A tested, shelf-stable hot sauce from the National Center for Home Food Preservation: hot peppers, garlic, onion, cilantro and canned tomatoes cooked two hours with cider vinegar, puréed and canned.
Untested: not yet made in this kitchen. It is here for the Peppers and Hot Sauce pages and is adapted from the source named in the Notes.
Ingredients
- 3 pounds hot peppers (for example, Anaheim, Hungarian, Jalapeños)
- ⅓ cup minced garlic
- 4 cups sliced onion
- ⅓ cup stemmed, chopped cilantro
- 3 cans (28 ounces each) diced tomatoes
- 3 cups cider vinegar (5%)
- 2½ cups water
Directions
- Wearing gloves, wash and prepare the peppers. Combine all the ingredients in a large saucepot, bring to a boil and boil 1 hour, then reduce the heat and simmer 1 hour more.
- Cool the mixture slightly and purée it in a blender, about 2 minutes per batch. Return it to the pot and carefully bring it just to a boil; the mixture will start to spatter as it gets close to boiling.
- Fill the hot sauce into hot pint jars, leaving ½-inch headspace. Remove air bubbles, wipe the rims and apply two-piece lids.
- Process pints in a boiling-water canner, hot pack: 10 minutes at 0–1,000 feet, 15 minutes at 1,001–6,000 feet, 20 minutes above 6,000 feet.
Notes
Source Adapted from the National Center for Home Food Preservation, “Cayenne Pepper Sauce” (University of Georgia, Elizabeth L. Andress, released September 2003). It makes about 5 pints. NCHFP: “This is a very hot sauce.” Despite the name it is a tomato-based sauce, filed by NCHFP under tomato products.
A tested process This is a tested process; follow it exactly. Do not change the proportions of vinegar, peppers, vegetables or water, and use only vinegar of 5% acidity. The vinegar is what makes this low-acid mixture of peppers, onion and garlic safe for a boiling-water canner.
Processing times by altitude (hot pack, pints) 0 to 1,000 feet: 10 minutes 1,001 to 6,000 feet: 15 minutes Above 6,000 feet: 20 minutes
Handling hot peppers NCHFP: “Wear rubber gloves when handling hot peppers or wash hands thoroughly with soap and water before touching your face.”
Storage Shelf-stable once processed and sealed; refrigerate after opening.
The dish The Peppers and Hot Sauce section (/hot-sauce/) covers the two NCHFP-tested hot sauces and why a shelf-stable home sauce needs a tested process.
The photo The photograph is a stand-in: long red hot peppers drying in the sun, not the sauce.