It you are a hot sauce fan, you're going to love this mango habanero hot sauce recipe. This sweet and spicy sauce is going to add a delicious, spicy kick and sweet heat to all your favorite foods, and it takes just a few minutes to make.
I grow a variety of peppers every season in my garden, and making hot pepper sauces is my favorite way to use many of them. My last post was for cayenne pepper sauce, and now it's time to make the best mango habanero hot sauce.
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What are habanero peppers?
Habanero chili peppers are a close cousin of the Scotch Bonnet pepper. Both of these hot peppers are very high on the Scoville scale, which measures the amount of heat in chili peppers. Habanero peppers, along with Scotch bonnet peppers, are in the range of 100,000 to 350,000 Scoville heat units. To put that into perspective, a Jalapeno pepper is at 2500 to 10,000 Scoville heat units.
But habanero chilies are not the hottest peppers! A ghost pepper sits at 750,000 - 1,500,000 units. At the very top of the Scoville scale is the Carolina reaper with a fiery 1,500,000 heat units.
Habanero peppers might not be the hottest of the hot peppers, but they are still hot, hot, hot! So if you love spicy food, this is the recipe for you. But don't worry, instructions are included to dial down the heat level if you don't want overwhelm your taste buds with fiery heat.
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Why you'll love this habanero hot sauce
- Quick and easy: All you need is a blender or food processor. There's no cooking, (so no fumes), and no chopping. There is no fermentation process to wait through, since this is an unfermented chili sauce.
- Simple ingredients: All you need is 6 ingredients, besides salt, (and most are probably in your pantry) to make this mango habanero sauce recipe.
- Delicious: Habanero chilies are spicy peppers with a delicious fruity flavor profile, and they are a perfect match for sweet mango, giving this habanero mango sauce a tropical, Caribbean flair.
- Customizable: This easy recipe can be easily adapted to your preferred spice level. See the notes on how to do this under "Top Tips" further down in this post.
Ingredient Notes
Ingredient quantities and full instructions are in the recipe card at the bottom of this post.
- Habanero peppers: If you have habanero chili peppers in your garden, this is a great way to use them. If you don't, you can usually find fresh habanero peppers in the produce section at your grocery store. Look for smooth skinned, shiny, bright orange pods.
- Mango: Fresh mangoes or frozen (defrosted) mango work equally as well.
- Vinegar: Regular white vinegar is all you need, but you can also use apple cider vinegar, rice vinegar, or white wine vinegar.
- Sweetener: I like to use agave syrup, but you can easily use honey or maple syrup. I don't recommend using granulated white or brown sugar since we aren't cooking the sauce, so the sugar won't dissolve.
- Lime juice: I also use lemon juice if that's what I have on hand. You won't be able to tell the difference as long as there is a hint of citrus in the recipe.
- Garlic: Use fresh garlic cloves, or pre-minced fresh garlic from a jar.
- Salt
How to make mango habanero sauce
- Slice the stems from the habanero chilies. Put all ingredients into the bowl of a food processor or a blender.
- Process until smooth.
- Transfer the sauce to a bottle or jar. ( A mason jar works great). Cover with a lid and store in the fridge.
Top Tips
- Wear gloves: Use kitchen gloves when handling hot peppers. It's the best way to protect your hands from burning. Avoid touching your face, especially eyes, nose, and lips. Habanero peppers are very hot and can leave your fingers burning, even after washing with soap and water. It's even more painful if you inadvertently touch your eyes or mouth with those burning fingers. Latex disposable gloves are your friend.
- Heat level: You can adjust the spice level for this homemade hot sauce recipe. For maximum heat, leave the seeds and membrane on the habanero peppers. (The seeds and membrane contain most of the pepper's heat). To make your sauce less spicy, remove the seeds and membrane from one or more of the peppers. If you're unsure, remove the seeds and membrane from all of the chili peppers, but reserve them. Process the rest of the ingredients as per the recipe instructions. Then taste. If you want more heat, gradually add the reserved seeds and membrane, processing, and then tasting, until you have enough heat for your liking.
- Sweetness: This recipe has agave nectar to provide a perfect balance of sweet and heat. You can use maple syrup, or honey if you prefer. The sweetness of the mango will also affect the sugar level. If you want a sweeter flavor, add an extra tablespoon of syrup.
- Consistency: For a thicker or thinner sauce, decrease or increase the amount of vinegar.
- Storage: Store your uncooked, unfermented mango habanero hot sauce in an airtight container (preferably a glass bottle or jar) in the fridge for 1-3 weeks. To be safe, use a kitchen PH meter. The PH of your hot sauce should be less than 4.6.
How to use your homemade hot sauce
Use your homemade hot sauce to add a fruity, spicy kick to all of your favorite dishes. Drizzle some on Mexican fried rice or burrito bowls. It's great on chicken wings, fish tacos, shrimp tacos, or turkey tacos, any or all tacos.
Try habanero sauce on eggs! We love to drizzle a dash of hot sauce on omelets or on my baked huevos rancheros. Mix with mayonnaise to make a mango habanero mayo. It just may become your new favorite dipping sauce for fries, (or my zucchini fritters). It's a delicious flavor boost for chicken, fish, or pork chops.
FAQs
The best way to fix a too-hot sauce is to dilute it. In a food processor, process sweet orange peppers with more vinegar, then combine the mixture with your overly hot sauce. To tone down the heat level in dishes, add dairy, like yogurt or cream. Or add fat, like butter, coconut oil, or mayonnaise.
Try rubbing an acid like vinegar, tomato sauce, or lemon juice on your hands before washing them thoroughly with dish soap. You can also use rubbing alcohol, or any high proof alcohol, to get the same relief. Dairy is another method of neutralizing capsaicin. Rub milk or yogurt on stinging hands before washing with soap and water.
More homemade sauces
Making sauces and condiments at home is usually really easy, healthier, and tastier. Here are some more savory sauces to try:
Did you make this recipe? Please leave a rating in the comments below and let us know how it turned out. Did you make any changes? We would love for you to share and your feedback is important! Thank you for visiting The Food Blog!
Recipe
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Mango Habanero Hot Sauce
Ingredients
- 3 habanero peppers stemmed
- 2 cup ripe mango (1 large) fresh or frozen and thawed
- ¼ cup white vinegar
- ¼ cup agave syrup or maple syrup
- 2 garlic cloves
- 2 tablespoon lime juice one lime
- 1 teaspoon salt
Instructions
- Stem habanero peppers and remove some or all of the seeds and membrane, depending on how hot you want your sauce to be.
- Put all ingredients in the bowl of a food processor or blender.3 habanero peppers, 2 cup ripe mango (1 large), ¼ cup white vinegar, ¼ cup agave syrup, 2 garlic cloves, 2 tablespoon lime juice, 1 teaspoon salt
- Process until smooth.
- Transfer sauce to a glass jar with a lid.
Notes
- Wear gloves: Use kitchen gloves when handling hot peppers. It's the best way to protect your hands from burning. Avoid touching your face, especially eyes, nose, and lips. Habanero peppers are very hot and can leave your fingers burning, even after washing with soap and water. It's even more painful if you inadvertently touch your eyes or mouth with those burning fingers. Latex disposable gloves are your friend.
- Heat level: You can adjust the spice level for this homemade hot sauce recipe. For maximum heat, leave the seeds and membrane on the habanero peppers. (The seeds and membrane contain most of the pepper's heat). To make your sauce less spicy, remove the seeds and membrane from one or more of the peppers. If you're unsure, remove the seeds and membrane from all of the chili peppers, but reserve them. Process the rest of the ingredients as per the recipe instructions. Then taste. If you want more heat, gradually add the reserved seeds and membrane, processing, and then tasting, until you have enough heat for your liking.
- Sweetness: This recipe has agave nectar to provide a perfect balance of sweet and heat. You can use maple syrup, or honey if you prefer. The sweetness of the mango will also affect the sugar level. If you want a sweeter flavor, add an extra tablespoon of syrup.
- Consistency: For a thicker or thinner sauce, decrease or increase the amount of vinegar.
- Storage: Store your uncooked, unfermented mango habanero hot sauce in an airtight container (preferably a glass bottle or jar) in the fridge for 1-3 weeks. To be safe, use a kitchen PH meter. The PH of your hot sauce should be less than 4.6.
Bill
Can this sauce be frozen. I got 3 mason jars and probably won’t use it all in two weeks.
Colleen
Hi Bill, Thanks for this question. I actually have never tried to freeze this hot sauce. However, I don't see any reason why you couldn't, except that it might possibly separate after thawing, but that would just require a good shake or a whisk. As long as you leave enough head space in the jars, you should be good!