Sometimes our meals just need a little extra...kick. Many condiments, like barbecue sauce or ranch, is packed with calories and sugar. It is fun to add some sauce to our chicken or vegetables, so let's not sleep on hot sauce. Hot sauce is very low in calories and has some other benefits to it. How much can you handle?
- The chili peppers in hot sauce boosts capsaicin. This compound has many benefits including pain relief, weight loss, decreased inflammation, and cancer prevention.
- 1 teaspoon of hot sauce contains 0.5 calories, 0 grams of protein, fat, and carbs, and 4% of the Daily Value of Vitamin C
- Many hot sauces contain just a few simple ingredients like peppers, vinegar, salt and spices. We love clean eating!
Recipes:
Simple Habanero Hot Sauce (peppergeek.com)
- 15-20 medium Habaneros
- 1/2 cup White Vinegar
- 4 teaspoon Olive Oil
- 4 teaspoons White Sugar
- 2 cloves Garlic
- 1/2 teaspoon Salt
- Always choose ripe, healthy looking peppers when making hot sauce. Wash them thoroughly under cold water.
- Remove the stems and discard. Rough chop the peppers and the garlic, keeping them separate. For a milder sauce, you can remove the seeds with a spoon. Reminder: Always wear gloves when handling spicy peppers!
- In a medium sauce pan, heat the olive oil on low heat, until it shimmers. Add the chopped peppers and cover. Cook until the peppers are very soft, about 8 minutes.
- Add the garlic to the pan and cook until fragrant, about 2 minutes.
- Add the remaining ingredients and stir thoroughly. Allow the mixture to come to a soft simmer, cover and cook for an additional 10 minutes on low heat.
- Remove the mixture from heat and allow to sit, covered, for 10 minutes.
- Pour the mixture into a blender or food processor and blend until smooth. If the consistency is too thick, add vinegar by the teaspoon and blend until it is right.
- Carefully distribute the hot sauce into jars or bottles. We use a small funnel, but a glass baster can help avoid any spilling.
Hot Pepper Sauce (twopurplefigs.com)
- 3 cups Hot Peppers, whole
- 1/4 cup Red Bell Pepper
- 6 cloves Garlic, whole
- 1 tablespoon Coarse Salt
- 2 tablespoons Vinegar
- 1/4 cup Olive Oil
- 1/3 cup Cilantro Leaves
- 1/4 cup Mint Leaves
- Place all ingredients in a food processor, and process until chunky.
- Pour the sauce into a mason jar and drizzle with the extra tablespoon of olive oil over the top.
Lemon Drop Hot Sauce (whiskaffair.com)
- 1 teaspoon Whole Coriander Seeds
- 1/4 teaspoon Cumin Seeds
- 9 ounces Lemon Drop Chile Peppers
- 5-6 cloves Garlic
- 1/2 cup Extra Virgin Olive Oil
- 1 cup Apple Cider Vinegar
- 2 tablespoons Honey
- 1/2 teaspoon Salt
- 2 teaspoons Cornstarch
- 1/4 cup Water
- Add whole coriander seeds and cumin seeds to a skillet and roast on medium heat until they are fragrant and lightly browned.
- Add the chopped Aji Limon peppers to the skillet and saute for 3-4 minutes until they are slightly charred.
- Remove the skillet from heat and let the peppers cool down.
- Transfer them to a blender along with garlic cloves, extra virgin olive oil, and apple cider vinegar.
- Blend until very smooth, scraping down the sides of the blender as needed, for 3-5 minutes.
- Pass the sauce through a fine-mesh strainer into a bowl. With a rubber spatula, push the sauce through the strainer to separate all liquid from chunks of pepper and spices. Discard the leftovers.
- Stir in honey and salt.
- You can now use the sauce as it or thicken it by adding cornstarch to it.
- If you want to thicken the sauce, then stir together cornstarch and water to make a slurry.
- Transfer the sauce to a skillet and heat on medium heat.
- Once the sauce comes to a boil, add in the cornstarch slurry and cook for 2-3 minutes, stirring continuously.
- Remove the skillet from heat and let the sauce cool down completely.
- Transfer it to a clean glass container and refrigerate for up to 15 days.
