Add sweet cherry heat to your favorite recipes with this easy hot sauce. Just blend boiled carrots, roasted red peppers, and habanero chiles with cherry juice, vinegar, ginger, and a touch of sugar and salt. This sweet and spicy sauce is an awesome complement to pork dishes like cochinita pibil or Cuban-style rotisserie pork loin.

Game plan: Habaneros are particularly spicy chile peppers, so we suggest wearing a pair of latex gloves when removing the seeds.

The hot sauce is ready to be served after 1 day, but the flavors will continue to meld and the heat from the peppers will mellow after 2 to 3 days. Refrigerate in a container with a tightfitting lid for up to 2 weeks.

This recipe was featured as part of our photo gallery of 6 Face-Melting Hot Sauce Recipes.

  • Yield: About 1 2/3 cups
  • Difficulty: Easy
  • Total: 20 mins, plus 24 hrs aging time

Ingredients (8)

  • 1/3 cup medium-dice carrots
  • 4 ounces roasted red peppers (from about 1 large bell pepper)
  • 2 habanero peppers, stemmed and seeds removed
  • 3/4 cup cherry juice (no sugar added)
  • 2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
  • 1 tablespoon peeled and finely chopped fresh ginger (from about 1 [1-inch] piece)
  • 1 teaspoon granulated sugar
  • 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt

Instructions

  1. Bring a small saucepan of water to a boil over high heat. Add the carrots and cook until fork-tender, about 8 minutes. Drain and transfer to a blender.
  2. Add the remaining ingredients and blend until smooth, about 30 seconds to 1 minute.
  3. Transfer the hot sauce to a container with a tightfitting lid and refrigerate for at least 24 hours before serving. Store in the refrigerator for up to 2 weeks.