This hot sauce is so unbelievably good. It’s hard for me to write any more than that because those words are pretty much all my brain can muster when I think about this fermented hot sauce, also known as “The Best Hot Sauce in the World.” Who needs sriracha when you have this homemade deliciousness?
Peppers for Fermented Hot Sauce
This hot sauce starts with dried hot peppers. These were Red Rocket peppers from the Barking Moon Farm stand at the Ashland farmer’s market.
We had received them in a CSA box a few years prior and I had no idea what to do with them until I came across this recipe from Frugally Sustainable for fermented hot sauce.
Of course that’s what I should do with them!
You can use any hot pepper you like for this recipe, fresh or dried. Each pepper variety will give it a totally different and unique flavor, so I recommend trying out whichever one you prefer.
If you are a hot sauce lover you can make a few batches using several different peppers to see which one you like best!
Fermented Hot Sauce Recipe
I adapted this recipe to use dehydrated peppers, but please feel free to use fresh when they are in season!
Cut off the stems if you wish, but they can also be left on. I think if I was using fresh peppers I would leave the stems on, but these dried ones were pretty tough.
Leave as many seeds in as you dare, depending on how hot your peppers are and how hot you like it! I probably ended up using about half of the seeds as these are very hot peppers.
Toss the peppers into a quart jar along with half an onion chopped and several whole garlic cloves (I used 6, but you can never have enough garlic in my mind!).
Put 2 tablespoons kosher or sea salt (not iodized) into the jar with the peppers and onions.
Fill the jar most of the way with water, but leave an inch or so of space at the top. Use a long spoon or chopstick to stir the the brine well to help dissolve all the salt.
You can alternatively cover the jar and shake everything up well.
So gorgeous! Put a weight on top of the veggies to keep them under the brine.
This weight fits into any wide mouth jar. It’s so cute and fits perfectly! It takes away that thought that I always have when I get to this point, which is “what the heck am I going to use as a weight?”
Fermentation Kit for Hot Sauce
I tried out a new little fermenting kit when I made this hot sauce. See that weight and airlock? That’s the Ferment’n Home Fermentation Kit. It turned out to be pretty useful, in my opinion, but unfortunately it doesn’t exist anymore.
If you’re wanting to get a fermenting kit, I suggest getting something like The Easy Fermenter or the Masontops Complete Fermentation Kit.
Of course a zip top bag or a smaller jar filled with water will do the trick, but having a fermentation weight is really handy.
Then you can either cover the jar with a clean cloth to keep the bugs out or use an airlock.
Many fermenting kits come with an airlock that fits onto a wide mouth jar. You just put a little bit of water into it and then screw the metal ring on to hold it in place. Pretty cool!
Ferment & Blend the Hot Sauce
Put the jar in a corner somewhere and let it ferment for about 2 weeks. This is when the magic happens!
The weight will probably be totally submerged after the fermentation period, and the color of the liquid may change a little, but it’s all good!
Pour the entire contents of the jar into a blender, along with a small splash of either white or apple cider vinegar, and blend the whole thing up.
It will smell spicy and delicious!
Pour it all back into the jar and there you have it. That’s it!
Put a lid on it, keep it in the fridge and it will keep indefinitely. It will continue to slowly ferment over time and get tastier, but it’s pretty amazing right away.
I’m sure that you will find yourself putting it on absolutely everything like I do!
Now go make yourself some of this awesome fermented hot sauce, you won’t be disappointed!
More Fermented Sauce Recipes
Love a good fermented sauce recipe as much as I do? Here are a few others for you to try!
- Jalapeno Hot Sauce
- Pepperoncini Hot Sauce
- Fermented Ketchup
- Chili Paste
- Kimchi (not quite a sauce, but a spicy and delicious condiment)
If you want to learn more about fermentation, check out my favorite books on fermenting and homebrewing!
Fermented Hot Sauce
Ingredients
- hot peppers fresh or dried
- ½ onion chopped
- 6 garlic cloves
- 2 Tbsp kosher, pickling, or sea salt
- 1 quart water
Instructions
- Cut off the hot pepper stems if you wish. Leave as many seeds in as you like, depending on your taste (more seeds will make it spicier).
- Put the peppers, onion, and garlic into a quart jar.
- Sprinkle salt into the jar.
- Fill the jar most of the way with water, but leave an inch or so of space at the top.
- Use a long spoon or chopstick to stir the the brine well to help dissolve all the salt. (You can alternatively cover the jar and shake everything up well).
- Put a weight on top of the veggies to keep them under the brine.
- Cover the jar with a clean cloth to keep the bugs out or use an airlock.
- Allow to ferment for 2 weeks.
- Pour the entire contents of the jar into a blender, along with a small splash of either white or apple cider vinegar, and blend until smooth.
Notes
- Refrigerate the finished hot sauce in a covered jar.
- Shelf life is indefinite, but it will continue to slowly ferment over time.
Dont use All of the brine…we use about a quarter to half depending on what we are wanting!
This is my third time making this recipe. It is incredible! I’ve made numerous hot sauces in the past, but this is my first time fermenting the sauce. You will not be disappointed!
This turned out super thin, like water. How did you thicken yours to be more of a sauce? Thanks.
How and at what point could I add blueberries to this, should I cook then add to fermented mix? And still proceed with canning process?
I just recently made my first batch. The taste is amazing. My question is mine seems a lot thinner than yours, I would like it to be thicker. Am I using to much water?
I’m wondering the Same thing.
I can’t eat onions, so this recipe would only end badly for me. Would it be possible to use JUST the dried peppers and saltwater?
Yes, you could do that. If garlic is ok for you that might be a good substitution.
I have fermented hot peppers in the past with success. However this year I have some black mold is this still good if I scrape it off? Or do I need to dump it?
Dump it! Black mold is not good on ferments.
I am putting the fermented hot sauce on everything! It is so yummy! Thank you!
My comment is you said some thing abut a zip lock bag on the to[ , so how does that work?? I made a different hot sauce and it turned out fantastic and going to make more but would make this but I dont have that Frement’n and want to use something else like the zip lock baggy
Oh my gosh! I made the hot sauce with a few reaper peppers and jalapenos (I love extra hot stuff). I am in love with it. It turned out so delicious! Thank you Colleen! :)
Your recipe is the staple for all of my fermentation projects. When I see one I always check to see how it compares to yours. It was the first and so far the best I have used. Thank you for sharing!
You’re welcome, I’m so glad you like it! :)
I essentially do this with fresh peppers all the time, fermented peppers adds a wonderful flavor to my chili con carne. I’ll have to try it with dried peppers some time.
Just FYI the heat is in the veins that the seeds are attached to, not the seeds themselves. The seeds just add bitterness, not heat.
Have you ever eaten the seeds by themselves? Smokin’ hot! Def capsaicin in the seeds.
I made this last year using habeneros! So tasty but lots of heat. This year I’m trying it with cayenne instead. A little cooler pepper and more palatable to my sensitve friends. ????
I am excited to try this recipe! Thanks for the idea. I eat kimchee all the time, knew it was fermented, but never thought about fermenting anything other than sauerkraut. Awesome! New culinary adventures await and are so much fun!
We smoked fresh Thai chilies in our Little Chief smoker before the fermenting process and the finished product was amazing! Making another batch today.
This honestly looks so delicious. I love spicy food, so I think the idea of a fermented spicy food is so interesting! I’ve read places that it concentrated the heat, but I am curious to know how much it actually concentrates it.. If someone did a test to see what sort of scoville manipulation fermenting had on hot sauce I think that’d be super interesting!
After I blended it it started to separate. Normal?
What temp is the water being added to the recipe.
Just what I was looking for. Thanks
Hi, I made this recipe –thank you!– the taste is great, but i have a question: i don’t have a fridge, can I keep the sauce at room temp too, or is that dangerous? Thank you in advance, krol
It will continue to ferment at a faster rate if left at room temp, and there is a chance that it could mold or go bad. If you have no way of refrigerating it, just keep it in the coolest, darkest place in your house, and be sure to check it often for mold.
If you don’t have where to refrigerate it, just add about 1/4 volume of vinegar and it will keep at room temperatures.
What kind of vinegar do you recommend?
I pulled the last of my pepperoncini peppers from the garden yesterday. I made two quarts of this today. I used all the seeds too. After tamping and tucking all the veggies to remove air bubbles, I licked the brine off the knife. Wow! Hot! I can hardly wait to see what two weeks will do!
I fermented some peppers last summer,when I put them in the machine to grind,I almost killed my self from the fumes hadto go find a mask,Be careful ,but Yum
Would love to try out sauerkraut fermenting! Yummy!! I love this, it is amazing!!
my son in law is the chef in the family and I think he would enjoy doing the sauce.
Cabbage and carrots.
I’ve been wanting to try to make sauerkraut. I’m new to the fermentation process.
My husband is in love with making his own hot sauce, so I’ll have to try your recipe for that!
such a cool thing, hot stuff!!!
I would love to make sauerkraut.
chickweed
Kim-Chi (sp) love this stuff.