most people suggest 3.5 or lower for home cooks to allow for errors. 4.6 or lower is considered shelf stable. Check the pH again if you strain it. Yes, adding more acid, such as citrus or vinegar, will affect the flavor.
Josh Weiland says
Hi Mike,
Recipe is great! I really appreciate all of the information that you have assembled on this page.
I do have a question or two. First, I have tried to lower the Ph of this recipe using lemon juice and more vinegar (3/4 of a lemon's juice) and 1/2 cup of Apple Cider Vinegar. I succeeded in dropping the ph from 4.7 to 4.4. This is for the recipe as is and not strained. Is this ph acceptable as it is no where near 3.5 though it is under 4.6 (barely). I am hesitant as I do not wish to change the flavor profile too much with additional ingredients.
Second related question, is would the ph be affected if I strained the hot sauce? Finally, at the current ph level, how long would this sauce last? You mention others around 3.5 ph would last many months, however with the higher ph I doubt that is true here.
Thanks in advance for your help! The other mash I completed with your help ended up nicely and now I am on to my 3rd and 4th. I have a pepper supplier and am getting started with all of your recipes!
Michael Hultquist - Chili Pepper Madness says
Josh, I hope I answered your questions in the other comment.
Austin says
I found this right before our shelter-in-place order went into effect. I knew I wouldn't be able to find Devil's Tongue peppers here in Maryland, but I figured I could make this with habañeros. I tried to find habañeros at five different grocery stores, but none had them (I imagine it's a supply chain problem due to the pandemic). After a month of waiting, I finally found some and excitedly made this hot sauce. Unfortunately, though I thought better of it for just a few seconds prior to making it, I used 8 ounces of habañeros instead of scaling them back. My wife and I are total hot food addicts and often enjoy things that other people describe as "insanely spicy."
The version of this hot sauce I made is so hot that it's inedible. It's heartbreaking, as I had looked forward to making the recipe for what seemed like ages. That said, we could definitely tell that the flavor of the hot sauce is delicious and, with the right proportion of peppers (maybe 4–6 ozs), it would've been fantastic.
Just sharing my little sob story here. Thanks for a great recipe. If you know of any vendor that sells Devil's Tongue peppers online (not the seeds, but the fresh peppers), please let me know. I'd love to try again, with the correct heat source.
Michael Hultquist - Chili Pepper Madness says
Hi, Austin. I'm glad you found me here. SORRY about the crazy heat! For sure you can adjust the sauce next time with 8 ounces TOTAL of peppers, but maybe 4 ounces devil's tongue and 4 ounces milder peppers, like sweet peppers. Another idea is to save your current batch, make another batch with only sweet peppers, then combine the two. That would dilute the overall heat. I've done that before.
Check out my Resources page for seeds and seedlings. I usually grow my own. Please let me know what you wind up doing. I'm happy to try to help!
William G Moody says
This recipe looks amazing! I currently have a jar of pepper mash going and after viewing this recipe I'm thinking of making this sauce using the mash. I think I could simmer everything except the mash. When everything is simmered and done, I toss in the blender along with the mash. I can use the brine to thin it down. What do you think Michael. Have you done this before?
Michael Hultquist - Chili Pepper Madness says
Thanks, William. Yes, you can totally make the hot sauce the way you describe. No problem at all. Let me know how it turns out for you!
Brian Schmidt says
Mike, this hot sauce has great flavor. Had to use habanero peppers, not a problem. I did cook it down longer then you suggested and added a little more garlic. You got me hooked on more garlic,, lol.
Michael Hultquist - Chili Pepper Madness says
That's great, Brian. Thanks. I hear you on the garlic. I'm totally hooked on it as well. Glad you like the sauce.
Matt says
OK, this is one of your best yet. I made this recipe verbatim (I usually Frankenstein a few recipes together) and I am so glad I did. I used habaneros instead of devil's tongue since that what was in the garden. One recommendation - I let everything simmer for about an hour to really get the flavors to come together. I am glad I did but I would add more liquids (water + vinegar) next time since most cooked off with the extended time and it's pretty thick. This is an instant heat, no delayed punch like the ghost pepper sauces. Amazing flavor, thanks, as always.
Michael Hultquist - Chili Pepper Madness says
Excellent, Matt! Glad you enjoyed it! This is definitely a good one. It's super easy to adjust with a bit more liquid.
David Frana says
I used habaneros for this and it turned out great. It was the first cooked hot sauce I've made. I'm planning on growing fatalis next year and looking forward to making this sauce with them. Thanks Mike!
Michael Hultquist - Chili Pepper Madness says
Excellent, David! I love it! Glad you are enjoying the sauce.
Nancy Cook says
Hi there,
I've made some of your other hot sauce recipes and they are all delicious and super hot too. Love them! I have a question please about this one. Most of your recipes state the quantity of peppers to use. This one says "ounces". Do you mean to weigh the peppers on a scale? I'm just wondering because that would be just about all the peppers I grew this season (like a large bowl full). My yield this year of Habaneros and Ghost peppers was pitiful due to weather. We didn't have a hot summer. Just want to make sure you are saying to use lots and lots and lots of peppers in this recipe. LOL
Please let me know so I can make this soon,
Thanks much for sharing all your super wonderful recipes.
Nancy
Michael Hultquist - Chili Pepper Madness says
Nancy, yes, that is by weight on a scale. However, you can mix in other peppers to save some of them if you'd like, or make a half batch. Let me know how it turns out for you.
Nancy Cook says
Thanks for your reply Mike. I’ll let you know how it goes. ????
Bruce says
Great recipe, thanks for sending. So easy to follow and delicious
Michael Hultquist - Chili Pepper Madness says
Thanks, Bruce!!
Jim says
Really enjoy your recipes.. have saved many , just looking forward to getting a good pepper harvest
Michael Hultquist - Chili Pepper Madness says
Thanks, Jim!
Mooselips says
Just looking at this made my anus catch on fire.
Michael Hultquist - Chili Pepper Madness says
Look away! It just may!! Haha, beware.
Hofterzielbeek says
Your recipe was so easy to follow. Thanks for sharing!
Michael Hultquist - Chili Pepper Madness says
Thank you! I do appreciate it.
Adam Beall says
Just made this with Komodo Dragon chillies harvested from my greenhouse. Gonna let it mature in the fridge for a couple of weeks but had a sneaky taste. Wow!! This one packs a punch but it is good, so good.
Michael Hultquist - Chili Pepper Madness says
Thanks, Adam! I'm sure it's AWESOME with the Komodo Dragon peppers. Nice!
Sandi Jones says
Mike- this recipe looks fabulous. I have no devil's tongue peppers but have habanero peppers left from my garden so I am going to make it. Have always liked mustard hot sauces so this will be a great new experience to make my own. Have always just made the regular hot sauces, salsas etc.
Also, I have ordered the cook book from Amazon and will be glad to give it a rating when I get it. I have already tried some of the recipes you send to my email and they are great.
Thank you so much
Sandi Jones
Michael Hultquist - Chili Pepper Madness says
Thanks so much, Sandi! I greatly appreciate it! I love this sauce. Extra spicy!! Maybe I need to make a Devil's Tongue Mustard. Hmmm.