Basic Homemade Hot Sauce

This basic homemade hot sauce is super easy to make. You can make it as hot or as mild as you want!

Here are the ingredients you will need!

Red Fresno peppers make a great base for this hot sauce, but you can use other varieties of red hot peppers too. The hotter the pepper, the hotter the sauce. Red Fresno peppers make a great base for this hot sauce, but you can use other varieties of red hot peppers too. The hotter the pepper, the hotter the sauce.

Start by chopping the peppers. For a more mild sauce, remove the seeds and ribs. For a hotter sauce, leave some or all of them in,

Add the chopped peppers, shallots, garlic, peppercorns, vinegar, and salt to a medium pot.

Bring to a boil, cover, then reduce heat and simmer for 20 minutes. Be careful uncovering the pot — vinegar steam is strong!

Transfer everything into a powerful blender. I'm using a Vitamix 5200.

Slowly increase speed to high until it is smooth and bubbly and looks like this.

To check that your homemade hot sauce has a shelf stable pH of 3.8 or less, use pH testing strips to test it while it's in the blender. If needed, blend in 1 TBSP vinegar at a time until you get to the right acidity.

The ratio for a hot sauce with a shelf stable pH of 3.8 or less, is 4 ounces (1/2 cup) vinegar for every 10 ounces of combined peppers, shallots, and garlic.

Strain the hot sauce into a bottle using a fine-mesh strainer and a funnel. This ensures a lump free, silky smooth hot sauce.

Always make sure to use proper food safe bottling practices, sanitize your bottles, and bottle the hot sauce while it is still hot.

Serve immediately or let it chill overnight in the fridge so the flavors mingle. This hot sauce is great on any of your favorite foods!

Swipe up for the recipe and more tips!