A step-by-step tutorial showing you how to make DIY southern Tabasco pepper sauce complete with pictures and direct supply links for your convenience.
I love a DIY gift solution for family and friends. This southern style Tabasco pepper sauce is not only homemade, but can elevate daily meals such as greens, peas, salads, barbecue… the possibilities are endless.
Ingredients to make DIY Southern Tabasco Pepper Sauce
-5 oz glass bottles (even better if they have a sprinkle top)
-Avg. of 50 Tabasco peppers per bottle
-2 cups of distilled white vinegar
– Anything extra to personalize or jazz up your sauce, i.e. garlic cloves, peppercorns, etc.
STEP 1: Grow & Harvest Tabasco Peppers
I started my garden in the spring of 2021, and documented my progress to help all the other beginner gardeners out there. For year 2, I added jalapeno peppers per my husband’s request, and these Tabasco peppers to spice things up. Little did I know, the Tabasco pepper plant was extremely resilient and successful with little help from me. I had well over 300 peppers to harvest come October. I needed to think of something to do with all of these peppers.
My husband and his family from Mississippi all enjoy Tabasco pepper vinegar sauce. I figured this would be the perfect use for the peppers, and fun & thoughtful DIY gift for Christmas.
Follow the growing directions that come with the card in your plant. We had an extremely dry and hot summer, and my peppers still thrived. They grew well into fall as well, right up until the first frost.
I decided to allow some of the peppers to ripen to orange and red for some added color variety, but most of the peppers I harvested were green. The orange and red peppers typically come off right at the stem, but the green ones are still attached to the stem.
STEP 2: Clean & Prep
Once all your peppers are harvested, rinse and wash them in a colander. Give them time to dry, then cut off the stems. For a spicier sauce, cut the top of the pepper off as well when you’re cutting off the stems to allow the vinegar to seep into the pepper. You can also pierce the peppers a few times and achieve the same effect. If you want a milder sauce, leave the peppers whole.
Once your peppers are clean and prepped, pack them into your clean bottles about 3/4 of the way full. I tried to alternate red and orange peppers among the green ones to make it more aesthetically pleasing. You can also add garlic cloves, peppercorn, or whatever else you want to personalize your sauce.
STEP 3: Heat the Vinegar
Next, combine the vinegar and salt in a small saucepan, and bring it to a boil. Use the ratio of 2 cups of vinegar to 1/2 tsp of salt. For six 5 oz bottles, 2 cups of vinegar was just enough.
Once the vinegar is boiling, pour it hot into the bottles using a funnel. Fill them on up to the top, but be careful not to spill.
STEP 4: Cool & Store
Once you have filled up all your sauce bottles, let them cool to room temperature. Then, it is recommended to store them in the refrigerator where they should keep for up to a year. Allow the flavors to develop for at least 2 weeks for best results.
There you have it! A cost effective, unique and yummy way to use and give produce from your own backyard.
