caribbean pepper sauce

Over the years I’ve shared countless Peppersauce Recipes with you, and while this pickled bird pepper is not technically a sauce, in the Caribbean it would fall into that category. Yea, I grew up knowing these peppers (while a bit smaller in size) Bird Pepper (since birds would feed on them in your garden and later on the droppings would sprout pepper tress at the start of the rainy season) and not Bird’s Eye Pepper. We also had a variety known as Kiskedee peppers, named after the bird which would also feed on them.

You’ll Need…

1/4 lb red Bird’s Eye peppers
1/4 lb green Bird’s Eye pepper
4-5 Scotch Bonnet peppers
3- 3 1/2 cups white vinegar
4-6 cloves garlic (smashed)
1 teaspoon white sugar
3/4 teaspoon sea salt
1 teaspoon black peppercorns

Notes! Wear gloves when handling such hot peppers and wash you hands immediately after with soap and water. I opted to add a punch of HEAT with the Scotch Bonnet peppers.. that is optional or use any variety of hot pepper you enjoy or can source. I did cut them open so the vinegar could get into direct contact with the insides to add that KICK I wanted. If doing this recipe gluten free, please go through the full list of ingredients to ensure they meet with your specific gluten free dietary requirements.

Place the vinegar (yes, plain white vinegar) in a pot on a medium flame and add the peppercorns. As soon as you start seeing tiny bubbles on the edges, turn off the stove and let it steep for 5-10 minutes. The goal is to get the peppercorns to release it’s flavors with the warm vinegar.

As mentioned in the video below, I like adding a bit EXTRA HOT peppers to further add a kick to this pickle, as I make full use of the liquid on my grilled meats. I used 3 Scotch Bonnet and one Fatali peppers from my garden. They were cut in half.

Those cut peppers were added first to my jar (sterilized) followed by the red and then the green peppers. You may add them in any or no order as you like. I just find that it looks more attractive in the jar in this way.

Top with the salt and sugar .. if you want you may add a few wedges of lemon should you want a subtle citrus flavor to the pickle.

Tuck in the smashed garlic.

All that’s left to do is to pour the vinegar into the bottle and try and cover everything with it. Add a bit more vinegar should you need to.

FYI the green Bird’s Eye Pepper will have a different flavor and heat level than the red ones, since the green color signifies that they are not fully mature. Seal the bottle, give it a shake and store in a cool dark spot in your kitchen. It will last a few months. For a longer shelf life, store in the fridge. When removing the peppers, use a clean/dry fork or spoon.

If you wanted to add some sliced carrots in here, that would work. Additionally you may add a few cloves and/or some Szechuan peppercorns to change up the flavor profile a bit.

Gluten Free

Grilled Caribbean Pineapple Peppersauce.

May 28, 2025September 26, 20213 Comments

I’m not a huge fan of ‘cooked’ pepper sauces (say peppersauce – one word), as I find that the cooking process subdue the true flavors of the ingredients, especially the peppers. So you’ll notice that most of the pepperauce (hot sauce) recipes I’ve shared over the years were mostly raw. However in this recipe the charring of the pineapple on a hot grill (propane, wood or charcoal) makes a huge difference in the overall flavor of the sauce.

You’ll Need…

30-40 scotch bonnet peppers
12-18 cloves garlic
3 leaves shado beni
1 ripe pineapple
1 teaspoon sea salt
2-3 cups white vinegar

Important: Please wear gloves and wash your hands with soap and water immediately after handling such HOT peppers.

How to tell if a pineapple is ripe and sweet.

Peel and slice the pineapple into 1 cm slices, then head over to your grill and grill over a 375-400 fire. Basically until you see the grill marks, it’s softened and the edges are a bit charred. This will help the natural sugars of the ripe pineapple to heighten and the sauce will also get a gentle kiss of smoke from the charred bits.

Set the grilled pineapple slices aside and lets start to work on the other ingredients.

WEAR GLOVES! Wash the peppers, remove the stems and give them a rough chop to help the food processor or blender that you’re using, to have an easier time making this into a sauce that we can bottle.

Now give the grilled pineapple slices a rough chop and place it into the food processor along with the other ingredients.

Yes, do give the garlic and Shado Beni a rough chop too.

Basically all you have to do now is pulse it until you get a consistency you like. For me it had to be a bit chunky.

Add more vinegar if you feel you need it a bit more runny and do puree completely if you wish.

Pour into sterilized glass container’s and store in a cool, dark spot in your kitchen for up to 6 months. Or in the fridge for at least a year. The vinegar will act as a natural preservative. Should you want to cook the sauce, bring it to a boil, then simmer for 20 minutes (lid slightly ajar). Store the cooked version of the sauce in the fridge.

You may need to adjust the salt after a couple of days.. I do recommend giving the pepper sauce about 3 days to come together before using. So at this point you can taste and adjust the salt… especially if the pineapple you used was not fully ripe and there’s a tartness.

From experience I know that if you were to store it in the fridge, if may get less HOT over the months. DO NOT use a wet or dirty spoon when taking out of the glass container. Yes, Habanero peppers will work just as well and should you want to increase the heat level, toss in a few Scorpions, Reapers or any of those insanely hot peppers.

If you cannot source the shando beni, use cilantro.

Note! To tame the heat of the finished sauce, remove the seeds and white membrane surrounding the seeds and discard when you chop them. Drop me your comments below, tag me on Instagram and don’t forget you can now get my cookbook – The Vibrant Caribbean Pot, 100 Traditional And Fusion Recipes @ CaribbeanPot.com/CookBook/

Gluten Free Side Dishes

Chunky Caribbean Lemon Lime Pepper Pickle.

May 28, 2025May 17, 20212 Comments

As a lil fella growing up on the islands I recall it was a sort of expectation to see people ‘sunning’ out the freshly prepared bottles of traditional pepper sauce, when peppers were abundant (usually during dry season). Recycled bottles (which once housed peanut butter, jam or mayonnaise) packed with pureed, chunky or a combo of both. Vibrant red, orange, yellow and green, depending on the variety of pepper they used and the type of “peppersauce” they made. According to the elders, that Caribbean sun helped to cure the sauce and add even more wicked flavors.

You’ll Need…

25-35 hot peppers
20-30 bird pepper
1 tablespoon salt
2-3 cups white vinegar
1/2 large bitter melon
12-18 cloves garlic (smashed)
1 large carrot (or 10 tiny ones)
6 limes (divided)
11 lemons (divided)

IMPORTANT! Wear gloves and wash your hands immediately after handling such hot peppers with soap and water.

Wash everything and allow them to dry, then remove the stems off the peppers.

Cut the bitter melon in half (lenght) and using a tablespoon, scrape out the seeds and area around the seeds and discard. Slice thin.

Cut the limes in 1/4 (lenght-wise), then 1/2 cm slices. Do the same for four the lemons. TIP.. remove the center core of the lemons to make them more tender later on. (please watch the video below to follow along)

I used a variety of extremely hot peppers as I had an abundance in my garden. Feel free to use what you can source (watch the video below to see what I used). Slice each pepper thin and include the seeds for more heat. I left the bird peppers whole (stems removed).

Place the lime and lemon pieces in a deep pot and pour in the vinegar. Turn the heat to medium, bring to a simmer and cook on that simmer for 15 minutes.

Turn off the stove after 15 minutes (by cooking the lime and lemon pieces first in that vinegar will help to break down the skin and release a ton of that citrus flavor). While still warm, add the thinly sliced peppers, followed by all of the other ingredients (not the remaining lime nor lemons).

Stir well. I used baby carrots as that’s all I had on hand, but you can definitely slice up a large carrot. Allow this to fully cool.

Juice the remaining limes and lemon. (set aside)

It’s now time to place the pepper mixture into your clean glass containers. I used tongs, then I poured in the vinegar juice. I then strained in the freshly squeezed lime and lemon juice.

By adding the juice now it’s brings out that fresh citrus flavor and brightens the finished pepper-sauce.

Now tuck everything down with a wooden spoon. If you find that your peppers are not covered in liquid, add a bit more white vinegar and mix well. Uncovered peppers may tend to ferment and go bad quickly.

While you’ll be tempted to get into this asap, give it a week to fully ‘cure” before sampling. Store in the fridge for longer shelf life (about 6 months). Admittedly I was tempted to do as my ancestors did and place it in the sun, but it’s wasn’t a Caribbean sun so instead I hid mine in a cool dark corner in my kitchen. I find that when peppersauce goes in the fridge its heat level drops! It’s been there for about 9 months now. The sauce is excellent in soups and on the side of my beloved Pelau!

Drop me your comments below, tag me on Instagram and don’t forget you can now get my cookbook – The Vibrant Caribbean Pot, 100 Traditional And Fusion Recipes @ CaribbeanPot.com/CookBook/

Gluten Free Sauces & Condiments

Smoked Cherry Rum Pepper-Sauce (wing sauce).

May 28, 2025April 21, 20211 Comment

Over the years I’ve shared many Peppersauce (hot sauce) recipes with you, but this one here is SPECIAL! Not only is it BANGING with Fiery Caribbean Sunshine (heat), it’s packed with flavor and is very versatile. Your chicken wings will demand to be covered in this Smoked Cherry Rum Sauce. Should you not have the ability to smoke the peppers, feel free to use them as is and hit the sauce with a tiny bit of liquid smoke.

You’ll Need…

20-30 hot peppers
1 lb cherries (I used frozen)
4 cloves garlic (smashed)
1/2 cup white vinegar
3 tablespoon Cane Sugar
2 cups Apple Cider (not vinegar)
3/4 tablespoon sea salt
1 cup dark rum

Important: Please wear gloves and wash your hand immediately after handling such hot peppers. I used a variety of some of the hottest peppers in the world when making this sauce. Feel free to use peppers you like or can source (Scotch Bonnet, Habanero, Scorpions, Naga, Seven pod etc – watch the video below where I discuss the peppers I used). If doing this recipe gluten free, be sure to go through the full list of ingredients to make sure they meet with your specific gluten free dietary needs.

Wash and air dry the peppers, then place them on your smoker. Please note that we want to kiss these peppers with the smoke, so it’s not on the smoker for long or at a high heat. Additionally, make sure there’s enough space between the peppers, so they take on that gentle smoke quickly.

I believe my smoker was set to 170 and I had them on for about an hour and 10 minutes.

Remember the goal is to gently smoke or kiss the peppers with the smoke. I used cherry wood as the wood of choice, but any fruity wood will work.

Remove the stems and into a deep sauce pan, followed by the other ingredients. (keep the gloves on please)

Put the stove on medium heat and bring to boil, then turn the heat down so you have a simmer.

Be sure to vent your kitchen (open a window and/or turn on the fan above the stove). I had the lid on the sauce pan and simmered it for 30 minutes.

Turn the heat off and allow it to cool for about 1 hr before we use the stick blender to make this as smooth as you like. You may use a traditional blender or food processor. Do make sure it cools before blending it, to avoid getting burn.

It will thicken as you puree it, but you’re in control of the final consistency so rock on.

Place in a sterilized bottles. Will last in the fridge for 6 months (at least). Use as you would any hot sauce, but with all honestly, you’ll improve your wing game with this one. And should you dare, top your BBQ Ribs and Chicken with it (after basting with your fav bbq sauce).

BTW, these were not Caribbean cherries, but the North American cherries you can find in the frozen section of your grocery store. Yes, canned cherries will work too. Drop me your comments below, tag me on Instagram and don’t forget you can now get my cookbook – The Vibrant Caribbean Pot, 100 Traditional And Fusion Recipes @ CaribbeanPot.com/CookBook/

Gluten Free Sauces & Condiments

Tamarind Peppersauce (hot sauce + wing sauce).

May 28, 2025February 22, 20212 Comments

With another bumper crop of insanely hot peppers in my garden and the new little toy I got (Traeger Grill) this past summer, it was only natural that I gave you all a smoked pepper sauce (hot sauce) recipe. The fiery peppers and lovely undertone of smoke and tamarind will have your tastebuds dancing, with excitement.

You’ll Need…

1/2 lb Tamarind (peeled)
3/4 teaspoon salt
2 cups water
10-15 smoked HOT peppers (your fav)
2 tablespoon Coconut Palm Sugar (or golden brown sugar)
6-8 cloves garlic
4-6 leaves shado beni (culantro)
1 1/2 tablespoon pure Maple Syrup
3/4 teaspoon roasted ground cumin (geera)
3/4 cup apple cider
1/2 cup white vinegar
1 lime

Note! I used a variety of HOT peppers (watch the video below), but you can use whatever you have or enjoy using. Additionally, if doing this recipe gluten free, please go through the full list of ingredients to make sure they meet with your specific gluten free dietary needs.

Crack the outer shell of the tamarind and discard. Then remove the sort of string (fiber) off the tamarind so you’re left with just the tamarind flesh.

save time by getting the tamarind paste (about 3/4 cup) from your Hispanic, Asian or West Indian supermarket.

Add the tamarind flesh to a bowl, then add 2 cups of boiling water and let it sit until the water is cool enough to handle. This step will soften the flesh so we can remove the seeds.

Wash and dry the peppers and smoke @ 210F for about 1 hour as we just want to kiss them with that smoke. Make sure you have a lot of space between each pepper as you smoke them so that smoke can cuddle around them all. I believe I used Applewood to smoke the peppers, but any fruity wood will work.

Wear GLOVES and wash your hands immediately after with soap and water, when handling such hot peppers. Remove the stems off the peppers after they’ve been smoked and give them a rough chop.

Add the chopped peppers to a pot, along with the garlic, salt, coconut palm sugar (brown sugar will work), Shado beni, Maple Syrup (pure) and roasted ground Geera (cumin). Set aside.

The water in the tamarind should now be cool. Using your fingers, break up the flesh (pulp) and remove the seeds (discard). You will have a thick Tamarind slurry.

Pour the tamarind water (with pulp) into the pot with the peppers and put that pot on the stove on a medium heat. As it comes up to temperature, add the white vinegar. and apple cider. Mix well.

After 3-4 minutes it will come to a boil, then reduce to a gentle simmer (low heat) and cook for 30 minutes. Vent your kitchen or it may want to choke you with the fumes.

Turn the heat off and use your stick blender to puree it to a smooth consistency. If using a traditional blender, allow it to cool a bit first before you puree. Finish with the freshly squeezed juice, stir and you’re done. Thin with more white vinegar if it’s too thick.

Allow it to cool before pouring into a glass bottle and store in the fridge for up to 1 month.

A versatile hot sauce which works anywhere you’d normally use hot sauce and as sauce for tossing your grilled or fried chicken wings – your friends will demand you make those wings on the regular (BEWARE!).

Drop me your comments below, tag me on Instagram and don’t forget you can now get my cookbook – The Vibrant Caribbean Pot, 100 Traditional And Fusion Recipes @ CaribbeanPot.com/CookBook/

Gluten Free Sauces & Condiments

Cider Maple Habanero Peppersauce (hot sauce) Recipe.

May 28, 2025February 16, 2017Leave a Comment

This past Fall I decided to do a peppersauce tribute to my home for the last 20 something years.. Canada. With a bumper crop of Habanero peppers (works great with scotch bonnets as well) in my small kitchen garden at the back of my house, the creative juices were flowing. Habaneros are some of my favorite spicy peppers, with the natural fruity undertones along with the fiery heat they possess. With a dose of fresh made apple cider (not vinegar) and some organic maple syrup, this pepper sauce was truly heavenly.

You’ll Need…

8-10 Habanero Peppers
1 1/2 cups apple cider
1/2 cup white vinegar
1/2 lime (juice)
1/4 cup pure maple syrup
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon mustard powder

* You may need to add a bit more apple cider if it gets too thick.

*Important : If doing this recipe gluten free, kindly go through the entire list of ingredients to make sure they meet with your specific gluten free dietary needs.

Wash the peppers and give them a rough chop. Remember to wear gloves and to wash your hands immediately after with soap and water. Include the seeds of the peppers for a more pronounced kick of heat!

Add everything (except the lime juice) to a sauce pan, then place the pan over a medium heat. Bring to a boil, then reduce to a gentle simmer. Stir and reduce the liquid by about half and the peppers are a bit tender. (about 10-15 mins)

Turn off the heat and allow it to cool a bit before placing in your blender or food processor. When it cools, add the lime juice and blitz until smooth.

This is a great condiment to use wherever you’d normal use hot sauces. I roasted off some chicken wings in the oven and gave them a slight coating of this marvelous peppersauce while they were still warm. Please store in the fridge – last in excess of 2 months easily.

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