Mango Habanero Hot Sauce is a must-try if you’re a spice seeker like me. It’s deliciously addictive and the perfect balance of spicy, sweet, and tart. Welcome this nice kick of Caribbean spice onto your tacos, nachos, ribs, chicken – everything!
Mango Habanero Hot Sauce
Even though I probably have 20+ hot sauces in my pantry I still love making pepper sauces from scratch. I really got into it once I started appreciating the unique attributes of different peppers.
In this hot sauce, I used habaneros because they are spicy and tangy. They have a heat level of between 100,000 and 350,000 Scoville Heat Units (SHU). That’s about ten times hotter than jalapeno peppers!
To offset the spiciness, I paired them with mangoes or mango nectar, which are sweet and juicy with a slightly acidic taste.
So why do these two flavors go so well together? The sweetness of the mango balances out the heat of the habanero pepper. This combination is also used in a lot of Caribbean cuisine and goes really well over dishes like escovitch fish.
What You’ll Need
Let’s talk about the key ingredients you will need to bring this mango habanero hot sauce to life.
- Habanero Chillies: For a less spicy hot sauce, carefully remove the seeds first.
- Mango Nectar: Check the label and opt for mango nectar, not mango juice. Fresh ripe mango would also work well.
- Vinegar: You can use white vinegar, rice vinegar, or apple cider vinegar.
- Carrot: This adds body to the sauce and helps to thicken it up.
- Lime Juice: Fresh lime juice goes a long way in enhancing the flavors of this delicious homemade hot sauce.
- Honey: This natural sweetener helps to enhance the sweetness of the mango and balances out the heat from the habanero peppers.
- Garlic: Fresh garlic cloves add tons of flavor to the hot sauce. Make sure to stick to fresh cloves and not garlic powder for the best results.
- Onion: Like the garlic, yellow onion adds delicious flavor to the sauce.
How to Make Mango Habanero Hot Sauce
This Caribbean-inspired mango habanero hot sauce is bold, flavorful, and super easy to make. Just follow the instructions below and get ready to treat your taste buds!
Step 1: With gloves, cut the habanero peppers in half. Remove seeds if you want to reduce the heat. Add the pepper and the rest of the ingredients to a blender and blend until smooth—around 30 seconds.
Step 2: Transfer to a saucepan and simmer on medium-low heat for 15-20 minutes, constantly stirring throughout the cooking process.
Step 3: Remove from the heat and allow the sauce to cool to room temperature.
Step 4: Pour into an airtight container and store in the refrigerator until use.
Recipe Tips and Variations
Here are some of my top tips and hot sauce variations to try for the best mango habanero hot sauce:
- For my serious spicy food lovers, you will leave those habanero pepper seeds there. If you want to temper the heat a bit, remove the seeds while wearing gloves to avoid any painful mistakes.
- Want to switch up the flavor profile? Swap out the mango nectar for peach nectar or fresh pineapple chunks for a different fruity hot sauce.
- If you prefer a thinner hot sauce, you can add a bit more vinegar or blend some water into the mixture.
- Can’t find mango nectar at the grocery store? A ripe mango will also work great. The one key difference is that mango nectar is typically made with simple syrup, so you may want to increase the amount of honey if you’re using fresh mango.
Storing Homemade Hot Sauce
Not only is this homemade hot sauce recipe delicious and easy to make, it’s also incredibly simple to store for later! In fact, hot sauce is one of my favorite condiments to make at home because it stores wonderfully and can be used in so many dishes.
I love adding a few shakes to my favorite Caribbean dishes, using it to coat my chicken wings, and even mixing it into my salads for some added flavor. To store homemade hot sauce, all you have to do is allow it to cool and then carefully transfer it into an airtight container like a jar or bottle.
Once stored, homemade hot sauce will stay fresh in the fridge for up to 2-3 weeks.
FAQs
Here are the answers to some of the most common questions about mango habanero hot sauce:
Is mango habanero hot sauce spicy?
The beautiful thing about this Caribbean hot sauce recipe is that it’s totally customizable, so it’s as spicy as you want it to be. You can add or remove as many of the seeds as you’d like to control the heat. If you find that the hot sauce is too hot for your taste buds after making it, you can fix that by adding more honey.
How to control the spice level?
It’s all about the seeds when it comes to controlling the spice level of homemade hot sauce. For a mild hot sauce, remove the seeds from all of the peppers. Remove the seeds from 1-2 habanero peppers for medium hot sauce. For a fiery hot sauce, leave all of the seeds in.
When removing the seeds, make sure to wear gloves. Trust me; you don’t want to remove them and then rub your eyes or nose without thinking. It hurts!
What is the Scoville spice scale?
The Scoville scale measures the heat of chili peppers in units called Scoville Heat Units (SHU). Measurements are divided into multiples of 100, depending on the concentration of capsaicin in the chili peppers.
For reference, bell peppers are measured at 0 SHU, poblano peppers are measured at 1,000-2,000 SHU, and habanero peppers come in around 100,000-350,000 SHU.
How to use mango habanero hot sauce?
You can add this sweet and spicy hot sauce to any of your favorite dishes to spice them up and enhance the flavor profile. Some of my top picks include tacos, burgers, grilled chicken, salads, wings, and grain bowls.
For some inspiration, try pairing this hot sauce with my Jerk Soul Bowl, Breakfast Burrito Bowl, or Corn Fritters.
More Recipe Ideas
Mango Habanero Hot Sauce
Equipment
- Measuring Tools
- Chef’s Knife
- Cutting Board
- Food processor – small – 3 cup
- Medium Saucepan
Ingredients
- 4 habanero chilies with seeds, remove seeds to mellow down the heat
- 10 oz mango nectar
- 1 carrot diced
- 1 small yellow onion diced, about 3/4 cup
- 5 cloves garlic
- ½ cup rice vinegar or white vinegar or apple cider vinegar
- 2 teaspoons fresh lime juice
- 2 tablespoons honey
- ½ teaspoon ground allspice
- 1 teaspoon ground ginger
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
Instructions
- With gloves, cut habanero peppers in half. Remove seeds if you want to reduce the heat. Add the pepper and the rest of the ingredients to a blender and blend until smooth – 30 seconds.
- Transfer to a saucepan and simmer on medium-low heat for 15-20 minutes with constant stirring.
- Remove from heat and allow the sauce to cool to room temperature.
- Pour into air-tight container and store in the refrigerator until use.
