How To Make Mexican Hot Sauces: 5 Easy Recipes

Have you tried making your own hot sauce yet?!

It's super easy and your homemade versions will have more zing compared to store-bought options.  That's a good thing 🙂

I hope this post inspires you to give it a go.  This Jalapeno Hot Sauce is the perfect place to start:

Here's a look at the ingredient list for this fiery fireball:

1 lb. jalapeno peppers (8-10 jalapenos)
1/2 onion
2 garlic cloves
3/4 cup white vinegar
1/2 cup water
juice of 1 lime
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon Mexican oregano
1/4 teaspoon cumin (optional)
8-10 cilantro sprigs
freshly cracked black pepper

All you need to do is cook off the onion and garlic, then combine well with the other ingredients in a blender or food processor.  Easy right?

Note that acidity is the unspoken hero in hot sauces -- that's what distinguishes a hot sauce from a salsa.  When you're only using it a few drops at a time you want it to be fiery and acidic!

That's why you'll see vinegar in all of these hot sauce recipes.  I typically use plain ol' white vinegar and recommend starting with that. 

These hot sauces will keep for weeks at a time in the fridge, with glass being the preferred storage choice.   

I usually store them in leftover hot sauce bottles, but I will sometimes use Mason jars and that works just as well. 

If you have chipotles in adobo on hand you can easily whip up this delicious Chipotle Hot Sauce. 

Here's a look at the ingredient list:

7 -8 chipotles in adobo  What exactly are chipotles in adobo?
1/4 small onion
1 garlic clove
1/3 cup white vinegar
1/3 cup water
juice of 1/2 orange
3/4 teaspoon Mexican oregano
1/4 teaspoon cumin
1/4 teaspoon sugar (optional)
pinch of salt

It's loaded with that smoky chipotle flavor.  And yes, plenty of acidity too. 

Again, you're just cooking off the onion and garlic, and then combining with the other ingredients.  It's so easy and I bet there's a chance you already have all of these ingredients on hand!

The other one I make on a regular basis is this fiery Habanero Hot Sauce.

Here's what you'll need to make it:

6 habanero peppers  How hot are Habaneros?
3/4 cup sliced peaches
1/4 cup pineapple
1 small onion
2 garlic cloves
1″ piece of peeled ginger
3/4 cup white vinegar
1/2 cup water
1/2 teaspoon salt
dash of cumin (optional)
dash of agave or honey (optional)

Habaneros are tiny and loaded with heat, so you'll typically see fruits used to flesh out these hot sauces.

I used peaches and pineapple for this batch, but there is tons of leeway on the fruit choice. 

For example, I used mango in this Mango Habanero Hot Sauce:

Both of the Habanero hot sauces work great as the final touch on tacos, especially on something like these Baja Fish Tacos. 

And last I want to mention this Serrano Hot Sauce. 

Serranos have more heat than Jalapenos AND I added a Habanero to this recipe.  So yes, this one is for all you heat lovers out there 🙂

Here's a look at the ingredient list:

1/2 lb. Serrano peppers (18-20 Serranos)
1 Habanero pepper (optional)
1/4 onion
1 garlic clove
1/2 cup white vinegar
1/4 cup water
juice of 1 lime
freshly cracked black pepper
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon Mexican oregano
1/4 teaspoon cumin (optional)
8-10 cilantro sprigs

This one is a fireball so I typically recommend that people start with the Jalapeno Hot Sauce and then work their way up from there.   

Don't forget that you'll always want to use caution when handling hot chile peppers, especially Habaneros. 

Here's more info on working with hot chiles. 

Okay, I hope you found a keeper recipe in this post! 

Making your own hot sauce is surprisingly easy and a great way to add some zing to your kitchen. 

Let me know if you have questions about any of these recipes:

Jalapeno Hot Sauce 

Chipotle Hot Sauce

Habanero Hot Sauce

Mango Habanero Sauce

Serrano Hot Sauce

Click on any of the above links if you want to print out or take a pic of the detailed instructions. 

Enjoy!

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