Fermented Sriracha Recipe (Easy, Homemade, Probiotic & Kids Love It)

Making this homemade fermented sriracha recipe is a great way to hide probiotics in your family’s favorite condiments! Not only do you add a spicy kick to your food, but you also add good nutrition for your gut.

Why I Love This Recipe

We love fermented foods in our house and try to get them into our diet daily to keep our gut health strong. Condiments like our fermented ketchup, fermented hot sauce, and fermented mayonnaise make getting a few more ferments into our diet super simple. Also, check out my fermented garlic recipe that can be used instead of the fresh garlic in this sriracha sauce recipe as well.

Most sriracha sauces you find at the grocery store have been fermented… initially. However, they’re then boiled and pasteurized. This means something that would have been healthy and probiotic for our family, is no longer as healthy nor probiotic.

Originally, sriracha sauce was made with red Serrano peppers. However, this became too expensive to keep up with the supply and demand, so red jalapeno peppers were used. Red jalapenos are just green jalapenos that have been left to ripen on the vine until they turn red. If you’re growing jalapenos in your garden, just leave them until they turn red before harvesting.

If you’re not growing peppers, grab some Fresno peppers at the grocery store. They’re a little spicier and have a bit less flesh than jalapenos, so you’ll need about a pound and a half.

How to Make Fermented Sriracha

Supplies Needed

• Food Processor – This helps to blend everything together. I love my Breville Food Processor. A high-powered blender will also get the job done.
• Gloves – Anytime you’re working with something spicy in the kitchen, it’s best to use some disposable gloves.
• Cutting Board & Knife – You’ll want to stem and deseed the peppers, so a cutting board and sharp knife are helpful here.
• Glass Jar & Lid – A quart Mason jar works perfectly for fermenting your sriracha sauce. A wide-mouth jar is best for easy adding and stirring. Once your sauce is done fermenting, you can transfer it to another jar, or a fancy hot sauce bottle.
• Funnel – Using a stainless steel funnel to add the pepper puree to the jar can be helpful to avoid a big mess.
• Airlock or Membrane – I love my Pickle Pipes fermentation lids that allow gasses to escape without letting extra oxygen in. An airlock system will also work. It’s not a must, but an airlock helps keep out bad bacteria. This keeps your sauce safe and makes the flavor better. The two-piece Mason jar lid will also work.
• Measuring Spoons and Cups – Accuracy is key when it comes to fermenting!

Ingredients Needed

• Peppers – First, choose the right chilies for your taste. For a strong but not too hot flavor, pick red jalapeños. If you like it spicier, go for red Thai peppers. They make the sauce hot and still give it that bright red color. If you’re purchasing peppers from the store, look for Fresno peppers.
• Salt – Salt is key for taste, and make sure it’s good quality! You don’t want any extra chemicals or properties in the salt (such as iodine). We use Redmond Real Salt (using that link will automatically get you 15% off your order). Salt also helps keep the bad bacteria away while the good bacteria take over the ferment.
• Sugar – Sugar makes the sauce a bit sweet but is also food for the beneficial bacteria. It helps the chilies turn into a tasty, tangy sauce. The right amount of sugar will help offset some of the spiciness from the peppers. I like the flavor brown sugar adds, but you could also use evaporated cane juice or any other sugar that you like.
• Garlic – This is really to taste. I’d say about six large cloves will do (add extra if you like it extra garlicky as we do!).
• Vinegar – Traditional sriracha is boiled with distilled white vinegar as the final step. Not only does this kill all the good beneficial bacteria, but it adds that classic tang we’re all used to in a hot sauce. But we want all those beneficial bacteria! So we won’t be boiling our sriracha, and we’re also using live raw apple cider vinegar for added health benefits instead. I buy my raw apple cider vinegar from Azure Standard. They have great prices and offer it in a bulk five-gallon bucket. Homesteading Hack: If you’re a first-time Azure Standard customer, use coupon code “HOMESTEADINGFAMILY15” at checkout for 15% off your order of $100 or more!

Step-By-Step Direction

1. Prepare your peppers – It’s completely up to you whether you want to leave the seeds in or remove them. The seeds will add extra spiciness (and some say a little bitterness, though I haven’t noticed that), so you may prefer to remove them first. Once the peppers are stemmed and seeded, add them to the food processor.
2. Blend – Add the garlic, salt and brown sugar to the food processor and pulse until well blended.
3. Add to jar – Pour the pepper puree into a wide-mouth quart-sized Mason jar and add your two-piece lid, your pickle pipe or your airlock fermenting system.
4. Ferment – Leave the jar of sriracha sauce on the counter at room temperature to ferment. Once a day, take a very clean spoon and stir it up. You’re looking for bubbles to start forming! This is your sign that fermentation is kicking off. After you see bubbles, allow it to ferment for two to three more days until the liquid stops growing and starts to come back down slightly.
5. Blend – After your sauce is done fermenting, pour it into a blender along with the 1/2 cup raw apple cider vinegar and blend until smooth.
6. Store – Pour the sriracha into a clean jar and store it in the refrigerator.

Why Add Vinegar?

Adding vingar in the final step gives this sriracha sauce a zippy and tangy flavor, similar to hot sauces you purchase from the grocery store. Using raw apple cider vinegar adds a few more nutrients and helps preserve the sriracha sauce even longer.

You can decide whether or not to puree your sriracha after the fermentation process. If you’re looking for a chunkier sriracha sauce (almost like a spicy salsa), skip the blending. If you want a nice smooth consistency, give it that final blend.

How to Store Fermented Sriracha for Long-Lasting Flavor

Now that you have delicious homemade fermented sriracha sauce, you’ll want to keep it fresh for as long as possible. Store your sriracha sauce in the refrigerator. Technically, it is shelf stable, however I find it lasts much longer in the refrigerator. It also halts the fermentation process. So if you like the flavor after about a week of fermenting, then go ahead and keep it in the fridge.

Storage Type	Expected Shelf Life	Storage Tips
Refrigeration	Up to a few months	Keep in airtight containers, away from direct light, and ensure the fridge temperature is steady.
Pantry Storage	Several weeks	Make sure it’s fully fermented and the pH is under 4.6. After that, seal it well in sterilized jars.

Using these tips, I’ve had my homemade sriracha last a long time. I always know it’s safe to eat and its flavor is still strong.

Homesteading Hack: Every time you dip into your homemade sriracha, make sure you’re using a clean utensil. Storing your hot sauce in a jar or squeeze bottle that allows you to drizzle it over your food can help eliminate unwanted bacteria from being introduced to your ferment, shortening the shelf-life.

How to Use Fermented Sriracha

Use your homemade fermented sriracha just as you would any other hot sauce. It’s great for adding to soups and stews for an extra depth of flavor, add a dash to your homemade salad dressing to kick it up a notch, pep up meat like BBQ Pulled Pork, and stir some into your favorite BBQ sauce to make it spicy!

If you have a hot sauce lover in your family, you may just find this homemade sriracha sauce makes its way to the dinner table every single night.

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