This 15-minute homemade hot sauce recipe tastes just like Frank’s Hot Sauce. Using just 4 ingredients, you’ll have a delicious hot sauce that’s mild, medium, or hot – however you want!
I’m by no means a gardening expert and I’m lucky if my plants make it halfway through the season, but for some reason, hot pepper plants thrive even with my neglect.
I planted 3 plants this year – just to see what would happen – and ended up with more peppers than I knew what to do with.
My husband is a huge fan of spicy food and Frank’s hot sauce is high on the list (hence his love for Buffalo Chicken Pizza), so I ventured to come up with my own hot sauce recipe that would taste just like it using the peppers from our garden.
And boy, did I succeed! This Frank’s copycat hot sauce recipe has just the right amount of heat.
SIMPLE HOT SAUCE RECIPE
Hot sauce is a great way to add a lot of flavor to your food! It’s also:
- Quick and easy. If you’re looking for an easy hot sauce recipe, this is it. There is minimal prep work, a short boil, and a quick whirl in the blender. Ready in less than 15 minutes.
- Delicious! This homemade hot sauce rivals anything from the store.
- Frugal. Making hot sauce is cheap, especially if you grow your own peppers.
- Made with simple ingredients. Aside from the peppers, you need just 3 pantry staples for this hot pepper sauce recipe.
- Adaptable. Make it as mild or as hot as you can handle.
COPYCAT FRANK’S HOT PEPPER SAUCE RECIPE INGREDIENTS
If you want to make this hot pepper sauce recipe that’s a copycat of Frank’s Hot Sauce, you’ll need:
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Keep reading if you want to use a different pepper or are considering adding fruits like peaches or mangoes to your hot sauce! You’ll notice I don’t add any spices to the mixture like cumin or chili powder. We really like the depth of flavor of the peppers to shine!
CHOOSING PEPPERS FOR HOT PEPPER SAUCE RECIPES
You’ll want to use cayenne peppers to make your own copycat of Frank’s, but you can use different types of hot peppers if you want. I used Fresno chili peppers for these photos because that’s what I had an abundance of and I didn’t want to ruin my tastebuds for the rest of the day.
Fresno is generally a mild pepper, ranging from 2500 to 10,000 on the Scoville scale (similar to jalapenos). I added in some habanero for some heat.
Use the heat index below to determine which peppers are best for your hot pepper sauce recipes. The heat of a pepper is measured in Scoville Heat Units, which is how “hot” the pepper actually is. The higher the Scoville, the hotter the pepper.
If you’re unsure what fresh peppers to use, choose a pepper that’s on the mild side and then boost the heat with one or two peppers on the hotter side. You can easily add a quarter or half of a habanero pepper or scotch bonnet pepper and then taste as you go.
Also, the color of your hot sauce will depend on the color of your peppers. If you want a red hot sauce, you’ll want to choose peppers that are orange or red. Green peppers will create a green hot sauce. Adding a few red bell peppers can help add color without extra heat.
I do not recommend using dried peppers for this recipe. You need the natural liquids in the peppers to create the sauce.
Image courtesy of Title Max.
BEFORE YOU MAKE THE BEST RECIPE OF HOT SAUCE
Any time you work with hot peppers – whether they’re mild or truly hot – you have to take safety precautions:
- Wear food-grade gloves when handling the peppers. This includes washing, cutting, and even scraping scraps into compost or trash can. Putting gloves on is the first thing I do, and I don’t take them off until the dishwasher is loaded.
- Wear goggles and work in a well-ventilated area. An open kitchen window and swim goggles will do the trick. Avoid small, closet-type spaces without air circulation, especially when working with very hot peppers.
- Wash your hands extremely well after handling the peppers.
- Wash all utensils well when you’re done – cutting boards, knives, spoons, blender jar, etc. I use a plastic cutting board so I can run everything through the dishwasher.
I’m going to say it again, wear gloves to handle the peppers. The oils from the peppers can rub off onto your hands without you even knowing it, and without you having an adverse reaction…that is until you scratch your nose or wipe your eye. The oils can easily transfer from the surface of your skin and cause all sorts of irritation in places you don’t want to be irritated!
If you wear contacts, be sure to take them out before making this recipe of hot sauce!
HOW TO MAKE HOT SAUCE
Here are the instructions for how to make hot sauce, and you’ll see it’s VERY easy!
Step 1: Wash the peppers, cut the stems off, and slice them in half lengthwise. If you want a milder sauce, remove the seeds from the pepper. This will also create a smoother sauce. If you don’t mind a few tiny pieces of seed and want extra heat, keep the seeds with the pepper.
Step 2: Measure the vinegar into a medium pot and add the peppers, salt, and garlic cloves. Bring to a boil and reduce heat to a simmer until the peppers are soft (about 10 minutes).
Step 3: Pour everything into your blender (I use a Blendtec like this one), including peppers and vinegar. Blend until you have a smooth texture puree, about 30-60 seconds.
Note: Red peppers will temporarily dye plastic blender jars red. A couple of washes with hot soapy water will remove the discoloration.
Step 4: Taste the homemade hot sauce and add additional hot peppers if desired. I recommend adding ¼ of a hot pepper (like Habanero or scotch bonnet) at a time, reblending with each addition and tasting as you go. The hot sauce will have a more intense flavor as it sits, but it will not get hotter. Here’s your chance to get the heat level just right.
Step 5: Let the hot sauce cool. Transfer to a mason jar using a funnel and store it in your fridge. The abundance of vinegar acts like a natural preservative for several weeks. If you prefer, canning your hot sauce in mason jars is an option to make it shelf-stable.
TO SERVE THIS HOT SAUCE RECIPE
We love using our homemade hot sauce as a condiment for all sorts of things!
- Pour a bit of hot sauce over Scrambled Eggs and Oven-Roasted Hash Browns for a yummy breakfast with a kick
- Use as a dip for Chicken Nuggets or Almond-Crusted Chicken
- Drizzle on pizza as a finishing sauce – yum!
- Top Baked Potatoes or Crispy Potato Wedges or Fries
- Add to your favorite salad, like this Buffalo Chicken Salad or this Southwestern Salad
- And of course use it on tacos!
VARIATIONS FOR HOMEMADE HOT SAUCE RECIPE
Make it Thicker or Thinner: Some peppers naturally contain more pulp while others contain more water. After you’ve blended the sauce, you can strain out the pulp with a fine-mesh strainer for a more watery hot sauce or leave the pulp in for a thicker hot sauce. Adding a little bit of filtered water will thin it as well.
Keep the Seeds or Toss Them: Keeping the seeds will make your homemade hot sauce hotter, and removing the seeds will remove some of the heat. You can go either way!
Change the Color: The color of the hot sauce will depend on the color of the peppers you use. Green chilies will make a green hot sauce, while orange/red chilies will make a red sauce. Combine red and green chilies for a brown sauce.
Make it Sweeter: Give your hot sauce recipe a bit of sweetness by choosing a pepper that has sweetness or add a bit of honey or sugar. A little sweetness goes a long way, so add ½ tsp at a time and taste as you go.
Roast the Peppers: Roasting the peppers before you cook them in vinegar gives the peppers a smokey flavor. This is optional, but it’s a lot of fun to experiment with flavors!
Turn it into Buffalo Sauce: Traditional buffalo sauce is slightly thicker with buttery notes. Use this recipe to make the Best Buffalo Sauce with your homemade hot sauce!
We love this buffalo wing sauce recipe so much, and we’ve found several fun ways to enjoy it:
UNIQUE HOT PEPPER SAUCE RECIPES
In addition to the variations above, you can create unique hot pepper sauce recipes by adding other fruits and vegetables:
Consider adding garlic, onion, and carrots to balance the flavor of the mild hot sauces. Fruits like mango, peach, pineapple, blueberries, cherries, and apples are nice additions to hotter peppers. Add a little bit of lime juice for a twist!
You can also vary the heat in your homemade hot sauce by switching up the peppers and add-ins.
Mild to Medium Hot Sauce: Try jalapenos, serrano chili peppers, cherry bomb peppers, banana peppers, or Fresno peppers.
Medium to Hot Sauce: Try cayenne chili peppers, fish peppers, Thai chilies, or Tabasco peppers. Adding peaches or mango would be a unique way to balance the flavor.
Hot to Crazy Hot Sauce: Try habanero, scotch bonnet, or ghost peppers. Remember that these are VERY hot peppers, so consider balancing these out with some milder chiles.
FERMENTED HOT SAUCE RECIPE VS COOKED HOT SAUCE RECIPE
Traditionally, fermented hot sauce requires the peppers to be fully submerged in brine and left to ferment for up to two weeks, sometimes longer.
I typically don’t follow this fermentation process because I’m impatient, and not a massive fan of the fermented version of hot sauce. I much prefer the 15-minute hot sauce recipe I’ve outlined here to have hot sauce ready whenever I want!
HOT PEPPER SAUCE RECIPE FAQS
Should I use a blender or a food processor for homemade hot sauce?
I’ve found that using a Blender (I have a Blendtec) is the easiest method to make hot sauce, but you can also use a medium to large-capacity food processor like this one. Another option is to use an immersion blender. If you use an immersion blender, let the hot sauce cool to room temperature so you don’t risk splashing hot liquid on yourself!
Which vinegar is best for homemade hot sauce?
I used white vinegar, but you can substitute apple cider vinegar. It would add a subtle sweet flavor to your hot sauce!
How long will homemade hot sauce last?
My cooked hot sauce has a 2-4 week shelf life in the fridge, and if you go the fermented route, it’ll last 3-6 months. Remember that hot sauce will tint your storage container, so I re-purpose glass jars from jelly or spaghetti to prevent any plastic items from discoloring. Reusing old hot sauce bottles from store-bought hot sauce works too!
Can I freeze homemade hot sauce?
Yes, you can freeze the hot sauce for up to 3 months. I recommend using zip-sealed freezer bags (I use these reusable freezer-safe bags), although you can safely freeze in glass jars too. Thaw in the refrigerator and then give it a good stir in case the sauce has separated from freezing.
MORE EASY HOMEMADE SAUCES
- Homemade Red Enchilada Sauce
- Homemade Buffalo Wing Sauce
- 15-Minute Spaghetti Sauce
- Easy Pizza Sauce
- Homemade Sweet and Sour Sauce
- Thai Peanut Sauce
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15 Minute Homemade Hot Sauce
This 15-minute homemade hot sauce recipe tastes just like Frank’s Hot Sauce. Using just 4 ingredients, you’ll have a delicious hot sauce that’s mild, medium, or hot – however you want!
- Prep Time: 5 minutes
- Cook Time: 10 minutes
- Total Time: 15 minutes
- Yield: 2 cups 1x
- Category: Sauces/Condiments
- Method: Blend
- Cuisine: American
Ingredients
- 20 fresh peppers of your choice (Fresno, Cayenne, Jalapeno are good ones)
- 1 ½ cups white vinegar or apple cider vinegar
- ½ tsp salt
- 3 tsp minced fresh garlic
Instructions
- Put on gloves (kitchen-safe) and wash the peppers.
- Cut the tops off of your peppers and slice them in half lengthwise.
- Add peppers, salt, and garlic to pour the vinegar into a saucepan/pot. Bring to a boil and reduce heat to a low boil until the peppers are soft (about 10 minutes).
- Pour everything into your blender, including peppers and vinegar.
- Blend it (seeds and all) until liquefied.
- Add additional heat if desired. If you like it hot, add a Habanero (or half of one), re-blend, and re-taste.
- Enjoy. You now have hot sauce!
Notes
- This additional pepper added to the blender isn’t cooked. We don’t recommend adding “additional heat” when you’re cooking the peppers on the stove when you make this the first time. This gives you the chance to adjust the heat after the fact, little by little. Once you determine how much heat you like, feel free to add those additional peppers to the ones you cooked earlier in subsequent batches.
Nutrition
- Calories: 121
Is it possible to make https://www.cholula.com/en-us/products/hot-sauce/original#:~:text=Ingredients,Powder%2C%20Spices%20and%20Xanthan%20Gum. from this recipe?
Hello Chanel,
We don’t know anything about that recipe but give our 15-minute Homemade Hot Sauce a try! It’s so tasty! 🙂
Very good base recipe. 1 part peppers, 3 parts vinegar. Garlic, salt, & pepper to taste. I was working with Yellow Biquinho peppers. I used a combo of white and apple cider vinegar. I would use more AC than white in future batches with this pepper (very citrusy notes). I didn’t mind the taste as is but my husband found the vinegar a bit too punchy so I also added a bit of honey. Approx 1 tbsp for a 2cup yield. Will make again.
HI Jennifer!
Thank you for sharing your thoughts on this recipe. We are so glad your family enjoys it! 🙂
I made this and it’s very good but I’ll have to tweak the vinegar. It was too much for me but a very good base recipe. I’ve heard if you add a pinch of xanthum gum it keeps it from separating but I didn’t use that.
We grow a wide variety of chili peppers and make a number of different sauces. One of the most popular is mango habanero sauce. Very addictive.
One note on freezing. We often portion the sauce into ice cube trays, which are convenient for portion sizes for cooking and then, after freezing storing them in freezer bags. The sauce lasts a long time actually.
I make hot sauce annually using peppers and garlic from the garden. Recipe is similar to this one. It keeps for a year in the refrigerator with no problem and no loss of taste.
Awesome Scott! Thanks for sharing. 🙂
Can I blend before cooking?
Cooking will soften the peppers to make them blend properly.
I do too with Carolina Reapers
CAN YOU USE GHOST PEPPERS
Hi Sam,
We haven’t tested ghost peppers but there isn’t a reason not to. Be sure to report back and let us know how it goes!
I use a mix of the hottest peppers available…including ghost to make my Hellfire hotsauce and jelly. They both comes out great…and are HOT, HOT, HOT!!
Made this recipe with all fresh homegrown peppers from my garden: banana wax peppers and scotch bonnets. Used 2:1 ratio of white to apple cider vinegar and added a 1/2 tbsp of sugar. Had a great flavour but due to my choice of peppers it was stupidly spicy and is in need of dilution/incorporation to other recipes. Great beginners guide for my first time making hot sauce, thanks!
Oh no! Leah you might be able to make it into a fruity salsa with apples, mango, and/or pineapple. Another option is to serve it in a meal with a lot of dairy like sour cream or cheese. Best of luck!
My boyfriend suggested the same thing, to put in a sweet potato or mango salsa, so I may give that a go. Otherwise, we’ve been using it sparingly, but adding a drop or two into pasta sauce or soup gives a really fantastic flavour! Forgot to mention in the first comment as well, but I ended up straining it post-blender to make it more like a storebought consistency, which also helped take away a bit of the heat. Thanks again, great recipe 🙂
You’re most welcome Leah!
Amazingly simple recipe and we do quite a few variations. We use apple cider vinegar, it gives it a smoother taste in our opinion. And we grow some of our own peppers, fatalii, chili and sweet green and cilantro. Last batch had all those and some jalapenos, fresh garlic and liquid smoke. Also added some pineapple and WOW, an amazing blend of flavors. In fact last batch made a full quart so we will be sharing.
Thanks again for sharing this and definitely a 5 star recipe.
Those sound amazing Scott! Thanks so much for sharing your modifications for others to try. So helpful. 🙂
I started using this in my small restaurant. I filtered off the juice in the blender so it would have a long shelf life on the tables.
That’s wonderful Jon! Thanks for sharing. 🙂
Excellent recipe. I made this with Birds Eye Chilis (Super Hot), an equal amount of pomodore tomatoes, half an onion, oregano, apple cider vinegar, and about double the salt. It smelled like Franks while cooking. My son came downstairs thinking we were having buffalo wings.
Steve, so glad to hear you liked it!
Can you water bath this recipe?
Hi Hellen!
We do not have specific instructions on how to water bath this recipe, but there’s no reason why it can’t be done.
I just make this using yellow habaneros and the sauce came out fantastic. Easy to make and the recipe is well written and the pictures are helpful. Thank you!
Our pleasure Nikki, thank you!
I made this recipe with 18 mad hatters and 3 Trinidad scorpion peppers from my garden. It turned out awesome! I strained the finished product and used a 1:1 ratio of Apple Cider to White vinegar. I also used garlic powder instead of fresh, but other than that, I followed the recipe as written and I loved it. Even my dad has asked me to make him some for his house. This recipe is a keeper!
So glad you liked it Kristal! Thanks for sharing. 🙂
I want to make a hot sauce that can be bottled and stored for a long period of time. How can I alter this recipe to make it storable?
Hi Brandon, we haven’t tested it but you could research ways to add preservatives to it. There are other commenters who have frozen it in small portions like ice cube trays as well for later use.
The vinegar preserves it. I am a Guyanese and we make hot sauce with pepper, vinegar, onion, garlic, salt and a piece of bitter melon. It is kept a long time in the cupboard, never had the need to put it in the fridge. If you keep it in the sun on the window sill, over time it becomes hotter.
Thanks for sharing Sasha!
This is a good recipe for a quick hot sauce. I added two jalapenos when I blended it. I doubled it and got about 3/4 of a large franks bottle. I will be adding more garlic next time I make it.
As an update I added 5 sun-dried tomatoes this time and half an onion. It helps tone down the fire but is very aromatic.
Thanks again.
I was dubious if the recipe would be like that of Franks!
Its now two weeks old and is brillant!
It needed a slight tweak with salt and that was all.
It’s an easy recipe that I’m sharing with my hot sauce loving friends.
Thank You
You’re most welcome, Ross!
Wow! This was soooooo simple..
Ok, so I used 20 super hot red habaneros 👍🏼
Bragg’s Apple Cider Vinegar (which really works well), garlic as stated and added zest and juice of a lime. I cooked for about 15 minutes as they don’t break down as fast.
Got to be the best sauce I ever made. Super tasty and super hot!
Thank you so much!!
Going to attempt this recipe tomorrow going to use mango and pineapple along with a Reaper and a couple other peppers that I’ve grown in my garden I have about 40 to 50 varieties of pepper seeds that I’m growing next year to use the same recipe just with different peppers can’t wait to see the outcome
Oh my Wayne, with the mango and pineapple sounds GOOD!! Definitely let us know how it turns out!
i love hot peppers and i love hot sauce . first time i grow in my garden hot peppers . the problem was that the peppers was too hot to eat raw ( for me ). so i was looking for a recipe but everything was to complicated ( also for me ) . and then i see your recipe . the only thing i change was to add 2 onion . everything i use was from my garden except vinegar , maybe next year I will make my own vinegar …back to the point , the hot sauce it was amazing it was one of the best that i eat in my life !!! i hope i’m not the only one who eat it even for breakfast .
!!!!! Thank you for your delicious recipe!!!!
PS. why everybody asking how long it can kept ? after one week i don’t have any sauce i need to make new 😛
LOL – hot sauce doesn’t last long in our house either, Teo! I’m so glad you like this recipe!
Have you tried to freeze the hot sauce? I have been experimenting similar recipes as you list, vinegar / peppers / cook / blend.. and have three (soon to be four) different types, but way more than just I can eat (empty nesting and wife does not do hot sauce)… I see all the comments about 1-3 months in the fridge, but even that duration might not be long enough for the amount I have. I bought bottles, and have sterilized (not canning jars… 10.5 oz bottles), so am hoping to keep some “fresh” in the fridge of each, and freeze the rest. Thanks!
Hi Scott! I haven’t frozen hot sauce myself, but I’ve frozen LOTS of other foods and think this would be just fine. Enjoy all those hot sauces!!
Has anyone canned this sauce — in a water bath canner? How long did you leave it in the water bath?
Oops! I see a post about water bath canning now! Thanks!
I was really disappointed in this recipe- way too much vinegar for me. I might use use 1:1 or even 2:1 water and vinegar next time.
You’re always welcome to adjust to taste Linda, but I haven’t had anyone complain about this one before!
So about your blender color just use denture clean tablets
Good idea… or soak in powdered Oxyclean stain remover