Homemade Tabasco Sauce Recipe

4.96 from 96 votes

Learn how to make tabasco hot sauce with this homemade tabasco sauce recipe, using garden grown tabasco peppers, vinegar and salt. Fermented and non-fermented versions.

Prep Time10

Cook Time15

FOR FERMENTING7

Course: hot sauce, Main Course

Cuisine: American

Keyword: fermented, hot sauce, recipe, spicy, tabasco

Servings: teaspoons

Calories: 2kcal

Author: Mike Hultquist

Ingredients

FOR THE FERMENTED VERSION

5 ounces tabasco peppers roughly chopped
2 tablespoons sea salt (.67ounce - 19 grams)
1 quart unchlorinated water
1 cup white wine vinegar or more as desired

FOR THE NON-FERMENTED VERSION

5 ounces tabasco peppers
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup white wine vinegar or more as desired

Instructions

FOR THE FERMENTED VERSION

First, ferment the tabasco peppers. You can process them to coarsely chop them or rough chop them with a knife. Pack them into a jar, leaving at least 1 inch of head space. The peppers may rise a bit when fermenting.
Next, mix 1 quart unchlorinated water with 2 tablespoons sea salt (4% brine solution). Pour just enough brine over the peppers to cover them, pressing them down a bit as you go. Discard or save any unused brine. It is important to keep the peppers covered with brine to avoid spoilage. Check this daily.
Screw on the lid and set the jar away from direct sunlight to ferment for at least 1 week. Ideal temperatures are between 55-75 degrees F. The most active fermentation period is between 1-2 weeks, so be sure to monitor it during this time. “Burp” the jars often by unscrewing the lid a bit to let out some of the accumulating gases. Or, use an airlock or membrane for easier fermenting. See our page, “How to Make Fermented Pepper Mash”, for further instruction.
After 1-2 weeks, the fermenting activity will diminish and the brine will turn cloudy and taste acidic.
Pour the fermented tabasco peppers, including brine, into a pot along with vinegar. Alternatively, you can strain and toss the brine, then add the solids to a pot with vinegar and 1/2 cup water or more as desired + 1/4 teaspoon salt. Or use only a part of the brine for a thicker sauce. More brine = more salty. Bring to a quick boil, reduce heat and simmer for 15 minutes.
Cool slightly then add to a food processor. Process until smooth.
Strain the mixture to remove the solids. Pour into hot sauce bottles and enjoy. You can adjust the volume with additional water and/or vinegar.

FOR THE NON-FERMENTED VERSION

Add the tabasco peppers, vinegar and ¼ teaspoon salt to a small pot.
Bring the mixture to a quick boil, then reduce the heat and simmer for 15 minutes to soften.
Cool slightly, then add to a food processor. Process until smooth.
Strain the mixture to remove the solids. Pour into hot sauce bottles and enjoy. You can adjust the volume with additional water and/or vinegar.

Video

Notes

Each version makes about 1 cup unstrained and ½ cup strained. I added in more vinegar to fill up 2 woozy bottles and get the consistency more like original Tabasco hot sauce.

Heat Factor: Medium. You'll get a good level of heat from tabasco peppers, though not overwhelming. If you'd like a hotter version, bring in some other hotter peppers, like the ghost pepper.

Cooking the Fermented Hot Sauce is Optional. You can skip the cooking of the fermented version to keep the probiotic benefits of fermentation. However, fermentation may continue without cooking, so you may need to burp your bottles or jars to avoid them from bursting! Cooking removes the probiotic benefits, but melds the flavors.

Nutrition