Roasted Jalapeno Hot Sauce

This is a great recipe to prepare anytime in under 30 minutes with about 5 – 7 minutes prep time. Bold flavor without the extreme heat and less processing time than smoking or fermenting. This makes about 1 cup of sauce and will have a colorful appeal from the charred peppers.

**Warning**

I bring it to family gatherings and like it because members of my family cannot tolerate very hot sauces. These are very common items and I found all of them in one store. This entire recipe can be made for under $5.00 and I like to make it for my wife and daughter who cannot tolerate a lot of heat.

Roasting the peppers is the key to this recipe. The right ingredients are important but so is the process. The process could be cooking, fermenting, aging or smoking. In this case its roasting. This method will draw out the water from the jalapeno and poblano and make a thicker sauce, or you add a liquefying substance like water or more vinegar to thin it out.

This method or process also brings out the natural sugars in the peppers and along with the agave, adds to the sweetness. Lemon, lime or another citrus based juices will level off the sweetness…but you will still have the heat.

Cost of ingredients

Hot peppers are some of the least expensive produce items you can purchase and will pack a lot of flavor as well as nutrients like vitamins and minerals. Jalapenos generally cost about $.10 an ounce if they are fresh* Poblano peppers will cost more per pepper because they are usually heavier.

*3 stores surveyed – Aldi, Walmart, Amazon

Agave nectar

Agave nectar is a sweet syrup that contributes to the mildness of this sauce, its probably the most expensive item on this list. It combines with the lemons for a nice fruity flavor. You can use sugar as a substitute but it will not be as sweet and I like to make sure it is diluted completely in the sauce. This will usually cost more than sugar and you may already have some form of sugar on hand.

Recipe Steps

Step 1

Pre heat the oven to 350^o Fahrenheit. Cut the stems off the all the peppers and cut them in half lengthwise. Remove the seeds from the jalapeno if you want an even milder sauce, otherwise leave them in. However, removing the seeds from this recipe will give the sauce almost no heat. The seeds roast to a nice brown color and give the sauce added heat.

Cut the poblano peppers in quarters and remove the seeds. There is no harm in consuming them but no need to leave them in. Poblano peppers usually have a lot of seeds and they can have a bitter flavor to them.

Step 2

Remove the skin from the garlic but leave whole as much as possible. This can be done in several ways but I like to crush the clove with a knife which makes the skin peel away. Roast them whole but without the skin for the best flavor.

Place the peppers rib side up along with the garlic and sprinkle with some salt. Leave in the oven for about 20 minutes or until the peppers begin to wrinkle and the seeds start to turn brown. Put the oven on broil and flip them over until the skins turn brownish. Watch them closely to make sure they don’t burn completely.

Both the roasted seeds and charred skin will give a speckled appearance to the hot sauce against the green of the peppers once it is blended. Don’t completely char the peppers until they are black and hard. Intensely charred black foods form acrylamide and this is not good for you, although the research is not completely clear. If the peppers get a little black that is OK.

Step 3

Cut the lemon in half and remove the pulp and remove the seeds from the pulp. Put the peppers and remaining ingredient in a blender until it is a smooth consistency. Add slightly more vinegar or water to liquefy the sauce more. This sauce will be slightly thick and adding water will thin it out a bit. Don’t add too much because you could change the heat level and flavor intensity. This is already a very mild hot sauce.

Step 4

I like to put all of my sauces in a woozy bottle to make it recognizable as a hot sauce but you can store this in any container. Also, I prefer glass so you can see the sauce. The appeal of this simple sauce is just as important as its flavor.

Step 5 – Enjoy!

Recipe Variations

1 ] Brush with your favorite oil

I love toasted sesame oil. Extra virgin olive makes a great savory flavored pepper also. If you are using this recipe to mass produce and sell a hot sauce, understand the implications of using an oil in your hot sauce recipe.

2 ] Sprinkle the peppers with spices

I prefer just salt because I LOVE salt but you can sprinkle garlic powder, onion powder, basil, cumin, black pepper or whatever your favorite spice of the week may be. Oregano, rosemary and thyme mix well with the sourness of lemon.

3 ] Cover with a little agave nectar or sugar before roasting

OMG! Taste like candy. The agave nectar is almost a syrup and will concentrate as it is cooked or roasted and this makes it much sweeter. Don’t cover it too much because the sweetness will over power and the sweet and heat won’t mix.

4 ] Roast on an open frame or grill

You can bring the most flavor out of this recipe if you roast the peppers over an open flame. However, you don’t want the flame to reach the peppers. Grilling peppers on a open flame takes a little more effort but produces a great flavor.