Follow these easy instructions at home to make homemade DIY hot sauce from hot peppers, such as red Fresno peppers or habanero peppers! There's a lot to consider when making your own homemade hot sauce. In this post I'll give you a basic homemade hot sauce recipe, as well as some suggested variations so you can really customize it and make it your own!
Prep time: PT30M
Cook time: PT40M
Rating
4.88 stars (32 reviews)
Keywords
hot peppers, hot sauce, spicy, vinegar
Ingredients
10 ounces Fresno peppers, or desired combination of red peppers ((weight is after chopping the peppers))
4 ounces medium shallots ((about 2-3 bulbs, cut into quarters))
1 ounce garlic cloves ((about 5 cloves, smashed))
5 whole peppercorns
2 teaspoons diamond crystal kosher salt ((use half as much of any other brand))
6 ounces distilled white vinegar ((¾ cup))
Categories
Condiment
Cuisine
American
Steps
Remove the stems from the peppers and cut them in half, lengthwise. Remove and discard the seeds and ribs according to desired heat levels. Roughly chop the peppers into pieces approximately 2″ in size.NOT OPTIONAL: WEAR GLOVES!
Put the chopped peppers and the rest of the ingredients in a medium-sized sauce pan. Bring it to a boil, then cover and reduce to a lightly-bubbling simmer for 15-20 minutes. Be careful when removing the lid — the vinegar steam is potent!
While still hot, carefully pour everything into a powerful blender. Slowly increase speed from low to high until the sauce is completely smooth. This may require a few minutes of blending.
Pour still-hot hot sauce through a strainer into funnel set up in the mouth of your hot sanitized hot sauce bottle. You may need to do this in a few batches. Use a small spatula to press the sauce through the strainer, occasionally lifting the strainer to scrape the sauce off the bottom and into the funnel.
Seal the bottle tightly and let the hot sauce cool to room temperature, then store in the refrigerator or at room temperature for up to 8 months.
Reviews
Josh on 2025-12-13 (5 stars): Do you boil ingredients with just vinegar or do you add water to the pot as well? If so, how much?
Sara & E on 2025-12-07 (5 stars): My son has really gotten into growing peppers so we decide to try this recipe for 2 batches: a mix our year end green ones (mostly serranos) and red (a mix of padron, serrano, habaNADAs, a couple poblanos). They turned out so different but both SO good. This is a versatile, easy, straightforward recipe. I will note that when I added the vinegar.. it barely covered the peppers in both batches and I wondered if it would be enough.
Both sauces turned out very thick and were hard to get in bottles like the ones shown, even after pressing through a fine mesh strainer. We did have to thin it down with more vinegar. It is still so thick that it is hard to get out from the bottles.
Next time we will either put it in mini jars instead of bottles or double the vinegar. Probably the former since the flavor is still amazing and we don't want to change the recipe that greatly.
Nancy Friend on 2025-09-27 (3 stars): Sauce was thick. Used rum to water down.
Holly on 2025-09-01 (5 stars): I have made this recipe for two years using different types of peppers. Last year 24 6oz bottles (red and green sauce) this year 36 mild green, hot banana yellow and cayenne)to give as gifts. Invested in a pH meter to insure safety. I have found it easier to use a food mill to puree and remove seeds with fine insert as this eliminates the blending and straining. Much easier to pour with funnel and measuring cup.
Krystle Moxley on 2025-08-09 (5 stars): I made this with what peppers we had on hand in the garden. It was 75% jalapeño, with the remaining peppers being buena mulata, pablano and sugar rush peach. I used onion (again from the garden) and I charred it all in the oven before throwing it in the pot with the vinegar. It resulted in a super flavorful green hot sauce. I got two glass bottles with this recipe. My family loves it. Next I'm trying a batch of all sugar rush peach peppers. Thank you!!
sara on 2025-01-02 (5 stars): Ive just made this ,its lovely I will be sharing this and making more.
thank you for making this content.
Nellys Bradley on 2024-12-21 (5 stars): When she says gloves are not optional she means it. I did not listen and I’m burning! 😂 otherwise fantastic recipe. Can’t wait to give it out for Christmas.
Kevin Gaither-Banchoff on 2024-12-14 (5 stars): I've made this recipe multiple times. A yummy hot sauce is indeed the result. I've done two variations that are also very good. I add a sweet red bell pepper - this adds depth to the flavor. And I don't always strain it to get a hot sauce, and instead just eat it as a hot salsa. Thanks for the recipe!
