Fermented Fresno Pepper Hot Sauce

Homemade fermented Fresno pepper hot sauce that yields a spicy, flavorful hot sauce that’s not only delicious but full of gut-healthy probiotics!

Summer is here and that means a bounty of beautiful peppers at the farmers market. Or, if you garden, it might mean lots of bright peppers ripening up in your backyard.

This is the best time of the year because there are so many fruits  and veggies in season  – tomatoes, to cucumbers, corn and even peppers..

So many peppers!

This is especially true if you are growing peppers in your backyard garden and looking for a new way to use them up. Peppers are one of my favorite plants to grow and there are so many varieties.  

This time of the year, I always go a little overboard trying to grow as many pepper varieties as I can. Then I struggle trying to use up the bounty and find myself making things that I can gift to friends and family.  There’s only so many peppers one can take before they get all peppered out..

We’ve done roasted Fresno pepper pesto, fire roasted poblano & garlic pesto, fermented jalapeño hot sauce, and now.. this.

Fermented Fresno Pepper Hot Sauce

Anyone can make this hot sauce. It’s so easy to make, and it tastes delicious on everything.

One of the most important steps in making this hot sauce is allowing it to ferment. This process will help develop the flavors and also gives it a healthy boost of probiotics for your gut.

Start by adding the peppers, salt and water to the food processor – pulse until it’s a thick salsa.  Transfer to a clean jar and cover with a cheesecloth or a piece of cotton fabric. Allow it to sit, undisturbed, for 24 hours. 

Then stir in the apple cider vinegar and allow it to ferment for 7-10 days, still covered with cheesecloth or a piece of cotton fabric. 

(Feel free to go longer if you’d like – we’ve gone up to 3 weeks with ours.) 

After that time, you should see the bubbles (ferment activity) start to slow down considerably. Transfer to a blender and blend until smooth. Push the blended chile through a cheesecloth or a fine mesh strainer (make sure you wear gloves!) to remove the seeds and remaining pulp.

Transfer to a glass jar, swing top bottle or these hot sauce bottles if you are giving as gifts.

Recipe Notes:

The flavor of this homemade fermented hot sauce is so fresh and vibrant. The biggest challenge in making this hot sauce comes from the waiting period. For a mere 10 minutes of total hands-on time, you can have a lovely hot sauce that will last you several months..

If it doesn’t last that long, don’t panic! Grab some more chiles and make some more.

There are so many different kinds of chiles that you can use – for something hotter, use Scotch Bonnet peppers.  If you can’t find Fresno peppers in your area, then use something like serrano or jalapeño peppers.

So if you find yourself with an abundance of peppers this summer, make this hot sauce!  It’s so good! 

If you do make it, please leave a comment, rate the recipe and be sure to tag me on Instagram!

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