This hot sauce is so unbelievably good. It’s hard for me to write any more than that because those words are pretty much all my brain can muster when I think about this fermented hot sauce, also known as “The Best Hot Sauce in the World.” Who needs sriracha when you have this homemade deliciousness?
Want to save this post for later?
We'll send it to your inbox, plus get updates from us every week!
Peppers for Fermented Hot Sauce
This hot sauce starts with dried hot peppers. These were Red Rocket peppers from the Barking Moon Farm stand at the Ashland farmer’s market.
We had received them in a CSA box a few years prior and I had no idea what to do with them until I came across this recipe from Frugally Sustainable for fermented hot sauce.
Of course that’s what I should do with them!
You can use any hot pepper you like for this recipe, fresh or dried. Each pepper variety will give it a totally different and unique flavor, so I recommend trying out whichever one you prefer.
If you are a hot sauce lover you can make a few batches using several different peppers to see which one you like best!
Fermented Hot Sauce Recipe
I adapted this recipe to use dehydrated peppers, but please feel free to use fresh when they are in season!
Cut off the stems if you wish, but they can also be left on. I think if I was using fresh peppers I would leave the stems on, but these dried ones were pretty tough.
Leave as many seeds in as you dare, depending on how hot your peppers are and how hot you like it! I probably ended up using about half of the seeds as these are very hot peppers.
Toss the peppers into a quart jar along with half an onion chopped and several whole garlic cloves (I used 6, but you can never have enough garlic in my mind!).
Put 2 tablespoons kosher or sea salt (not iodized) into the jar with the peppers and onions.
Fill the jar most of the way with water, but leave an inch or so of space at the top. Use a long spoon or chopstick to stir the the brine well to help dissolve all the salt.
You can alternatively cover the jar and shake everything up well.
So gorgeous! Put a weight on top of the veggies to keep them under the brine.
This weight fits into any wide mouth jar. It’s so cute and fits perfectly! It takes away that thought that I always have when I get to this point, which is “what the heck am I going to use as a weight?”
Fermentation Kit for Hot Sauce
I tried out a new little fermenting kit when I made this hot sauce. See that weight and airlock? That’s the Ferment’n Home Fermentation Kit. It turned out to be pretty useful, in my opinion, but unfortunately it doesn’t exist anymore.
If you’re wanting to get a fermenting kit, I suggest getting something like The Easy Fermenter or the Masontops Complete Fermentation Kit.
Of course a zip top bag or a smaller jar filled with water will do the trick, but having a fermentation weight is really handy.
Then you can either cover the jar with a clean cloth to keep the bugs out or use an airlock.
Many fermenting kits come with an airlock that fits onto a wide mouth jar. You just put a little bit of water into it and then screw the metal ring on to hold it in place. Pretty cool!
Ferment & Blend the Hot Sauce
Put the jar in a corner somewhere and let it ferment for about 2 weeks. This is when the magic happens!
The weight will probably be totally submerged after the fermentation period, and the color of the liquid may change a little, but it’s all good!
Pour the entire contents of the jar into a blender, along with a small splash of either white or apple cider vinegar, and blend the whole thing up.
It will smell spicy and delicious!
Pour it all back into the jar and there you have it. That’s it!
Put a lid on it, keep it in the fridge and it will keep indefinitely. It will continue to slowly ferment over time and get tastier, but it’s pretty amazing right away.
I’m sure that you will find yourself putting it on absolutely everything like I do!
Now go make yourself some of this awesome fermented hot sauce, you won’t be disappointed!
More Fermented Sauce Recipes
Love a good fermented sauce recipe as much as I do? Here are a few others for you to try!
- Jalapeno Hot Sauce
- Pepperoncini Hot Sauce
- Fermented Ketchup
- Chili Paste
- Kimchi (not quite a sauce, but a spicy and delicious condiment)
If you want to learn more about fermentation, check out my favorite books on fermenting and homebrewing!
Fermented Hot Sauce
Ingredients
- hot peppers fresh or dried
- ½ onion chopped
- 6 garlic cloves
- 2 Tbsp kosher, pickling, or sea salt
- 1 quart water
Instructions
- Cut off the hot pepper stems if you wish. Leave as many seeds in as you like, depending on your taste (more seeds will make it spicier).
- Put the peppers, onion, and garlic into a quart jar.
- Sprinkle salt into the jar.
- Fill the jar most of the way with water, but leave an inch or so of space at the top.
- Use a long spoon or chopstick to stir the the brine well to help dissolve all the salt. (You can alternatively cover the jar and shake everything up well).
- Put a weight on top of the veggies to keep them under the brine.
- Cover the jar with a clean cloth to keep the bugs out or use an airlock.
- Allow to ferment for 2 weeks.
- Pour the entire contents of the jar into a blender, along with a small splash of either white or apple cider vinegar, and blend until smooth.
Notes
- Refrigerate the finished hot sauce in a covered jar.
- Shelf life is indefinite, but it will continue to slowly ferment over time.
A baggie full of water might be the best fermentation weight.
What quantity of peppers is used for this recipe?
Enough to mostly fill a jar. There is no exact amount.
I made the fermented hot sauce and it is way to salty. Is there a way to make it not taste so salty I hate to throw out 2 batches! Did I do something wrong? Please reply!
I would remove some of the salt water brine from your jar and replace it with more water to dilute it. Then let it continue fermentation for a week or more depending on your taste.