Garlic Habanero Hot Sauce
This easy garlic habanero hot sauce has the perfect fiery knock-your-socks-off flavor that you’ll fall in love with. Whether you love spicy food or just have some extra habanero chillies that you want to put to use, this easy hot sauce recipe is worth a try.
And if you have a few extra minutes, whip up a wicked habanero hot honey to drizzle over your homemade pizza!
You’ll be surprised at how a simple concoction made using peppers and garlic can really jazz up so many of your favorite foods. I've tried making preserved chilies in oil sometime back, and it was such a flavor bomb!
This time, I really wanted to make a classic hot sauce from scratch, and that's when I thought of this recipe. I picked up a huge batch of habanero peppers on my last grocery run and whipped up a month's worth of hot sauce, and a nice habanero infused oil to drizzle over my pastas and pizzas.
Quick Look
- 🔪Prep time: 5 min.
- ⏲️Cook time: 5 min.
- 👪 Servings: 6.
- 📋Main ingredients: Habanero, vinegar, garlic, fish sauce, brown sugar, sea salt.
- ♨️Cooking method: Blitz all the ingredients except vinegar in a food processor 🡢 strain and remove solids 🡢 cook down the mixture in a pot 🡢 cool, add vinegar and mix 🡢 store and enjoy.
- ⭐Difficulty: Easy.
- 🥣Serving ideas: Pair the habanero hot sauce with some air fried buffalo chicken tenders to lend them an extra spicy kick.
Jump to:
What's So Great About the Recipe?
- It takes just 10 minutes to make this delicious sauce- just like my lemon caper butter sauce.
- You can tweak and experiment with the ingredients you’re adding in to get the perfect taste you’re looking for.
- It's SO versatile. You can drizzle it over your breakfast eggs, add it to your fried rice or serve it as a dip with your favorite appetizers.
Recipe Ingredients
Habanero peppers: I used red Habanero peppers, but you could totally try this with the orange ones too.
Garlic: This one’s an absolute must, and lends the sauce that ideal garlicky flavor.
Vinegar: Vinegar helps tone down the heat in the sauce with its citrusy, tangy notes. Plus, it also aids with preservation and making hot sauce last longer. You can use white vinegar or apple cider vinegar. I like using my hot pepper vinegar whenever I have it at hand.
Brown sugar: I also added a bit of brown sugar to balance out the heat from the super spicy habaneros. You can also add some whole dates or date puree if you want to keep it natural.
Sea salt: You’ll need to use sea salt or pickling or canning salt as opposed to your regular table salt. I like adding my citrus salt sometimes for that fruity, zesty flavor.
Thai fish sauce: Just a dash of Thai fish sauce can add some beautiful umami flavors to the hot sauce. I used it for my Thai dipping sauce recipe and it was SO good.
See recipe card for quantities.
Substitutions & Variations
- If you don’t have vinegar you can add some lime juice into the mix to get in the acidic notes. Lime and peppers both work so well with each other- I realized this when I tried making Japanese citrus Kosho for the first time.
- If you don’t have brown sugar, you can totally use regular white sugar to add sweetness to the sauce. I like to add my homemade date sugar or date syrup for some extra depth of flavor.
- In addition to the habanero peppers, you can also add some other peppers of your choice. Jalapenos, Serrano and Scotch Bonnets are both great choices.
- You can also add fresh mango or pineapple into the sauce along with the remaining ingredients to make a delicious mango habanero hot sauce or pineapple habanero hot sauce. This can actually be a great way to thicken the hot sauce too!
How to Make Garlic Habanero Hot Sauce
Step 1: De-seed and devein the habanero peppers and roughly chop or slice them up.
Step 2: In a food processor, add the peppers, garlic, salt, sugar, fish sauce and water and blend until smooth.
Step 3: Pass this paste through a fine mesh sieve or a strainer to get rid of the bigger chunks.
Step 4: Cook it over medium heat in a large pot for 5 minutes or until the mixture simmers.
Step 5: Let it cool down, then add in the vinegar. Pour into jars and serve.
💭Top Tip
Remember to blitz the habanero peppers and garlic as best you can before you strain it.
Tips & Tricks to Nail the Recipe
- If you can’t handle too much heat, and want a bit of a milder spicy flavor, you can reduce the amount of habaneros you’re using, and add some red bell peppers or carrots instead.
- I used a food processor, but you can also choose to use a blender if you want to.
- To lend the homemade habanero hot sauce a smoky flavor, you can use roasted peppers instead of raw peppers. I like to bulk roast my peppers to add to this one and also to make a batch of Turkish red pepper paste.
- I would also recommend adding some olive oil into the mix to keep the ingredients from burning, and avoid cooking the sauce on high heat.
- Remember to bring to a boil, then reduce heat to low and simmer the sauce for 2-3 minutes or more, until the sauce thickens and the peppers and other ingredients soften.
- If the sauce has turned out too spicy, you can add an onion into it and cook it down a bit more. I did this when I made my sweet pepper relish and it had that beautiful savory sweetness that wasn't too overpowering.
How to Use Garlic Habanero Hot Sauce
You can put this spicy hot sauce to use in tons of different ways. Spoon it over your breakfast avocado toast (I use this when I run out of my jalapeno honey) or use it as a topping over your tacos and Mexican foods along with some Air Fryer roasted salsa- and a nice sprinkle of Sriracha salt to finish it all up.
You can also team it up with your fried foods like chicken wings or use it to add some extra spice to your rice and noodle bowls. I love drizzling it over my Mexican baked potatoes.
Troubleshooting and FAQs
I would recommend storing your garlic habanero hot sauce in the refrigerator. Simply transfer it to an airtight container or a glass bottle or jar and refrigerate it. The sauce should stay good for up to 2 weeks, if not more.
Fresh garlic is a must for this recipe! It doesn't just add flavor, but bulk to the sauce too. I love using some of my spicy pickled garlic here.
More Spicy Condiments to Try
Looking for other recipes like this? Try these:
If you tried this garlic habanero hot sauce or any other recipe on my website, please leave a 🌟 star rating and let me know how it went in the 📝 comments below. Thanks for visiting!
Garlic Habanero Hot Sauce
Ingredients
- 500 g habanero peppers
- ¼ cup vinegar
- ¼ cup garlic
- 3 tablespoon brown sugar
- ¾ teaspoon sea salt
- ½ tablespoon Thai fish sauce
- water as needed
Instructions
- De-seed and devein the habanero peppers and roughly chop or slice them up.
- In a food processor, add the peppers, garlic, salt, sugar, fish sauce and water and blend until smooth.
- Pass this paste through a fine mesh sieve or a strainer to get rid of the bigger chunks.
- Cook it over medium heat in a large pot for 5 minutes or until the mixture simmers. Let it cool down, then add in the vinegar. Pour into jars and serve.
Notes
- If you don’t have vinegar you can add some lime juice into the mix to get in the acidic notes.
- If you don’t have brown sugar, you can totally use regular white sugar to add sweetness to the sauce.
- I would also recommend adding some olive oil into the mix to keep the ingredients from burning, and avoid cooking the sauce on high heat.
- Remember to bring to a boil, then reduce heat to low and simmer the sauce for 2-3 minutes or more, until the sauce thickens and the peppers and other ingredients soften.
OMG! Wish I had tried this sooner