All-Purpose Hot Pepper Sauce Recipe – Tastes Better Than Store Bought!

If you have a few extra cayenne peppers on hand, you must try this Hot Pepper Sauce recipe! It tastes just like Frank’s Red Hot Sauce, and it is so easy to make it yourself. 

Every year we plant a few cayenne pepper plants to make our own cayenne pepper powder. But this year, we had a few extra and wanted to make our own hot pepper sauce. 

We use hot pepper sauce to spice up chili, chicken wings, dips and more. In fact, we even use a couple of dashes in our meatloaf and stuffed peppers for an additional and subtle hint of flavor. 

If you don’t have your own cayenne peppers, you can substitute canned peppers. Just pour the listed ingredients in a blender (no need to boil them first) and reduce the vinegar to one cup. Once pureed, add to the saucepan and simmer for 25 minutes. 

You can also use other hot peppers or a combination of various peppers to make your own unique sauce. However, if you are looking to replicate Frank’s Hot Sauce, make sure that you use only cayenne pepper. We planted Cayenne Red Long Slim plants last year and the taste is amazing!

HOT PEPPER SAUCE RECIPE

yields approximately 1 cup (8oz.)

INGREDIENTS:

20 fresh cayenne peppers

1 1⁄2 cups white vinegar

2 teaspoons garlic, minced

1 teaspoon garlic powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/3 cup water

INSTRUCTIONS:

1. Wearing gloves remove the ends of each cayenne pepper. Slice down the center of the pepper to expose the seeds and place in a small saucepan. 

2. Place rest of the ingredients in the pan with the peppers.

3. Heat over medium heat until boiling.

4. Reduce the heat and simmer for 25 minutes.

5. Remove the mixture from heat, carefully pour it into a blender & puree until smooth.

6. Place the mixture in a mesh colander over a bowl to remove the seeds. You may need to push the liquid mixture through the strainer and scoot the seeds to the side while straining. 

Cool and refrigerate.  Can be canned in a hot water bath in 1/4 or 1/2 pint jars, leaving 1/2 inch head space for 10 minutes of processing time. 

Enjoy!

Mary and Jim

If you would like to receive our DIY, Gardening and Recipe articles each week, you can sign up via email at the very bottom of this post. You can also like and follow us on Facebook, Twitter or Instagram to receive all of our latest tips and articles. This article may contain affiliate links.