Fermented Louisiana-style hot sauce
Vegetarian
Fresh red chillies mashed with 3% salt and left to ferment for two weeks, then blended with vinegar and strained into a bright, sour, salty pepper sauce in the Louisiana tradition.
Fermented Louisiana-style hot sauce is a Southern US condiment from United States, ready in about 336 hours 30 minutes and made with fresh red chilli, salt and white vinegar. It serves 25 and is rated intermediate to cook.
No licensed photograph of this dish yet.
- Prep
- 20 min
- Cook
- 0 min
- Rest
- 336 h
- Total
- 336 h 30 min
- Serves
- 25
- Level
- Intermediate
- Calories
- 6
About 2 weeks of fermentation (longer is fine); active time is about 30 minutes.
Method
Step 1
Wear gloves. Weigh the trimmed chillies (and garlic (opens in a new tab)) and calculate 3% of that weight in salt. Pulse them with the salt in a food processor (opens in a new tab) to a coarse mash.
Food safety: Chilli oils burn skin and eyes; wear gloves and don't touch your face.
Step 2
Pack the mash firmly into a very clean fermentation jar, pressing out air pockets until liquid rises over the surface. Weigh it down (a fermentation weight or a small zip bag of 3% brine) and cover with an airlock lid or a loosely fitted lid.
Food safety: Keep the mash submerged under its own liquid; exposed chilli can mould.
How it looks · Photo: Mateusz Feliksik on Pexels Step 3
Leave at cool room temperature (18–24 °C) out of direct sun for about 2 weeks. It should smell pleasantly sour, bubble for the first week and look brighter. Burp a plain lid daily.
Food safety: A thin white film (kahm yeast) can be skimmed off, but discard the whole batch if you see fuzzy, coloured mould (pink, green, black) or it smells rotten.
Step 4
Blend the mash with the vinegar until very smooth, then press through a fine sieve. Thin with a little more vinegar or water to your preferred consistency.
About this dish
- Origin
- Louisiana, United States · Well documentedSalt-aged pepper mash blended with vinegar is the classic Louisiana method; commercial sauces are aged far longer than a home batch.More food from United States
- Dish
- Breakfast · Lunch · Dinner · Condiments, chutneys & relishes · Sauces
- Cooking method
- Fermented, Blended
- Taste
- spicy (chilli heat), sour, salty, fruity
- Diet
- Vegan · No gluten ingredients · Dairy-free · No nut ingredients · Low-carbWorked out from the ingredients. How labels work
All labels
Vegan · Plant-based · Vegetarian (lacto-ovo) · Eggetarian · Lacto-vegetarian · Ovo-vegetarian · Pescatarian · Flexitarian-friendly · Whole-food focused · Paleo-style · No gluten ingredients · Dairy-free · Egg-free · No nut ingredients · No added sugar · Alcohol-free · Pork-free · Beef-free · Low-carb · Low-fat · DASH-style - Good for
- Make-ahead
- Cook more with
- Fresh red chilli · White vinegar
- Techniques
- Wet grinding · Emulsification · Fermentation
Allergens
None of the 14 major allergens appear in the listed ingredients.
Based on typical versions of these ingredients and not verified allergen-free. Brands differ and cross-contact happens, so always check labels. For severe allergies, follow your clinician’s advice.
Nutrition
6 kcal per serving
Calculated1 serving ≈ 15 g · recipe makes 25
Where the energy comes from
- Protein 13%
- Carbohydrate 72%
- Fat 15%
| Nutrient | Per serving | Per 100 g |
|---|---|---|
| Energy | 6 kcal | 39 kcal |
| Protein | 0.2 g | 1.5 g |
| Carbohydrate | 1.1 g | 7 g |
| Net carbohydrate | 0.9 g | 5.8 g |
| Sugars | 0.6 g | 4.2 g |
| Added sugars | 0 g | 0 g |
| Fibre | 0.2 g | 1.2 g |
| Fat | 0.1 g | 0.3 g |
| Saturated fat | 0 g | 0 g |
| Trans fat | 0 g | 0 g |
| Cholesterol | 0 mg | 0 mg |
| Sodium | 141 mg | 926 mg |
| Salt equivalent | 0.4 g | 2.3 g |
Vitamins & minerals per serving
- Potassium
- 39 mg
- Calcium
- 2 mg
- Iron
- 0.1 mg
- Magnesium
- 3 mg
- Vitamin A (RAE)
- 6 µg
- Vitamin C
- 17 mg
- Vitamin D
- 0 µg
- Vitamin B12
- 0 µg
- Folate (DFE)
- 3 µg
How these numbers were made
- Calculated from USDA FoodData Central (SR Legacy) per-100 g values and the listed quantities.
- Optional ingredients are not included: garlic.
- “—” means the value isn’t known for enough of the ingredients; it is never zero by default.
- Values are estimates for guidance, not for medical dosing. U.S. Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service. FoodData Central, 2019. fdc.nal.usda.gov.
Good to know
Tips
- Blend in a few fermented carrots or a red pepper for a milder, sweeter sauce.
- Don't throw away the strained pulp — dry it and grind into a chilli salt.
Common mistakes
- Guessing the salt: too little invites spoilage; too much stalls fermentation.
Serve with
- Eggs, grits and oysters
- Gumbo and red beans and rice
- As the base for Buffalo sauce
Food safety
- Fermentation safety relies on correct salt (about 3% by weight), keeping the mash submerged and clean equipment. Discard if mouldy, slimy or foul-smelling. Refrigerate once blended.
Storage
- Refrigerate; keeps for at least 3 months thanks to salt, acidity and the vinegar.
Variations
- Quick cooked version: Simmer the chillies and garlic in the vinegar with 1 tsp salt for 15 minutes, then blend and strain; ready the same day.
Original editorial recipe · FriendsPantry editorial · Not yet independently reviewed · Added · Updated
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How this dish is built
Grouped by each ingredient’s role in the dish. Each band’s width is its share of the dish by weight. Choose a component to see what it does.
Make it milder, swap ingredients for your diet, change the batch size or thickness — the original stays as it is.
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