Hot Datil Pepper Sauce Recipe (Florida Original)

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This datil pepper sauce recipe is made with fiery datil pepper. If you love spicy flavors then this spicy sauce is sure to awaken your taste buds. 

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Origins of the Datil Pepper

Datils are one of the most popular locally grown peppers of St Augustine, in St Johns County, Florida. St Augustinians take their hot peppers very seriously and you can often find an abundance of delicious products like datil sauce, datil pepper jelly, and Minorcan datil pepper hot sauce at the local farmer’s market and festivals in the area. There is even an annual datil pepper festival that usually occurs in October. Many local restaurants in St Augustine serve locally made datil pepper sauce as well. 

As mentioned, the datil peppers are grown in St Augustine and rarely found growing anywhere outside of the area. Naturally, we decided to grow them ourselves in our home garden here in St Johns County. Datil peppers are small peppers, orangeish-yellow in color, and have a similar heat level to the habanero pepper with around 100,000 to 300,000 heat units on the Scoville scale. Along with being hot, datils have a unique flavor because they are also sweet. The fiery heat makes datil peppers perfect for making this datil pepper sauce recipe. 

What You Need to Make Datil Pepper Sauce

To make this hot pepper sauce you will need: 

• 98 grams seeded and chopped fresh datil peppers (appx 20 datil peppers)
• 4 Tbsp Apple cider vinegar (or white vinegar)
• 1 Tbsp fresh lemon juice
• 3 oz tomato paste 
• 1 Tbsp raw honey
• 1 tsp garlic powder
• 1 tsp smoked paprika
• 1/2 cup filtered water
• pinch of lemon zest
• salt and pepper to taste

You will also need:

• an airtight container or hot sauce bottles, like these here: hot sauce bottles
• high-speed blender, food processor, or Magic Bullet personal blender

One thing to note is that you will most likely need to grow your own datil peppers to make your own datil pepper sauce and jelly. These small hot peppers are not typically found in a grocery store. You can actually find St Augustine datil pepper seeds online here: datil seeds.

How to Make Hot Datil Pepper Sauce

First, remove the seeds, trim the ends, and cut the datil peppers. Save the seeds, dry them out, and use them for future planting in your garden to grow more datil pepper plants in the next growing season.

Set the seeds aside and place the cut datil pepper pieces in a pot or large saucepan. 

Add the apple cider vinegar to the pot. 

Next, add the freshly squeezed lemon juice. 

Then add the honey. 

Add the tomato paste to the pot. 

Then add in the remaining extra spices: a teaspoon garlic powder, a teaspoon of smoked paprika, a pinch of lemon zest, salt, and pepper. 

Last, add the water to the pot and stir to combine. Bring to a boil, reduce the heat, and then simmer for 15 minutes. 

Blending the Datil Pepper Sauce

To create a thick sauce, you will need to blend using a blender, or food processor. We are using the Magic Bullet because this is a small-batch sauce recipe. 

Spoon the sauce mixture into a blender or food processor.

If the mixture is extremely thick go ahead and add a little water, as needed to create a thick sauce.

Blend until smooth. The consistency should be similar to BBQ sauce.

Next, use a funnel to pour the sauce into a hot sauce bottle. 

Homemade Datil Pepper Sauce

This homemade datil pepper dipping sauce is a delicious condiment. Use it as an amazing hot sauce for chicken wings with a side of celery sticks.

Enjoy this delicious sauce on your burgers, pulled pork, or even in stews. It has a nice heat that isn’t overwhelming. The smoked paprika gives the datil sauce an amazing smokey flavor while the honey adds a slight touch of sweetness. We use this sauce to make our Datil Pepper Spicy Chicken Wings recipe.  

If you aren’t local to the St Augustine area you can still find Minorcan datil pepper products in specialty food stores, and online. 

• Datil Pepper BBQ Sauces (here)
• Datil Pepper Sauces from St Augustine (here)
• Datil Pepper Chili Powder (here)

Make sure to check out our homemade Datil Pepper Jelly Recipe!

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