In Memory Of Karen Nicole Smith, 1972 - 2016

An Ambrosial Pepper Sauce Recipe.


recipe for homemade pepper sauce

It’s been a sticky summer with just about everyday being extremely hot and humid, but I’m not complaining except for the havoc all this heat is doing to my habanero plants. If you’re connected to the Facebook Fan Group, you’d know that a few weeks back I was seeking advice on what to do with my plants. They were dropping their leaves and not holding on to the flowers or baby peppers. Good news is that I finally got some peppers, but the yield is about 70% lower than in previous years.  I’m hoping that the cool weather we get in mid to late August will see the second crop be better.

As we’ve discussed in previous hot sauce (pepper sauce) recipes, in the Caribbean just about everyone makes their own sauce and have some sort of secret family recipe or the other. But if we were to define our hot sauces, one word comes to mind – HOT! This sauce is not a traditional Caribbean pepper sauce, since we’ll be using canned peaches and the texture is a but more liquid than the ones we make down the islands. Traditional stuff is a bit more thick or chunky, with the use of carrots, papaya, chunks of ripe limes and other native ingredients.

* NOTE: If you’re using scotch bonnet or habanero peppers and you want the flavour without all the heat, discard the seeds and inner white membrane. This is where all the real heat is in peppers. Additionally, when cutting up the peppers be sure to use a disposable gloves or rub cooking oil over your hands to form a a protective shield from the oils from the peppers. And don’t forget to wash your hands thoroughly with soap after you’re done with this recipe.

You’ll Need…

16 hot peppers (Habanero, Scotch Bonnet or whatever you consider to be hot)
1 can peaches in syrup (trust me on this one my Caribbean people) 14oz
1/4 cup light brown sugar
1/4 cup molasses
1 cup distilled vinegar
2 tablespoon salt
2 tablespoon paprika
1 tablespoon black pepper
3 tablespoon chopped cilantro (use shado beni if you have instead)
1/2 teaspoon ground allspice
3 cloves garlic
1 tablespoon mustard

trinidad peppersauce recipe

Remove the stems from the peppers and give them a rough chop so it’s easier to puree in your blender or food processor. Basically all you’re doing is adding all the ingredients to the blender as in my case and puree until you have a smooth consistency.

habanero peppers for making hot sauce

recipe for homemade pepper sauce

homemade caribbena hotsauce

new trinidad peppersauce recipe

caribbean pepper sauce recipe

making hot suace from habaneros

habanero hotsuace recipe

Don’t ask me why as I can’t explain, but if you allow the finished sauce to rest for about 1 day or so in the fridge, the flavour changes for the best, compared to if you started using it the very same time you’re done making it. However, I’m a hotsauce addict so I started using mine seconds after it came out of the blender. In true Caribbean style I saved my old bottles (pasta sauce etc) just for these occasions. After a good wash in boiling hot water and soap, I allowed them to dry and then I topped one with the hot sauce. Hey, I’m just doing my part to keep this earth we call home greener by reusing!

caribbean hot sauce

This sauce is very savory with a bold kick of heat as it makes it’s way around your tongue. As I mentioned above, it’s not a traditional Caribbean style hotsuace and it’s a bit runny. It makes a great topping for grilled meats, hamburgers, hot dogs and on sandwiches. I would bet my last dollar that it would also make a great dipping sauce for wings. Directly below you’ll find links to other hot sauce (pepper sauce as it’s know on the islands) recipes that I’ve done in the past.

I’d love to get your feedback or just say “hi” in the comments box below – it’s appreciated. And before I go I’d like to remind you to check out the latest cooking videos, pictures and if you’ve not already done so, join our select group on Facebook. Where we discuss all things related to the Caribbean Cooking Culture.

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35 Comments

  1. Wojt
    February 24, 2019 / 12:51 pm

    Recipe sounds great to me as I love spicy. However your recipe would be way to much for me to eat in a week! How long will it keep in a jar in the fridge?

  2. Felecia Roberts
    February 12, 2019 / 10:58 am

    Not from the islands but love your recipes. I make hot sauce an will definitely be trying this pepper sauce

    • Lester jones
      September 29, 2023 / 12:21 pm

      Hi
      I have been making this sauce for 7 years.
      A personal and crowd favourite.
      Thanks

  3. Lynne
    April 27, 2018 / 9:48 am

    This sounds perfect. Going out to get the Habaneros, peaches and cilantro now!

  4. Duwood Jones
    April 9, 2018 / 12:41 pm

    Man, this recipe is the best, all of my hot sauce friends love it. They didn’t know it could be done. We only had bottled supermarket types before!

  5. June 4, 2017 / 4:29 pm

    Sounds good….everything on this site looks and tastes great! I must have been a Carib person in my past life! Lol!

  6. Adrian
    June 28, 2016 / 11:47 am

    Can you advise on what type of mustard to use?

    Here in the UK our ‘English’ or ‘French’ mustards are very different to this found across the Atlantic. Should I source a more mellow yellow US style?

    • admin
      June 28, 2016 / 8:25 pm

      use any mustard you like.. at the end of the day, you’re the one eating this right. Sometimes I use the French type with success.

  7. Debbie
    May 29, 2015 / 3:08 pm

    You need to make some nice lime pepper sauce, this goes down good with fish.

  8. kirah shaw
    January 1, 2015 / 6:57 pm

    Can peaches be substituted with pineapple? I have allergy concerns.

    • admin
      January 2, 2015 / 8:16 am

      basically any fruit you like or not allergic to. Mango, pineapple.. even papaya.

  9. eureka
    December 30, 2014 / 6:26 pm

    I love this pepper sauce

  10. Lisa
    January 2, 2014 / 11:46 am

    As a trini, I’m skeptical seeing your recipe with peaches but I’m willing to try without the brown sugar and molasses. The consistency looks great.

  11. Carol
    October 10, 2013 / 7:23 am

    Looks tasty

  12. lester
    August 30, 2013 / 10:06 am

    This a good one, made it last year2012 Its great with meat. Going to make more today

  13. Monica
    August 12, 2013 / 7:35 pm

    I am skeptical about the peaches and paprika, but will try it.

  14. Neville
    December 1, 2012 / 10:41 pm

    Love it.

  15. jacinta
    November 8, 2012 / 5:21 pm

    looks tasty

  16. Kaye Tench
    October 26, 2012 / 4:49 am

    Great recipe Chris

    Am a Trini in the UK and new to the site but immediately thought of trying this with ripe mango also – Yum!

  17. Joel
    June 30, 2012 / 5:33 pm

    Great recipe. I made several changes to suit my family's taste. I only used five peppers, seeded. This brought the spiciness to a comfortable level. I did not add the canned peach juice. I did use cilantro and dry mustard. Everything else was just like the remainder of the recipe. It was slightly sweet with enough kick to make you smile but not put you down. I could not find a canning table for this so I took a gamble. I placed it in half-pint jars and processed in a pressure cooker at 10 lbs pressure for 15 minutes. With a yield of a little over three cups, one cup being vinegar, I am hoping this is acidic enough to be safe. Use this processing at your own risk. Great to use as a marinade, easy enough to use as a dip and good enough to eat by the spoonful, this quickly became one of my favorites!

  18. Yazzie
    September 17, 2011 / 6:21 am

    What is the shelf life of this product? Can it be frozen?

  19. Tom
    July 20, 2011 / 7:20 pm

    I made this recipe a week ago( without the peaches) and it was spectacular! I used it as a jerk marinade for some chicken, let it sit overnight and then cooked it on the barbecue. It was awesome! Sweet, savory and then the heat hits you, yummy!

  20. monica
    April 10, 2011 / 4:14 pm

    Are you referring to dry mustard powder, or prepared mustard?

    • Tom
      July 20, 2011 / 7:21 pm

      I used the dry powder and it worked great!

  21. December 19, 2010 / 2:25 pm

    My mouth is burning! In a good way 🙂

  22. Kibaum
    November 25, 2010 / 8:29 am

    hi Dude

    i’m from Brazil, and all my friends love this sauce!

    i made this sauce, and is delicious with pork! very diferent!

    thks

  23. melissa
    October 26, 2010 / 10:57 am

    I made this sauce last week. We had an abundance of Habanero's in our garden. Very interesting taste….It's starts off kind of sweet and then all of a sudden BAM..here comes the heat. Will definitely make another batch soon. My question is…..how long is the shelf life????

  24. Lin
    September 28, 2010 / 1:49 pm

    how do you store this sauce in the fridge or leave out?

  25. Chris
    September 12, 2010 / 8:51 am

    Question… is the mustard dry or is it prepared?

  26. Elaine
    August 31, 2010 / 8:39 pm

    Chris what happen you not boiling this one?

  27. Ann
    August 18, 2010 / 11:58 am

    Yummy nice recipe! I use fresh thyme. Next I will try with cilantro.

  28. August 16, 2010 / 11:12 pm

    The peaches are an interesting addition…I'm intrigued

  29. yanique
    August 13, 2010 / 1:45 pm

    this is hot and sweeeeeet
    will try it with shrimp, uummm peppered shrimp

  30. August 13, 2010 / 1:19 pm

    Nice, my husband will love it 🙂

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