Homemade Cayenne Pepper Sauce
This spring, while my wife was at the garden center picking up some plants and flowers for our garden, I saw a cayenne pepper plant. I thought to myself it would be fun to grow a bunch of peppers and make some spicy Homemade Cayenne Pepper Sauce.
My little pepper plant did really well. But I have to admit I had to go to the farmers’ market late in the summer and pick up a few more peppers. I needed about 12 oz. and I came up a little short with my homegrown peppers.
Some of our green cayenne peppers made it also into our Homemade Canned Tomato Salsa that we made again this year.
We use hot sauces like Frank’s and Tabasco in our house all the time. And as I feel that homemade is generally better than store-bought I thought I need to come up with a recipe and make my own homemade hot sauce.
Helpful items for this Recipe
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4 oz 12 PACK Mini Mason Jars with Lids and Bands
3 Fine Mesh Stainless Steel Strainers
21.5-Quart Porcelain Canner with Rack
How do you preserve homemade hot sauce?
Canning hot sauce is pretty straight forward. It is very similar to canning other things from your garden. There are a couple of things to keep in mind when canning; sterilize your jars, wipe the rims so that the lid seats well, and process the jars for the correct amount of time.
We do a lot of canning in our house from tomatoes to carrots. This year we even canned our homemade Pomodoro sauce!
Canning is a hobby that we love and something that we can enjoy all year long. Here are a few of our favorite recipes that you can try too!!
OTHER CANNING RECIPES
Simple Easy Homemade Canned Tomatoes
Look at how lovely these fresh peppers are that we saw at the farmer’s market. Who could pass those up!! The color alone catches your eye!!
How hot are cayenne peppers you ask? According to the Scoville Scale, they are 30,000 to 50,000 heat units, tucked in between a Thai pepper and Tabasco pepper.
How to make hot sauce from fresh cayenne peppers
To start you need to put the peppers in white vinegar with some garlic, onion, lime juice, salt, paprika, and oil and bring to a boil. The heat of your sauce will depend upon the peppers you have.
Also, it will depend on how much of the seeds and ribs you leave in your peppers when you cook them.
You will need to boil it until everything is soft and tender. Then you need to blend the solids with a little bit of the liquid until smooth.
Put the remaining liquid through a fine-mesh strainer. Then add as much of the liquid as you like to the blended mixture to get to the consistency you like.
Fresh Cayenne Pepper Sauce Recipes
There are a lot of fresh cayenne pepper sauce recipes out there. If you follow them exactly you will generally have success with your canned hot sauce. But as with all cooking, there is one thing that you must do constantly while you cook, taste as you go!
So now is the time to taste your creation and adjust the flavors accordingly. You need to make sure you have the right amount of heat for your taste.
As each batch of cayenne peppers is a little different you may have to tweak your sauce just a little. I have some notes at the end of the recipe to help you get your hot sauce just the way you want it!
Canning
Firstly, you will need to thoroughly wash your canning jars. We always run ours through the dishwasher. You then need to sterilize everything in boiling water for 5 minutes, jars, lids and rims.
Fill the jars with the cayenne hot sauce to approximately ½ an inch from the top. Continue by wiping the rims with a paper towel making sure they are clean so the lids will seat properly. Then, screw the rims on fingertip tight only.
Process the jars and the canning process is complete! Check out the recipe for full details.
If canning at an altitude you can use this handy guide I borrowed from Noshing With The Noland to help!! We processed our cayenne hot sauce for 25 minutes. Here in Calgary, we are over 3,000 feet above sea level, at sea level you would process for 20 minutes.
Homemade cayenne pepper sauce Recipe
Homemade Cayenne Pepper Sauce
Ingredients
- 12 oz fresh cayenne peppers
- 6 cloves of garlic peeled and crushed
- 1 small onion coarsely chopped
- 2 cups white vinegar
- 2 TBSP fresh squeezed lime juice
- 3 tsp Kosher salt
- 1 tsp paprika
- 1 tsp canola oil
Instructions
Instructions
- Wash your jars and lids (I run them through the dishwasher)
- Bring water to a boil in a canning pot and place your jars and rims in to sterilize for at least 5 minutes. You can take them out of the boiling water and put them on a baking sheet in a 200 F degree oven to hold until you are ready to fill them. I usually toss the lids in the boiling water for 30 seconds before placing them on the jars as you don’t want the rubber to be in the boiling water for too long and soften too much.
- Cut off the stems of your peppers. You can leave all the seeds and rims in your peppers if you like your sauces spicy hot. If not, you can remove some of the seeds for a less spicy taste. To remove some seeds simply roll the pepper on the counter a couple of times. Some of the seeds will shake out into the garbage. Don’t worry if you remove too many seeds and your sauce isn’t as hot as you would like it to be, or it is too hot. You can adjust the level of heat before canning.
Time to Cook
- Place all the ingredients in a stainless steel sauté pan and bring to a boil. Cover and simmer for 20-25 minutes or until the peppers have softened.
- Remove from the heat and using a slotted spoon, place all the solids from the pot into the blender. Add just enough of the vinegar liquid to allow you to blend.
- Blend well so that the mixture is very smooth.
- Using a fine strainer, strain the remaining vinegar into Pyrex measuring cup.
- Pour the blended pepper mixture back into the sauté pan and slowly stir in the reserved vinegar until you get the desired consistency.
- Whisk well and then taste. Now is the time to adjust your sauce to taste; see the notes below for the different ways to adjust your sauce.
- When you are happy with the taste it’s time to start canning. Pour the sauce into your sterilized jars leaving about ½ inch space from the top.
Time to Taste
- Place the lid on and then screw the rim on just finger tight.
- Place the jars in the canning pot of boiling water and proof for 20 minutes (at sea level). Note: DO NOT place the jars directly on the bottom of the pot of boiling water, they will crack. You must use a canning pot with a wire rack inside.
- Once proofed remove the jars and place them on a tea towel on your counter to cool. You should hear a popping sound as the jars cool and seal. If a jar does not pop refrigerate and use within 3 days.
- Your sealed jars should be stored in a cool dry place and will keep for 12-18 months.
- Make sure you refrigerate any unused portions after opening your jars.
This recipe appears to be stolen from here: https://www.kitchentrials.com/2018/05/29/hot-sauce-recipe
Almost verbatim.
There are a lot of things different from our recipe to make it to our liking but it was adapted from that one using the same ingredients. We adjusted it to our liking. It has been noted and linked and it was our omission to have not done that, to begin with. Thank you for bringing that to our attention. We do loads of preserving here so we are very knowledgable about the canning process. The site was still in its infancy last year with a new author, again our apologies.
If the jar didn’t seal it will last more than 3 days in the fridge. Just like when you open a sealed jar. The vinegar does the trick. Just like pickles.
I would say yes, the vinegar will certainly help to preserve the sauce, I would think that it would be good for a week to 10 days in the refrigerator.
Actually, years. And no, you don’t need to keep it in the fridge. I have an unsealed, opened jar of Franks that has been in my desk drawer for 2 years. I use it regularly and it tastes the same as it did the day I opened it. Please learn about food preservation before spouting lies on the internet. Something with a PH of 2.5 is incapable of spoiling at room temperature stored in a drawer. Hell, leave the lid off. It won’t matter.
This is from Franks website. “We recommend that Frank’s RedHot Sweet Chili® and Frank’s RedHot® Slammin’ Sriracha® Chili Sauce be refrigerated after opening; All other sauces do not have to be, but, doing so will keep the product fresher for a longer period of time.” But all hot sauces are not made the same.
Can I blend the solid peppers in a Nutri Bullet? (Can you also mix in other hot peppers such as jalapenos?)
You certainly could add any other type so peppers in, like jalapenos. Regarding using the bullet to blend the peppers, you may want to break the peppers down or chop them up slightly before you blend them. I know those bullet blenders a pretty powerful.
My husband is curious to know what all you use this sauce on? We have never tried anything like it, but we have an abundance of cayenne and jalapeno peppers. Thanks.
You can use this sauce anywhere that you would normally use Tabasco sauce or other store-bought hot sauce like Frank’s. I like to use it when we make hot wings, but I also add it into our homemade chili or other sauces. Mixing it with mayo makes a spicy dipping sauce for veggies, you can also put the mayo mixture on your hamburgers or even dip your fries.
What do you use this sauce on?
WHAT CAN I DO TO PRESERVE MY PEPPERS THAT HAVE TURNED RED WHILE I WAIT FOR THE OTHERS ON THE PLANT TO TURN RED?
You can store the red peppers in your vegetable draw in the fridge, they should last 2-3 weeks, hopefully, the remainder of your peppers ripen in that time.
Can I use frozen cayenne peppers from last years crop to make this? It looks great!
Yes, you could use your frozen peppers as you cook the sauce before canning.
I was excited to find this recipe since I currently have a glut of cayenne and Serrano peppers. I would like to pass along that It is no longer recommended to sterilize jars, lids, and rings before canning as long as they will be placed in a boiling water bath for at least 10 minutes or pressure canned. Just wash the jars well in hot soapy water or run them through the dishwasher. In fact most lid companies now advise against boiling the lids as they have changed the compound used to create the seal. Boiling it softens it too much and can actually prevent it from sealing properly. I learned this the hard way after I had a few jars go bad within months of canning and I discovered in my research that the lids should not have been boiled. In fact my brand recommends just washing them in hot soapy water, drying them, and then putting them on the jar at room temperature. I’ve been doing that for a few years now and haven’t had a Jar go bad since.
https://www.healthycanning.com/sterilizing-canning-lids-jars/
Interesting, I have always washed and then sterilized my jars before filing them and then processing them in a water bath. I think I will continue to do that, old habits are hard to change.
I made this recipe for the first time this summer, first year growing just 1pot of cayenne peppers. Yes I played with adding a some extra flavors to it, a little chipotle and some other spices. Hot sauce without depth is just hot sauce. I recently gave a jar to my brother in the states, his reaction…” HOLY CRAP THAT’S GOOD”. ” This is seriously the best hot sauce I have ever had”. Thanks for the inspiration and posting
Dianne
Edmonton AB
Very happy you liked it! Thanks!
Thank you for such a comprehensive recipe. The sauce I made following your instructions was great, and all your tips on adjusting flavour and consistency are well explained and easy to follow. As recipe writers go, I would rate you a 10 out of 10.
Thanks, glad you enjoyed it!
Have you used this recipe using Tabasco peppers?
No I have not, I would assume they would work. If you try them let me know how it turns out.