Instant Pot Hot Sauce is fast and so fun to make! Grab your favorite chili peppers and a few other simple ingredients. You can control the flavor and heat, and it tastes great! Pressure cooker hot sauce makes awesome gifts, too!
Originally published 9/15/17
Instant Pot Hot Sauce
My kitchen smells amazing right now! I’m cooking up a batch of Instant Pot Hot Sauce in my “Magic Pot!”
If you are wondering what to do with the chili peppers from your garden, I would say make some tasty hot sauce!
If I don’t grow my own chili peppers, I get them from Seattle’s Pike Place Market. We get down there a few times a year. The Market usually has great produce. Plus it’s fun to walk around and see everything.
I found some lovely Fresno chiles, which are perfect for a nice red hot sauce (You can use any type of hot chile pepper!). There are so many hot sauce varieties out there, and we have several flavors we have picked up over time. I really like making my own though.
This Instant Pot Hot Sauce is really fast to make! For me, the best part is not having to stand over the stove stirring and breathing in those capsaicin fumes (which you shouldn’t do!)!
Quick Cook Time!
When I cook vegetables in my electric pressure cooker, depending on the type of veggie, I will only cook for 0 (yes, with the IP you can choose to cook for 0 minutes!) up to 3 minutes, on the average.
This recipe can cook 2-4 minutes with great results.
How Many Chili Peppers per Batch?
I normally use 1 pound of the hot chili peppers per batch, feel free to double or triple the recipe. You can keep the cook time the same.
If you are going to double the recipe, buy double the amount of glass bottles. I know that sounds obvious, but it’s easy to forget.
This recipe is written for 12 oz of chili peppers, but feel free to use a full pound. You will need an extra hot sauce bottle or two.
This Instant Pot Hot Sauce recipe is a little sweet, a touch smoky (I use alder smoked sea salt as a substitution for oak wood blocks), and HOT! I find myself reaching for it whenever I have Eggs in Tomato Sauce, Tacos, or Refried Beans, as it just goes with so many foods! Kicks them up a few notches!
These Hatch green chiles are a milder chile, and they make an awesome green, or verde hot sauce (They also make the BEST Black Bean Soup!!)
It’s really not that difficult to make pressure cooker Hot Sauce, and the results are delicious! It gets better within a couple of weeks, as aging helps develop the flavors. I keep it in the fridge for up to 6 months (maybe longer, but ours never lasts that long!).
When you make homemade hot sauce, you will want to take simple precautions so you don’t burn your eyes or inhale those strong capsaicin fumes (basically anything with strong fumes I let naturally release, such as vanilla, as it has alcohol in it).
Gloves (I have some food service gloves), eye protection (I just wear my reading glasses!), natural release of the pressure, washing your knife handle (I made the mistake of not doing that once) and cutting board, etc.
Please read the instructions in the recipe and heed my warning about safety! I hope I don’t make it sound scary, but if you have ever touched your eye after touching a hot pepper… Ouch!
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Instant Pot Hot Sauce is tasty and easy to make. A versatile pressure cooker hot sauce recipe that you can make from any variety of chile pepper. Customize the ingredients to make it your own!
- 3/4 - 1 lb Fresno Peppers, (or Cayenne, or other)
- 1/4 cup Shredded Carrot,
- 6 Cloves of Garlic, peeled and smashed
- 1 Roasted Red Pepper, chopped (I use the jarred ones)
- 1 cup White Vinegar
- 1/4 cup Apple Cider Vinegar
- 1/2 cup Water
- 1 Tbsp Smoked Sea Salt (or use regular or Kosher salt if that's all you have)
- 1 Tbsp Smoked Paprika
- 2 Chipotle Chiles in Adobo
- 12-16 oz Green Chiles (Hatch, Jalapeño, etc)
- 8 Cloves of Garlic, peeled and smashed
- 1 Green Bell Pepper, chopped (roast it first for even more flavor!)
- 1 cup White Vinegar
- 1/4 cup Apple Cider Vinegar
- 1/2 cup Water
- 1 Tbsp Smoked Sea Salt, (or use regular or Kosher salt if that's all you have)
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Cut the tops off of the peppers and discard. Chop the peppers in thirds. Add to the stainless steel inner liner of the Instant Pot.
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Add in the remaining ingredients.
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Close the lid of the pressure cooker and set the steam release knob to the Sealing position.
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Press Manual (or Pressure Cook function, High Pressure) and use the + or - button to select 2 minutes.
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When cooking cycle ends, LET IT FULLY NATURALLY RELEASE PRESSURE. Do not do a Quick Release or manually release the pressure. You don't want to inhale those pepper fumes!
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After all of the pressure is out of the pot, open the lid carefully, facing it away from your face. Don't breathe in the fumes!
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Let the mixture cool, then transfer it to a blender and blend until smooth. You can use an immersion blender (though I find the regular blender makes it smoother). Be very careful, and wear gloves and eye protection.
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Strain blended mixture through a strainer, and fill your hot sauce bottles! You could also leave unstrained and put in jars to enjoy a thicker hot sauce.
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The hot sauce gets better as it ages a bit. It will keep in the fridge for several weeks or more!
Hot sauce is fun and easy to make, but please take some simple precautions:
1) Wear gloves (I use food service gloves) and eye protection (I wear my reading glasses) when handling and chopping the peppers.
2) Clean your knife handle and cutting board well after chopping.
3) Let the pressure cooker naturally release the pressure, don't do it manually as you don't want the fumes in the air that you might breathe. I learned that the hard way from cooking it on the stove top.
4) Open the lid facing away from your face and do not inhale the steam/fumes as it wafts out of the pot! That would not be good.
--- Inspired by Cook's Science - Fresno Chile Carrot Hot Sauce
Resources to Make This Recipe and more
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I like to make fermented hot sauce as well. I really like the flavor, and oak (like in wine making), gives the sauce a nice smoky taste. I have a batch in the pantry, fermenting away. This is a nice method to bring in more complex flavors. It just takes a lot longer. I will ferment it, then let it age for a year or more (it’s been 3 years and almost time!), and it will be ready for next Thanksgiving. Patience.
Nicole Anne Wilker
OMG! thank you! this recipe is amazing! I used jalapenos and 1 poblando! The adobo chili and smoked salt are such amazing idea! Thank you!
Ed H
I do all of my Foodi pressure cooking and air frying OUTDOORS in the summer (sous vide and slow cooker too) to prevent the kitchen from heating up. This also prevents extra muggy humidity and funky smells from the cooking. I also use the backyard grill’s side burner to cook high temp sear and long boils to keep the kitchen pristine. And meats and veggies cooked by sous vide only take a few minutes on the grill to brown, so I don’t have to swelter in the hot evening sun.
Catherine Eubank
I was wondering if I could can this recipe
I have a ton of jalapeno, habanero and scorpion peppers
I want to can and set on my shelf
I have never made hot sauce before and think it interesting to try
Sandy
You can can hot sauce. Check with the Ball canning guide for safe practices first. Also, don’t can it in the IP as it is not rated at a high enough PSI for safe canning. 🙂
Jeanie
I made this for Christmas gifts and got rave reviews.
Christy Scott
I’ve now made this about 20 times. with many different peppers and seasonings! I give it away as gifts and receive rave reviews! I know that I commented before, but I just really want to thank you for giving me the courage to make hot sauce in my IP. It’s so good, I feel like I could get rich if I bottled it up and sold it! I’m way too lazy, but REALLY enjoyed this recipe! Thank you again! I love food!
Sandy
Girl! You are an expert now! I am so happy that you checked back in!
Sharon
I made this twice as recipe presented except I used a variety of hot and mild peppers from my garden. I also added the suggested smoked paprika. Both batches turned out great. Most of it is presently in the freezer in small canning jars. Thanks so much for developing and sharing this recipe.
Sandy
That’s great, Sharon! Thank you for your review!
Colleen
I want to make this but do you think I could eliminate the garlic? My husband hates garlic, and I mean HATES it!
Sandy
Hi Colleen, yes, go ahead and omit the garlic. I don’t know what to add in place of it, but you can get creative!
Barbara
I can’t wait to try your recipes for the red and the green! I have to wait, though; I’m growing the authentic “Tabasco” brand peppers to process, and I’m so excited to have this plant! It’s huge now, and has flowers on it, so I have a while to wait.
Sandy
Oh fun! I’m going to try growing them next year. This year I used up all of my garden with tomatoes! Have fun, and please let me know!
Beth!
Made this with various green peppers…jalapeño, Serrano, Anaheim and a roasted bell pepper. Very good. If I do this again, I wouldn’t use such a fine strainer. That gave me hard time. The sauce turned out more of a salsa rather than a hot sauce because the strained sauce was super thin. Either way, we had fun with it!
Jerusha
Made the green version today and my husband, the hot sauce snob, has already used an entire bottle! It’s super, duper spicy but incredibly clean and flavorful on the palate. I don’t even like hot sauce and I’m digging this! Now I know what everybody is getting for Father’s Day… ?
Sandy
Hi Jerusha! I love that your hubby enjoyed this hot sauce so much! Sometimes I’ll leave out some of the seeds to “cool” it down a bit, but it’s good either way. And when the Hatch chiles come into season, the green sauce is even better with them added! It does make a great gift, too. I have been gifting it for Christmas and Father’s Day, like you! Thank you for your review, I appreciate it!
Carrie
Can I get your fermented recipe for hot sauce
Sandy
Hi Carrie, I’m still working on it. Stay tuned!
Rochelle
BTW, I’m right down in Olympia, and now really looking forward to shooting up to Pike’s Place on a pepper hunt!
Sandy
That’s great! When it gets closer to summer, check out Fred Meyer for hatch chiles, too. I found some really good ones there!
Rochelle
I made the green pepper sauce recipe, but substituted roasted hatch chilies for the bell pepper, and added about 1/4 tsp. liquid smoke. It turned out over-the-top amazing!!! I’m SO happy to have an IP & Vitamix! Thank you SO much! I couldn’t be any more thrilled! Best hot sauce I’ve ever tasted!!!
Sandy
Hi Rochelle! I’m so glad you liked the hot sauce! I have loved using the hatch chiles, too! Roasting them was a great call, I bet that sauce is amazing!! Liquid smoke is a great substitution if you don’t have, or want to use, smoked salt or smoked paprika. Thank you for your review!
P.S., I also love my Vitamix!
Lyle Johnson
Sounds great but how do you ferment this and is the recipe different
Sandy
Lyle, there are different ways to ferment the chile peppers, and the new recipe I’m working on is a different one. If you subscribe to the newsletter, in the right hand side bar, (or scroll down if you are on a phone) you will get the update when the new recipe gets posted. I have a few batches fermenting now, in different ways. The results are not final with this new recipe yet! Stay tuned!
Chris
You get these jars off amazon ??
Sandy
This is the link in my post above: Hot Sauce Bottles – 5oz
Chris
So you are saying these last 3 months refrigerated or unrefrigerated? Or so they last longer than that if I were to put them in my refrig ?? Thx.
Sandy
Three months refrigerated (just look out for any mold growth). Fermented hot sauce can usually stay unrefrigerated (this recipe is not fermented).
Matt
Is there something i could use instead of carrots
Sandy
Just use either extra red bell pepper, or more hot pepper!
Sandy
Yes, increase the red bell pepper or the hot chile pepper!
Shannon
How long will this keep after preparation? I’d like to make and send for Christmas gifts. Does it require refrigeration?
Sandy
Yes, this version is going to last longer if it is refrigerated. It will survive shipping unrefrigerated just fine, I’m sure. Mine lasts about 3 months. If you wait to make it, you can ship it out as gifts and let the recipients know the expiration date. Now, as this is a vinegar based sauce, it may last longer, you know how these things are (I keep butter on my counter when everyone says to keep it in the fridge… But I can’t recommend people do that!) 😉
Barbara
I would like to make but I hate vinegar could I using anything else ?
Sandy
I don’t know of an alternative, though one may exist. You need the acid, so maybe lemon juice? Using apple cider vinegar is an option, if you like it any better. There are recipes that use red wine vinegar, and much less of it than in my recipe. The preparation is different, too. I think you will need to do some research. I think you CAN get away with less though, so that’s a good start!
Kes
I’ve had the same reaction to vinegars and I’ve successfully made several types of infused pickles with rice wine vinegar (NOT seasoned). I tend to make small batches (and always watch for mold or discoloration). Hope this helps. Looking forward to trying this recipe. I do have a question though – I have some dried smoked peppers I wanted to add to the mix: is the cook time long enough to fully rehydrate them or should I do that beforehand?
Sandy
I might cook a bit longer, or maybe rehydrate them in some water before cooking.
Leah
Could
You substitute other ??
Sandy
This recipe is good for any hot peppers you like!
Shanna
How long would sauce last if not refrigerated?
Sandy
This recipe is not a fermented hot sauce, therefore I do not recommend leaving it out of the fridge.