When Life Gives You Peppers, Make Hot Sauce

When someone gives you hot peppers, make hot sauce.

Jump to:

• 🧾 Ingredients
• 🌶 How to make hot sauce
• 📝 Recipe

The other day, our neighbor gave us a big bowl of mostly green Serrano peppers that he received from a friend he was visiting, who had too many peppers for himself. What can you do with over 50 hot peppers before they go bad, besides freezing? My brain thought: “no-brainer, hot sauce!”

Note from Wikipedia:

The serrano pepper (Capsicum annuum) is a type of chili pepper that originated in the mountainous regions of the Mexican states of Puebla and Hidalgo. They have a bright and biting flavor that is notably hotter than the jalapeño pepper. Scoville scale: 10,000–23,000 SHU.

Let's make a simple, delicious hot sauce! Or in the case of the Serrano - due to their fleshy body - a salsa.

🧾 Ingredients

• Serrano peppers
• White vinegar - adjust to your liking
• Salt
• Garlic

See the recipe card below for full list of ingredients and their measurements.

🌶 How to make hot sauce

First, put on some rubber gloves or you might wind up waking your neighbor’s dogs after accidentally touching your eyes after cutting the peppers. Just to be safe: wear glasses if you normally wear contact lenses. The first time I made hot sauce I was wearing contacts and no gloves: not a good combo.

Slice the peppers in half and put them together with the garlic and salt in an appropriate-sized saucepan.

Add vinegar (6 cups just nicely covered my peppers). Bring to a boil, reduce to simmer, and simmer for about 10 minutes.

Remove pan from the heat and let it cool down.

Pour the mixture into your blender until smooth.

As we’re making a salsa here, there’s no need to strain it. At this point, you can still adjust the flavors and heat by adding vinegar and/or salt.

Pour in a small glass bottle or other container, create a label, and you’ve just made some gifts for your friends, who will love you for it. You’re welcome. 

Did you make this Hot Sauce recipe? Let us know in the comments below!

📝 Recipe

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