Sweet And Spicy Hot Sauce Canning Recipe
At one point last week there were over 80 pounds of ripe tomatoes waiting to be processed, and since we had already checked tomato sauce, ketchup, bruschetta and salsa off our list, we decided to make a batch of hot sauce.
Which of course will come in handy this winter on all those plates of nachos and pots of chili I plan on making.
Living in Maine. It really makes you think ahead to the coming season and all the things you need to do to prepare for it.
One thing is for sure though, I don’t think we’ll have to worry about running to the store for any canned goods.
This recipe for sweet and spicy hot sauce was easy to make. I used Fresno peppers which are a little fruiter and hotter than a jalapeno. So for us, the heat in this hot sauce recipe was spot on.
Not mild, but not crazy hot either. Somewhere in between.
I hope you like this recipe as much as we do. It’s a keeper.
~Mavis
P.S. Do yourself a favor and wear gloves when you’re seeding hot peppers.
P.P.S. I used 100 and 200mL Weck Deli Jars for this recipe.
Sweet And Spicy Hot Sauce Canning Recipe
Ingredients
2 quarts peeled, cored,chopped pasta tomatoes
1 ½ cups seeded and chopped red hot peppers
4 cups white vinegar, divided
1 cup white sugar
1 tablespoon canning salt
2 tablespoons pickling spices
Instructions
Combine the tomatoes, peppers and 2 cups of the vinegar in a large heavy pot. Bring ingredients to a boil over medium high heat. Reduce heat and simmer for about 5 minutes, stirring occasionally to prevent scorching and to let the vegetables soften a bit.
Puree the mixture using a food processor, food mill or blender.
Place the pickling spices in a spice bag and cinch tight. Add spice bag along with the sugar and salt to the tomato mixture and simmer until thickened, stirring often to prevent scorching.
Add the remaining 2 cups of vinegar.
Simmer hot sauce down to desired thickness.
Remove the spice bag.
Ladle hot sauce immediately into prepared jars, filling to within 1/4 inch of tops. Remove any air bubbles.
Wipe the jar rims and threads clean if needed. If using traditional canning jars, cover with 2-piece lids. Screw bands on.
If using Weck jars, carefully place the Weck rubber gasket on the lid of the jars. Place the lid on the jar and secure the lid with 2 evenly spaced Weck clamps.
Place jars on an elevated rack in a hot water bath canner. Lower rack into canner. {Water must cover jars by 2 inches. Add boiling water, if necessary.}
Cover; bring water to a boil. Process 15 min. Remove jars and place upright on a towel to cool completely. Cool jars for 12-24 hours.
After the jars have cooled, check the seals by pressing the middle of the lids with your finger. If lids spring back, lids are not sealed and refrigeration is necessary. {Traditional canning jars}.
For Weck jars, check to make sure your seal is pointing downwards.
Remove rings or clamps and store jars in a cool dark place.
Yields about {6} half pints
Anna says
What about canning chili?
Mavis Butterfield says
It’s on my list. 🙂
Wendy C says
What pickling spices do you use? I used the ball brand pickling spices recently and was just not impressed.
Stephanie says
You might try the pickling spice mix from The Spice House. Their spices are fantastic! Plus all flat packs ship for free. If you sign up for their emails you can get 10%off your first order.
Wendy C. says
Thanks!
Mavis Butterfield says
McCormick pickling spice mix.
Mavis Butterfield says
McCormick pickling spice mix.
Donna says
You could try making tomato juice. My mother and grandmother made tomato juice and it tasted much better than the store bought juice. The tomato juice then could be used in soup or stew recipes, or you could just drink the juice.
andrea d says
As always, looks great!
Questions about your spice bags. It looks like you make them, so are you able to snip the threads and wash the fabric in order to reuse? What type of fabric do you find works best? I usually just use cheap cheese cloth- never thought of making my own.
Mavis Butterfield says
I have a bolt of linen I bought a few years ago {for another project} and so I’ve just been using that. I don’t reuse them. I just toss them on the compost pile when I’m done with it.
Diane says
Hi,
When you lived in Washington, did you ever grow Jimmy Nardello peppers? I’ve only grown them once and my yield was low. Really like them and hope to do better next year. Have you ever grown them in large pots? I’ve got a really sunny spot on the south of the house that should do well. I would only be able to use pots in that area. Thoughts? I don’t believe that I’ve ever seen a Jimmy Nardello in any local farm stands around my area. Now that I’ve found them, I’ve got to figure out how to get them to grow here.
Thanks!
Elise in the SF Bay Area says
I’m not Mavis, and I don’t even live in Washington(!), but my experience in the SF Bay Area is that tomatoes and peppers do great in pots (big enough, like 12 inches) with enough water and sun. Water is the limiting factor here, sun may be for you up there 🙂 go for it!!!
I also use tomato cages on my pepper plants. I have an Arizona pepper plant that’s over 4 ft tall right now! I may have watered it once with tomato Miracle grow. I made one batch a while ago because my tomatoes were LOLLYGAGGING along, and I think I dumped a little over on/under the pepper plant too. (That cherry tomato plant is now over 6 ft tall – like 8 ft total, flopping out the top of 2 stacked tomato cages, but still full of green tomatoes!)
The herbs and veggies are all in horse trough “planters”, I can’t grow any annuals in my soil…
Mavis Butterfield says
I only found out about Jimmy Nardello peppers after moving to the East coast so I never grew them in Washington. I grew tomatoes in pots in the PNW and tehy did great. I bet the Jimmys would too.
Elise in the SF Bay ARea says
I need to try this! Sounds DELISH!
Melissa says
It consistently seems like there is quite a bit of headspace in your canning jars. Wondering if this is a recommendation for Weck jars? I have not canned in them so I don’t know. I know that in regular Ball/Kerr jars, that would be considered too much headspace.
Mavis Butterfield says
Weck jars have inverted lids so you need to allow for that. 🙂
Dan says
I’m from Mid-Coast Maine myself so it was nice coming across this recipe! I currently make vinegar and pepper based hot sauces but I would like something I can water bath can in larger batches to later transfer into sauce bottles to use as gifts. I’m curious about the tomato based sauces especially now where I’m growing around 90 Roma type plants, along with around 100 different hot peppers. Last year 90 plants yielded 65 lbs. so, long story short, would this recipe hold up to canning then transferring to bottles? Would the shelf life be worth it ?