This homemade sriracha sauce recipe is more like the original Thai recipe, so much better than anything from the grocery store, and can be made with fresh or fermented peppers. Time to make sriracha hot sauce!
Homemade Sriracha Sauce Recipe
It's Homemade Sriracha Sauce time, my friends, so get your taste buds ready. I don't think there is a whole lot I can tell you about sriracha sauce that you haven't already heard.
Sriracha has taken the nation by storm in the last several years, overflowing from grocery store shelves and finding its way into a myriad of mass-made products, from potato chips to beer.
It's everywhere, isn't it?
It's so ubiquitous now here in the states, it's practically become synonymous with the term "hot sauce". This is not a bad thing! I should provide a bit of history, though.
What is Sriracha?
Famous “Sriracha” sauce is named after the town of “Sri Racha” in Thailand where it originated, but this is not what we consume here in the United States.
The stuff you get from the store is produced in California with red jalapeno peppers and has deviated quite a bit from the original Thai recipe.
The sriracha sauce we get here is thick, like ketchup, where the original has a thinner consistency.
My recipe will produce a Sriracha sauce closer to what was originally intended, though you can easily thicken it up with more peppers and less vinegar, or by adjusting your cooking times.
Best Peppers for Making Sriracha Sauce
Here in the United States, red jalapeno peppers are used to make sriracha sauce, though bright red Fresno chili peppers make a fine substitute. You can also use red Thai chili peppers to make your own sriracha hot sauce, which have more heat on the Scoville Scale.
Of course the heat level of your sriracha sauce can vary based on your pepper choice, but some peppers have thicker walls and are therefore meatier, and will produce a fuller sauce.
I suggest going with red jalapeno peppers first, then experimenting from there.
For this particular batch, I used a combination of different hot red peppers grown in my garden, including red jalapeno peppers, and the results were out of this world.
Let's talk about how to make homemade sriracha, shall we?
NOTE: This recipe was updated on 1/13/25 to include new notes and clarify instructions. It was originally published on 10/6/17.
Sriracha Sauce Ingredients
- Chili Peppers. Use a mix of red chili peppers, Red jalapenos are preferred, though Fresnos or red Thai peppers are great.
- Garlic. I love the garlic flavor. Garlic powder can be used, but fresh garlic is best.
- Brown Sugar. For the characteristic sweetness.
- Granulated Sugar. Additional sweetness.
- Rice Wine Vinegar. Other distilled vinegar can be used.
- Water and Salt.
How to Make Sriracha Sauce - the Recipe Method
Chop the Peppers. Roughly chop the chili peppers and add them to a pot with the remaining ingredients - sugar, salt, vinegar, garlic, water.
Simmer the Ingredients. Bring to a quick boil, then reduce heat and simmer for 15 minutes.
Process the Sriracha Sauce. Cool, then add to a food processor. Process until smooth.
Strain and Bottle. Strain the solids out through a strainer and discard (or keep them for dehydrating – they make great seasonings). Pour into bottles and use as desired.
This is the simple fresh pepper version, though I suggest fermenting, which is more like the original Thai sriracha.
Fermenting the peppers breaks down the carbohydrates and converts them to acid, which mellows the peppers considerably, affecting the overall flavor. I suggest trying the recipe both ways, with and without fermenting, and see for yourself which version of sriracha you prefer.
I've include recipes below to make sriracha both ways.
For your reference, you may find this link useful: How to Make Fermented Pepper Mash.
Homemade Sriracha Vs. Store Bought Sriracha Sauce
There is an obvious difference between the sriracha you get from the store vs. your homemade version. The homemade sriracha has a thinner consistency and isn't quite as sweet, though you can adjust sweetness easily by adding more or less sugar.
You can also adjust the thickness of your final sriracha sauce by adjusting the amount of peppers used in the recipe, by adjusting the amount of vinegar and water used, and also by adjusting your cooking time. Simmer the sauce longer to thicken it up if you'd like.
The choice is yours. Would I say homemade sriracha is BETTER than what you get in the store?
Personally, I like my own homemade version better, but I wouldn't throw away my bottle of Huy Fong Food's rooster sauce! I mean, major KUDOS to David Tran for giving us a sauce that made Americans realize there is more to condiments than ketchup and mustard.
Bring on the sriracha, please!
What is a Substitute for Sriracha Sauce?
If you run out of sauce and need a good siracha sauce substitute, you can use Garlic-Chili Sauce, or consider using Gochujang, Sambal Oelek, or making your own fresh chili paste.
Harissa could work in a pinch, but you can always use a Louisiana Style Hot Sauce in place of the sriracha, depending on the recipe.
Recipe Tips and Notes for Making Homemade Sriracha
Here are answers to some of the most common questions I get on other sauces:
How long will this sauce keep?
It should keep a few months easily in the fridge, or even longer. It's all about the acidity. To be technical, target level ph for shelf stable foods is below 4.6 ph, but should probably be lower for home cooks, around 4.0 or so, to account for errors.
If you're concerned, add more vinegar to lower the ph. Sauces made with fermented chili peppers will last even longer.
The best ph meters that I recommend are from Thermoworks. Get yourself a ph meter from Thermoworks today. I am a happy affiliate.
Can I process this hot sauce for longer storage? Absolutely. Just be sure to use proper canning/jarring safety procedures.
Where'd you get that sauce bottle?
I find them locally sometimes, but I also order through Amazon. Here is a link to some bottles I like (affiliate link, my friends!): Swing Top Glass Bottles, 8.5 Ounce - Set of 4. If you like the smaller bottles that most hot sauce makers use, here's another link: Hot Sauce Bottles, 5 Oz - 24 Pack.
Learn more about How to Make Hot Sauce.
Check out Some of My Other Popular Hot Sauce Recipes:
- Homemade Tabasco Sauce
- Fermented Aji-Garlic Hot Sauce
- Fermented Serrano Hot Sauce
- Sweet Habanero Chili Sauce
- Pineapple-Jalapeno Hot Sauce
- Ti-Malice - Haitian Creole Hot Sauce
- Caribbean Style Mango-Habanero Hot Sauce
- Pineapple-Mango Ghost Pepper Hot Sauce
- Homemade Caribbean-Style Sweet Chili Sauce
- Sweet Pepper Chili Sauce
- Homemade Louisiana Hot Sauce
- Homemade Cocktail Sauce
- Honey-Sriracha Sauce
Check out more Hot Sauce Recipes.
Try Some of these Recipes that Use Sriracha
If you enjoy this recipe, I hope you'll leave a comment with some STARS. Also, please share it on social media. Don't forget to tag us at #ChiliPepperMadness. I'll be sure to share! Thanks! -- Mike H.
Homemade Sriracha Sauce Recipe
Ingredients
FOR FERMENTED SRIRACHA SAUCE
- 2 pounds mixed red chili peppers (red jalapenos are preferred, though Fresnos or red Thai peppers are great)
- 4 cups unchlorinated water
- 3 tablespoons sea salt
- 4 cloves garlic chopped
- 1 tablespoon light brown sugar (or more to taste)
- 1 teaspoon granulated sugar
- 1 cup rice wine vinegar
SRIRACHA SAUCE WITH FRESH PEPPERS
- 2 pounds mixed red chili peppers (red jalapenos are preferred, though Fresnos or red Thai peppers are great)
- 1/2-4 cups unchlorinated water (Use only 1/2 cup for a thicker sriracha sauce. Use 4 cups for a much thinner sriracha, which is more traditional)
- 4 cloves garlic chopped
- 1 tablespoon light brown sugar (or more to taste)
- 1 teaspoon granulated sugar
- 1 cup rice wine vinegar
- 1 teaspoon sea salt (or to taste)
Instructions
FERMENTED SRIRACHA SAUCE
- First, ferment the chili peppers. Process your fresh peppers in a food processor. If you don’t have a processor, use a mortar and pestle or simply finely chop them. Pack them into a jar, leaving at least 1 inch of head space. The peppers may rise a bit when fermenting.
- Next, mix 1 quart unchlorinated water with 3 tablespoons sea salt. Pour just enough brine over the peppers to cover them, pressing them down a bit as you go. It is important to keep the peppers covered with brine to avoid spoilage. Check this daily.
- Screw on the lid and set the jar away from direct sunlight to ferment for at least 1 week. Ideal temperatures are between 55-75 degrees F. The most active fermentation period is between 1-2 weeks, so be sure to monitor it during this time. “Burp” the jars often by unscrewing the lid a bit to let out some of the accumulating gases - watch out for splatter. Or, use an airlock or membrane for easier fermenting. The peppers must be submerged beneath the water to avoid mold growth. If the peppers aren't submerged, they might not ferment properly.
- After 1-2 weeks, the fermenting activity will diminish and the brine will turn cloudy and taste acidic.
- Strain the fermented peppers but retain the brine. Add the peppers to a large pot along with garlic, brown sugar, granulated sugar and vinegar. Add 1 cup of the brine PLUS 1/2-3 cups fresh water, depending on desired thickness (see Notes). Bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer for 5-10 minutes to let the flavors meld.
- Cool slightly then add to a food processor or blender and process until smooth.
- Strain the mixture through a fine mesh strainer to remove the solids, if desired. Pour into hot sauce bottles and enjoy.
SRIRACHA SAUCE WITH FRESH PEPPERS
- Roughly chop the chili peppers and add them to a pot with the remaining ingredients.
- Bring to a quick boil, then reduce heat and simmer for 15 minutes.
- Cool, then add to a food processor or blender. Process until smooth.
- Strain the solids out through a fine mesh strainer, if desired, and discard (or keep them for dehydrating – they make great seasonings). Pour into bottles and use as desired.
Notes
Nutrition Information
Leah says
I’m at the phase where I’m fermenting the peppers but when I mix the peppers with the brine they aren’t staying underneath the brine because the brine and the peppers are mixed together. Am I doing something wrong? Will the fermenting work if the peppers are mixed with the Brine and are on top of the fluid?
Michael Hultquist - Chili Pepper Madness says
Leah, the peppers really need to be below the brine liquid, or you run the risk of infection. Try filling a baggie with water and stuffing it into the top of the jar to keep everything down below the brine. See if that works for you.
Leah says
The bag trick did not work. There is mold growing. I should toss the whole batch right?
Michael Hultquist - Chili Pepper Madness says
Leah, if it's definitely mold, unfortunately it's best to toss it. You don't want to mess with mold.
Michelle C says
Can I use some frozen peppers mixed with the fresh to get up to the 2lb mark?
Michael Hultquist - Chili Pepper Madness says
Yes you can, Michelle. Just thaw them out first. Let me know how it turns out for you.
Mitch says
This is great! I didn't have that many peppers, so I scaled the recipe by tasting.
It's really good, just the right heat. I wish I could get it to taste like the Rooster.
I tasted them side-by-side and mine needed more garlic. But there's something else with Rooster I can't put my finger on. I would LOVE to recreate that sauce.
Michael Hultquist - Chili Pepper Madness says
Thanks, Mitch. This is more like the original sriracha sauce. The rooster sauce is thicker and sweeter. If you'd like to get closer to that, I would use more peppers and not strain the whole thing, just process it until it is smooth and thick. Also, try adding honey or sugar to see if you can get closer to that flavor. Let me know how it goes.
Bill says
Hi Mike, I love your site- just found it recently but am trying and enjoying things almost daily. A quick question- I don't see the sriracha recipe for NON fermented peppers even though you say you've included both- am I missing it somehow? Thanks, bye for now,
Bill
Michael Hultquist - Chili Pepper Madness says
Bill, to make an unfermented version, start with adding the fresh peppers and other ingredients first to a food processor. Process until smooth. You can strain out some of the pulp if you'd like for a smoother sauce. Then, simmer the sauce about 10 minutes to cook through. Here is a recipe to follow for Superhot Sriracha, but just use the red jalapenos or Fresnos for a milder, more common version. Enjoy! Let me know how it turns out for you.
Bill says
Hi Mike, thanks. I screwed up because I only had a handful of thai chilis and I added garlic sugar and vinegar then processed and THEN simmered it ....got the directions reversed. Anyway the result is an extremely hot concoction that looks a lot like your garlic chili sauce. I will add a pin head's worth to anything that needs heat, and try again later.
Are red jalapenos just more mature green ones? I'm in a smallish city in Canada and all I can get are the green ones. Thanks again!
Michael Hultquist - Chili Pepper Madness says
Bill, sorry to hear. You can always reprocess the batch and mix it with another milder batch to balance it out. Yes, the red jalapenos are more mature.
Bill says
Thanks Mike I'll get it eventually!
Dru Morgan says
Xanthan ZGum stop separation
Andre Madern says
I fermented the chillis no problem, but the sauce and the vinegar separated after I bottled it and its water thin.
Michael Hultquist - Chili Pepper Madness says
Andre, you will often notice some separation. I believe you may have strained out too much of the pepper content. Let me know.
David says
I made this recipe recently with fermented home grown super chilies. After staining the solids, the sauce was as thin as water. Great flavour and heat, but how can I thicken this into more of a sauce?
Michael Hultquist - Chili Pepper Madness says
David, you can always add some of the strained pulp back into the sauce to give it more body, or try straining the whole mix with a sieve that isn't quite so fine. You can also save the pulp to use in other recipes. I particularly like to dehydrate it and use it as seasonings. See my post on How to Dehydrate Chili Peppers and Make Chili Powders. There's plenty of life left in the pulp! I hope this helps!
Josh says
The vinegar really destroyed this batch. I’m going to try it again without vinegar. So long as you ferment peppers, is the vinegar really needed? It really tasted awful
Michael Hultquist - Chili Pepper Madness says
Josh, you don't need the vinegar, but check your final acidity if you want to keep it longer. It should be 4.0 or below, 3.5 ideally. I've made this many times and love it with the vinegar.
Maureen Mann says
I'm wondering if I can make Sriracha with reconstituted chipotles in it?
I was thinking about 85-90% fresh peppers and the rest the reconstituted chipotles.
I would also use the water from reconstituting as part of the brine water.
My biggest question is will the chipotles effect the fermentation process?
Michael Hultquist - Chili Pepper Madness says
Maureen, you can ferment dried pods. I would totally try this. Let me know how it turns out for you.
Paul says
Every time I try this the peppers float to the top leaving an inch or so of brine at the bottom. How can i make sure they stay covered? The last time i had some mould on one of two jars, i dont think it was the white yeast film, and as i don’t do any other fermenting I cant help be nervous.
Michael Hultquist - Chili Pepper Madness says
Paul, I use a small glass weight to keep the peppers pressed down in the jars. It works the best for me. Some people use a large cabbage leaf. You don't think the mold was kham yeast? Kham yeast is common and can just be wiped away from the top. I would scoop away the mold and inspect the ferment with all of your senses. Does the ferment smell bad or off? Does the brine taste very bad? It should be acidic and a touch bitter. Do you see actual rot? These are things to look for.
Roger Bowin says
Can the bottles be processed in a hot water bath to extend shelf life? Preservatives?
Michael Hultquist - Chili Pepper Madness says
Roger, absolutely. You don't need preservatives. Check the ph of the finished hot sauce. It is ideal at 4.0 and below, which is acidic enough to preserve it. I keep mine in the refrigerator for extended life. Enjoy!
tommy Lacroix says
i'm living in Vietnam and every grannie at my local fresh food market has home made sriracha for sale. i go there a lot and like to sample the offerings of a different vendor each time. now every time i go there they are pretty aggressive flogging me those old used water bottles full of orange sauce. i think i may have started a trade war!
Michael Hultquist - Chili Pepper Madness says
That's interesting! They must realize Americans go a bit crazy for their sriracha. I wish I could try some of those from Vietnam!
Dru Morgan says
Does the boil at the end mess with the "pro-biotics" you got in the fermentation? Can you skip the boil if you ferment?
Michael Hultquist - Chili Pepper Madness says
Dru, you don't have to cook fermented peppers. They can be eaten as they are, just like other fermented foods. The cooking melds everything, but not necessary for consumption. Let me know how it goes.
Dru J Morgan says
Fermenting another batch of this stuff (I try every time I see the red jalapeños or Fresno chilis in season) - and I might boil half of it, certainly to reduce/thicken at the very least, and just bottle the other half - and COMPARE 🙂
Michael Hultquist - Chili Pepper Madness says
Let me know how it turns out.
Ed says
It seems like the final cooking stage would destroy any probiotic benefits. Water boils at 212F and simmers at 190 F. Probiotics are destroyed at 115 F. I would skip the cooking stage. Just my 0.02