We go through a lot of hot sauce in our house.  Not as much as my brother does (he eats hot sauce on everything) but we eat it a lot.  We enjoy buffalo chicken, buffalo tofu, and hot sauce on different sandwiches and meats. So we always have an open bottle of hot sauce in the refrigerator and one in the pantry.
I wanted to try making my own hot sauce but I couldn’t find any recipes that lasted more than a week or two and I knew it would take it longer to use a half pint or pint of it then a few weeks. I finally looked for a recipe I could can so I could make a large batch, give a jar or two to my brother, and enjoy the rest ourselves.
The base of the hot sauce is tomatoes and peppers. I used jalapenos because I had some from my garden and we had some from the farmer’s market.  There are a few other ingredients, including sugar, but not much.  I was excited to try this recipe but I wasn’t sure it would taste like to hot sauce we are used to eating.
I made the sauce but was a little concerned with the amount of sugar. Turns out I had a right to be concerned.  While I really liked the flavor of the hot sauce and found it to have a good amount of heat behind it, I thought the sugar made it too sweet.  So while the original recipe calls for 1 cup, I would bring it down to a half cup next time.
- 2 T. pickling spice
- 8 c. tomatoes, chopped, cored, and peeled
- 4 c. white vinegar
- 1½ c. jalapenos, chopped and seeded
- ½ c. sugar
- 1 T. salt
- Tie the pickling spices in a square of cheesecloth, creating a spice bag. Set aside.
- In a large stainless steel saucepan, combine tomatoes, 2 cups of vinegar, and chili peppers. Bring to a boil over medium high heat, stirring constantly. Reduce heat and boil gently until vegetables are soft, about 15 minutes.
- Working in batches, transfer mixture to a food processor and puree until smooth.
- Return mixture to saucepan. Add sugar, salt, and spice bag. Bring to a boil, stirring frequently, until mixture begins to thicken. Add remaining vinegar and boil gently, stirring frequently, until mixture thickens, about 45 minutes. Discard spice bag.
- Prepare a boiling water canner, jars, and lids.
- Ladle hot sauce into hot jars, leaving ½ inch of headspace. Remove air bubbles, wipe rim, and center lid on jar. Screw band down until finger tip tight.
- Place jars in canner covering with water. Bring to a boil, cover, and process for 15 minutes. Remove canner lid. Wait 5 minutes, then remove jars.
- Cool for 24 hours. Store in a cool place for 1 year.
James says
Could i leave out the pickling spice? And can i replace the peppers with serranos and habaneros? Also can i add garlic, cilantro and onion then just follow the rest of the recipe?
HezziD says
Hello. Yes you can leave out the pickling spice and replace the peppers with serranos and habaneros. You can add garlic but I’m unsure of the cilantro and onion, it may change the cooking times.
George says
Easy recipe and with 4 cups of vinegar I’m confident that it’s safe for canning. Great flavor besides being hot. I wanted a more serious sauce, so I used 15 Thai hot chilies instead of Jalapeños. Rubber gloves would be a good idea. Thought I could get away without them, and I regretted that after absent-mindedness rubbed my eyes.
HezziD says
Sounds good! Definitely use gloves, I always do when touching hot peppers or I regret it!