Caribbean Hot Pepper Sauce Recipe

Caribbean Style Hot Pepper Sauce

One Green Planet

Prep: 15 mins
Cook: 0 mins
Total: 15 mins
Servings: 20 servings
Yield: 2 1/2 cups

Hot sauce (or chile sauce) is a condiment made and widely used throughout the Caribbean. Each island and household has its own recipes, and you can always find a bottle of homemade pepper sauce in most homes. Don't be surprised if your host or hostess asks you if you would like to have some pepper sauce with your meal.

You can make chile sauce with one variety of pepper or with a combination of peppers. Use whatever you like, but you'll find that most of the time, Scotch bonnet peppers are a key ingredient.

If you're allergic or sensitive to hot peppers, wear gloves when handling the peppers. When making large batches of the sauce, you must wear gloves, or else you'll feel the burn later. Be careful not to touch your hands to your eyes after handling the peppers.

Ingredients

Steps to Make It

  1. Gather the ingredients. 

  2. Put the peppers and salt in a food processor and pulse until the peppers are minced finely. Scrape down the sides of the bowl from time to time.

  3. Once the peppers are chopped pretty finely, let the processor keep whirling and pour just enough of the vinegar through the chute to moisten the peppers and give it the consistency of a thick sauce.

  4. Pour the hot sauce into sterilized glass bottles or jars and cover with airtight lids. Store the finished product in a cool place or in your refrigerator until the flavors meld together nicely. Or you can place your bottles of pepper sauce in the sun for two to three days to ripen quickly and then store in a cool place. If there's no sun where you are, let the pepper sauce cure for at least five days before use so that the flavors can develop.

Recipe Tips

  • Substitute oil for the vinegar to further intensify the peppers' heat.
  • Taking the seeds out of the peppers before mincing will help alleviate some of the heat.

Scotch Bonnet Pepper vs. Habanero Pepper

Which is hotter, the Scotch bonnet or the habanero pepper? These two peppers are in the same family and are "cousins," although they do vary in taste and heat. According to the Scoville scale, the Scotch bonnet has a heat rating of 80,000 to 400,000—depending on the color—while the habanero comes in at 100,000 to 350,000 heat units.

Nutrition Facts (per serving)
12 Calories
1g Fat
0g Carbs
0g Protein
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Nutrition Facts
Servings: 20
Amount per serving
Calories 12
% Daily Value*
Total Fat 1g 1%
Saturated Fat 0g 0%
Cholesterol 0mg 0%
Sodium 189mg 8%
Total Carbohydrate 0g 0%
Dietary Fiber 0g 0%
Total Sugars 0g
Protein 0g
Vitamin C 0mg 0%
Calcium 1mg 0%
Iron 0mg 0%
Potassium 2mg 0%
*The % Daily Value (DV) tells you how much a nutrient in a food serving contributes to a daily diet. 2,000 calories a day is used for general nutrition advice.
(Nutrition information is calculated using an ingredient database and should be considered an estimate.)