Making homemade Tabasco sauce is easier than you might think. This simple homemade hot sauce recipe uses just a few ingredients and minimal effort, yet adds bold flavor to eggs, seafood, and Bloody Marys right at home. The hardest part is gathering enough tiny Tabasco peppers to make the sauce—one cup equals about 80–100 peppers, depending on their size. I halved my most recent batch since these peppers came from my last garden Tabasco harvest, and it turned out just as delicious as the full recipe.
The end result is a hot sauce with plenty of heat and that tangy vinegar flavor we all love, without anything complicated along the way. Let’s get into how to make this homemade Tabasco sauce.
Ingredients
- 1 cup Tabasco Peppers, tops removed
- 1 cup white wine vinegar
- 2 cloves garlic
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1/4-1/2 cup water
Directions
- Add the Tabasco peppers, white wine vinegar, garlic, and salt to a small saucepan. I usually use this one because it’s the perfect size for a single batch of hot sauce.
- Bring the mixture to a boil, then reduce the heat to low and simmer for 10–15 minutes, until the liquid has reduced by nearly half. Remove from the heat and let it cool slightly.
- Transfer the mixture to a blender or food processor and purée. At this point, you can add a little water or extra vinegar to reach your desired consistency.
- Optional: For a smoother sauce more like store-bought Tabasco, strain the purée through a fine-mesh colander. This removes the seeds and pulp, giving you a thinner, smoother hot sauce. This strainer is a good size!
- Finally, funnel the sauce into these hot sauce bottles and seal with the caps. I had to take my most recent batch on an airplane, so I bottled it in these smaller, travel-sized bottles. The little ones come with their own funnel!
Making your own homemade Tabasco sauce is easier than it seems, and this easy hot sauce recipe delivers bold, tangy flavor. I love creating different versions of hot sauce to use up peppers from my garden, including the habanero hot sauce recipe I posted recently. I have an idea for a tabasco/cayenne hybrid sauce – so stay tuned! What peppers do you like to use in hot sauce or grow in your garden? Comment and let me know!
This post contains affiliate links, which means I may earn a small commission at no extra cost to you if you purchase through them.
Leave a Reply