© 2025. The Trustees of Indiana University
Copyright Complaints
1229 East Seventh Street, Bloomington, Indiana 47405
News, Arts and Culture from WFIU Public Radio and WTIU Public Television
Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations
Some web content from Indiana Public Media is unavailable during our transition to a new web publishing platform. We apologize for the inconvenience.

Habanero Hot Sauce

You can order some hot sauce bottles and custom labels if you want to get fancy, or clean and reuse bottles and jars from your kitchen.
You can order some hot sauce bottles and custom labels if you want to get fancy, or clean and reuse bottles and jars from your kitchen. 

This recipe is inspired by one from Rick Bayless. I have been making it for years with habaneros that I grow myself. I usually have SO many chilis that I end up making huge batches of this to give away to friends and family.

 

Habanero Hot Sauce
 

INGREDIENTS

  • 6 garlic cloves
  • 1/2 cup peeled chopped carrot (about 1 medium carrot)
  • 1/2 cup chopped white or yellow onion (about half of a small onion)
  • 12 medium orange or red habanero chiles
  • 1 cup apple cider vinegar
  • 1 cup water
  • 2 teaspoons salt (or more, to taste)
  • 1 Tablespoon Honey

INSTRUCTIONS

Optional first step: roast the unpeeled garlic in a skillet over medium heat, turning regularly until soft and blackened in spots, 10 to 15 minutes. Cool and peel. Otherwise, just peel the garlic and add it to the saucepan in step one.

  1. In a small or medium  saucepan, combine the carrot, onion and habanero chiles with the vinegar and water. Partially cover and simmer over medium-low heat until the carrots are thoroughly tender, about 10 minutes. 
  2. Add the garlic (if roasted) salt and honey. Using a stick blender, blend until smooth. 
  3. Transfer the mixture to a food mill and pass it through on the finest setting (if your food mill has options). If you don’t have a food mill, you can push it through a strainer. 
  4. Taste and season with additional salt, if you like.
  5. Pour into jars or bottles and store in the refrigerator.

Kayte Young discovered her passion for growing, cooking, foraging and preserving fresh food when she moved to Bloomington in 2007. With a background in construction, architecture, nutrition education and writing, she brings curiosity and a love of storytelling to a show about all things edible. Kayte raises bees, a small family and a yard full of food in Bloomington’s McDoel Gardens neighborhood.