Learn how to make the best Jalapeño Hot Sauce! This recipe is super easy, requires only 5 ingredients and tastes so much better than store-bought hot sauce.
This jalapeño hot sauce is inspired by the one served at our favorite taqueria, Pancho's. It's not thin and watery like most bottled hot sauces. It has a thicker texture since it's made up of pureed jalapeño peppers and does not get strained. I always have a batch of this hot sauce on hand to spice up all of my favorite foods!
I love it because
- It's easy to make.
- Keeps for months.
- You can control how spicy it is.
- Only requires 5 simple ingredients.
- Tastes so much better than store-bought hot sauce.
- It's gluten free and vegan.
Jalapeño Sauce Ingredients
This recipe only requires 5 simple ingredients:
- Jalapeños
- Garlic
- Vinegar
- Water
- Salt.
Those last two barely even count. It's a basic technique and guideline so you can play around with the ingredients and adjust them to suit your taste.
This recipe can also be made with other chili peppers instead of jalapeños, or can be made with a combination of peppers. You can use serrano chillies, habanero chillies, fresno chillies or any other unique variety.
Is Jalapeño hot sauce very spicy?
This jalapeño hot sauce can be made as spicy or as mild as you like. Because jalapeños vary widely in their spiciness, I recommend tasting a small piece first to determine how hot your batch is.
For a milder hot sauce, remove the seeds and ribs before blending. For a spicier hot sauce, leave all of the seeds and ribs in.
Jalapeño Hot Sauce Uses
Put this hot sauce on just about anything you want! We love it on
- tacos
- burritos
- quesadillas
- eggs
- pizza
- chili
- grilled meats and seafood
- anywhere else you'd use hot sauce!
What will you put this green hot sauce on?
As always, please be sure to rate this recipe and let me know how you like it in the comments!
Jalapeño Hot Sauce
- Prep Time: 15 minutes
- Cook Time: 0 minutes
- Total Time: 15 minutes
- Yield: 1 ½ pints 1x
- Category: sauce
- Method: blended
- Cuisine: Mexican
- Diet: Vegan
Description
Learn how to make the best Jalapeño Hot Sauce! This recipe is super easy, requires only 5 ingredients and tastes so much better than store-bought hot sauce.
Ingredients
- 1 pound jalapeño peppers* (see note)
- 2 large cloves garlic, peeled
- 1 tablespoon salt
- 2 tablespoons - ¼ cup white vinegar, to taste
- ¼ cup water
Instructions
- Remove the stems from the jalapeños and slice each in half lengthwise. Use a spoon to remove the seeds for less heat if desired *(see note).
- Add jalapeños to a blender along with the garlic, salt, 2 tablespoons vinegar and water.
- Blend on high until totally smooth. This may take several minutes depending on your blender. Taste and add more salt and/or vinegar if desired.
- Transfer hot sauce to a jar and refrigerate for up to 2 months.
- If desired, you can ferment the hot sauce by leaving the jar out at room temperature, covered, for about a day. This will give it a deeper, more interesting flavor. Refrigerate after fermenting.
- You can also cook the hot sauce for a milder, more mellow flavor. Pour the mixture into a sauce pan and cook, stirring constantly, over medium heat until the color changes to a deeper, duller green; about 2 minutes. Remove from heat and allow to cool before transferring to a jar.
- All three methods produce excellent results. Experiment with them until you find what flavor works best for you!
Notes
- Check the heat of your chiles by cutting one open and tasting a small piece. If they are very hot it's recommended you remove the seeds and ribs. If the heat is on the more mild side, leave them whole.
Keywords: spicy, condiment, tacos
Darrick
This is an awesome recipe. Very easy to make and it tastes great. We have been going through a ton of this stuff and been using it on everything. I make some Guajillo or Hatch chile sauce also and use together often.
★★★★★
Coley
Thank you! So glad you like it!
Justin Hanna
BOOM! Love this hot sauce for many reasons. Leftover Serrano peppers are great to use. This recipe is truly simple and quick to make. I wasn’t a big hot sauce person until I made this recipe. Making a second batch today!!!
★★★★★
Coley
Thanks Justin!! So glad you love it!
nicole
Can u can this?
Coley
I've never tried but I don't see why not.
Karla
Can you freeze this
Coley
Yes you can!
Amy
This is great! I had a bag of jalapeños- I only needed one- and found this recipe to use the rest. I love it and it’s so simple. I put it on just about everything!
★★★★★
Coley
so glad you enjoyed it!
Cynthia
Our issue is we don’t like vinegar, but LOVE hot sauce! Any tips on. a vinegar replacement?
Coley
Hmm.. most hot sauces are vinegar based, that's where it gets its tang. You can try lemon juice or just replace the vinegar with water. Hope this helps!
Jenny
Try using lime juice instead of vinegar. I just used 3 limes but it depends on your taste and how juicy the lime is😊
Coley
Great tip, thanks!
Robert J McNally
Made a half batch (1/2 lb. peppers). I like it hot so everything went into the blender. The heat was perfect for me. Looking forward to my next sandwich!
★★★★★
Coley
Fantastic!!
Fern
Made this today love it as we like hot food,I used pickling salt and more salt and vinegar. I boiled it and added to sterile jars,So easy to make…. thank you.
Coley
Fantastic! So glad you enjoyed!
deb
My husband says he likes things hot so I didn't remove the seeds. OMG...it's way too hot. I tried cooking it, not enough. I tried adding a sweet bell pepper to tone it down, not enough. Handing it over to a family member that lives for hotter than hot because we won't be eating it. I'm just glad the peppers are being eaten. 🙂
Coley
Sorry this turned out too hot for you! I will say that the heat does mellow out as it sits for a bit, so if you decide to make it again in the future keep that in mind. It tastes hottest right out of the blender. Thanks for writing!
Jess
I have a TON of Habanero’s from the garden. Can I use this same method with them?
Coley
Absolutely! I highly recommend it with habaneros, actually, its one of my favorite versions. Do be sure to wear gloves when handling the peppers!
Barbara
Love this recipe, I am making it for a second time. It is such a beautiful color.
★★★★★
Coley
Awesome! So glad you love it!
Rhonda
I’d like to can it for Christmas Grinch gifts, lol. Has anyone actually canned it?
★★★★
Coley
I have never tried canning it but I know it's possible. Please let me know if you do!
Greg
Is this acidic enough to boiling water bath can?
Coley
I'm not sure to be honest. I would think so with the salt and vinegar, but I don't have enough experience with canning to say for certain.
Robert
Odd question but would it be storage stable if I were to add something like pineapple juice to this? I like the flavor combination on stuff like pizza so I’m kind of curious how it would go with hot sauce.
Coley
Great question! I'm not sure how the added fruit juice / sugar would affect the hot sauce for canning and storing at room temperature, but it would be totally fine stored in the refrigerator. Please let me know how it turns out- I'm very curious!