Fermented hot sauce is a versatile and delicious condiment that has gained popularity in recent years. Made by fermenting chili peppers and other ingredients, this sauce has a unique flavor profile that can add a spicy kick to any dish.

If you're not a fan of hot sauce, or spicy foods in general, or haven't really dabbled in the world of lacto-fermentation, you have to try this simple recipe. It's fantastic and has much more depth of flavor than typical hot sauce.

This is a great way to preserve extra peppers from your garden instead of just freezing peppers or making pickled peppers. It's simple, doesn't take a lot of hands-on time, and results in a flavorful, probiotic-rich, healthy condiment to put on your food.

What is fermented hot sauce?

Fermented hot sauce is a type of hot sauce that is made using a process called fermentation. During fermentation, the natural beneficial bacteria and yeast that are found on peppers and other ingredients are allowed to grow and multiply, which leads to the creation of a complex and flavorful sauce.

The longer you let this awesome condiment ferment, the more depth of flavor it will have. It's incredibly simple to make and is full of health benefits.

What is the difference between fermented hot sauce and hot sauce?

Regular hot sauce is made by combining mashed chili peppers, vinegar, and salt. Fermented hot sauce, on the other hand, is made by allowing the chili peppers to ferment in a salt brine for a while before being blended into a sauce.

During the fermentation process, good bacteria and yeast break down the natural sugars in the peppers, creating a complex flavor profile and producing beneficial lactic acid bacteria, which acts as a natural preservative.

Fermentation actually gives the fermented version a more tangy, complex flavor than unfermented hot sauce as well. It tends to be less spicy than regular hot sauce because the fermentation process reduces the heat of the peppers.

Benefits of Fermented Hot Sauce

Aside from the health benefits of creating a living food full of natural probiotics, it's also far easier to ferment hot sauce than it is to can it.

This process is simple and requires very little hands-on time. It also doesn't require any real special equipment. You really just need a jar with a lid and something to weigh down the peppers.

The flavor of fermented hot sauce is also better than regular hot sauce, with a tangy depth as opposed to just being "hot".

Overall, it's just easier, and results in a healthier food than making hot sauce any other way.

Ingredients & Equipment for Fermented Hot Sauce

Peppers - any mixture. If you want a milder sauce, use some sweet peppers in the mix.

Onion - yellow sweet onions work well here, but white or red onion varieties can also work.

Garlic - a few cloves, adjust for your preference.

Carrot - just a single carrot will work for this, it just adds a bit of natural sweetness to the hot sauce.

Salt - Canning and pickling salt will work just fine here or sea salt or kosher salt. Make sure your salt is not iodized!

Filtered Water - when fermenting, make sure you're using filtered water as chlorine can affect the ability of the fermentation process to occur.

Quart Jar - you can also double the recipe and use a half-gallon mason jar.

Airlock Lid - While not completely necessary, you can just pop a plastic lid on your ferment and it will work just fine, I find it super helpful. I use pickle pipes, but there are several other fermentation lids you can purchase that fit on mason jars.

Fermentation Weight - Also not completely necessary, but useful nonetheless. If you don't have a weight, don't despair. Just fill a ziplock bag with a little bit of water and put it on top of the ferment to keep the peppers submerged underneath the brine. I use these glass fermentation weights.

Blender - When all is said and done, you'll need a blender to blend things up.

Flip-Top Bottles - again, not necessary, but these bottles are my favorite way to store hot sauce.

Fine Mesh Strainer - I used a colander fitted over a large bowl, but if you have a fine mesh strainer, it will work even better.

What chilis make the best fermented hot sauce?

Fresh peppers make the best fermented hot sauce. That said, frozen peppers can be used to make fermented hot sauce as you don't need the crunch of them in the finished product (unlike sauerkraut, for instance).

I've also been told you can use dried peppers, though I haven't tried that.

As far as types of peppers, any chili pepper in a similar color palate will do. You can also make a more mild hot sauce by using some bell peppers, or even adding more carrot and less pepper to the mixture.

Using the same color palate makes a vibrant colored sauce whereas mixing red and green colored peppers will result in a brown colored hot sauce.

My favorites to use are fully ripened jalapenos, serrano peppers, or Thai chillis. Scotch bonnets and habaneros also work really well. But again, any type of hot pepper can work, just make sure you're adding a similar color palate for each pepper or the sauce will be a funny color.

How to Make Easy Lacto-Fermented Hot Sauce

This recipe for homemade hot sauce is so easy to make and only requires a few minutes of hands on time!

Prep the veggies. Begin by washing the peppers. Then, wearing gloves, slice them into thin rings (the object is to fit as much as possible into the jar).

Peel and dice up a small onion. Then, roughly chop a few garlic cloves.

After the garlic is chopped, wash, peel, and dice up the carrot.

Pack the jar. In the bottom of a clean glass jar, layer the garlic, onion, carrots, and peppers. Lightly packing everything down as you work. Fill the jar to about an inch below the rim.

Make the salt water brine. In a saucepan, combine 2 cups filtered water, with 1 tablespoon of salt and heat it up slightly to help dissolve the hot, but don't overheat it. The brine needs to be at room temperature when added to the peppers!

Add the brine. Once the salt water brine has cooled, pour it over the top of the ingredients gently tapping and pressing down on the vegetables to remove any air pockets. Make sure there is enough brine to completely submerge the peppers.

Weigh it down. Add a fermentation weight or use a plastic bag filled with a bit of water or a small quarter-pint jelly jar filled with water to weigh down the pepper mixture so it stays submerged.

Add an airlock lid. A plastic lid will work, but an airlock lid will allow the mixture to release the gasses created during the fermentation process while not allowing anything inside the fermentation vessel.

I recommend putting the jar in a bowl or shallow dish in case the ferment gets a little crazy as this will "catch" any brine that leaks out of the jar.

Let it ferment. Keep the ferment cool to around 68-75°F. Any cooler and the fermenting process will take longer, any warmer, it may result in spoilage.

Put it in a cool place, out of direct sunlight, though it doesn't have to be in a dark place. Put it somewhere where you can watch the fermentation action happening with all that bubbling.

How long to ferment hot sauce?

The longer the hot sauce ferments, the more depth of flavor it will develop. That said, it doesn't really take that long to make this ferment.

Around 5 days is the least amount of time to ferment hot sauce, and this won't have as many complex flavors as a longer fermented sauce.

You can ferment it for up to 14 days, but I recommend around 7-10 days of fermentation time for the best flavor. If you ferment too long, your ferment may develop kahm yeast. While this yeast isn't harmful, it can give your hot sauce an off-putting odor and flavor.

Why is the brine cloudy?

A cloudy brine is a healthy brine. Lacto-fermentation produces a combination of lactobacillis bacteria and yeast which help prevent the growth of harmful bacteria while preserving the peppers.

Sometimes the cloudiness of the brine will settle to the bottom, some batches are cloudier than others. But a cloudy ferment is a good ferment, it's a product of all the good bacteria at work.

Blend the hot sauce. After the hot sauce has fermented for a week or so, it's time to blend it up!

Pour the mixture into a fine mesh sieve or colander fitted over a large bowl. Don't pour it down the sink, you want to reserve some of that brine!

Then, place the pepper mixture, ½ cup of brine, a bit of lime juice (if you want to), some herbs, or even a little bit of apple cider vinegar into a blender and blend everything together until smooth. You can add more brine, bits at a time until you reach the desired consistency.

Bottle it up. Using a funnel, pour the hot sauce into a hot sauce bottle of your choice. Which type you use is up to you, you can even just put it in a plastic squeeze bottle if you'd like. That said, be sure you refrigerate your hot sauce!

If you bottle it and don't refrigerate it, the hot sauce will explode! Remember, this is an alive food and the fermentation process and all those bacteria are still in there making life happen.

How long does fermented hot sauce last?

Fermented hot sauce will last a long time stored in the refrigerator. It will keep at least a year, and many say indefinitely. Shake it up when ready to use and that's all you have to do!

If mold or off-flavors happen to develop, it's time to discard.

Wait, my fermented hot sauce is too spicy!

The first few days after it is blended up, it will be extraordinarily spicy. However, the heat level will mellow with time. You can definitely add some more lime juice or herbs when blending to mellow out the flavors, but I assure you if you give it time, it will mellow.

Give it a week or two and the complexity of the flavors will really develop and the heat will become milder.

Other Preserving Recipes to Try Next:

• Fermented Honey Garlic
• Easy Homemade Dill Pickles (refrigerator or canned)
• Quick and Easy Pickled Peppers

If you try this fermented hot sauce, I’d love to hear about it in the comment section below! Also, I’d love if you could leave me a five star ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ recipe review on the recipe card below and tag me on instagram @therusticelk!