Green Ghost Pepper Taco Sauce

Delicious green ghost pepper taco sauce.  Green ghost peppers are tasty.  They have an earthy, grassy flavor profile with a good amount of heat.  They remind me of a green pepper with a lot of spice!

Ingredients:

12 green ghost peppers

5 tomatillos

2 green bell peppers

1 yellow onion

1 head garlic

1/2 c apple cider vinegar

1/3 c water or more to adjust for consistency

1 tsp cumin

Salt

1 tsp black pepper

2 tsp paprika

1 tsp dried oregano

1 tsp anise

Tools needed:

Sharp knife

Cutting board

Small stock pot

Blender

Fine mesh strainer

Oven or smoker

Jar or hot sauce bottles for storage

Nitrile gloves

Perforated pan or cooking rack

How to make it:

Green ghost peppers still have a great amount of heat.  Handle with care!

I highly recommend that you make this sauce outside or at least in your kitchen with a good amount of ventilation. Turn your hood vents on, open windows, use fans etc. Also, wear rubber gloves for safety as ghost peppers are very spicy and the capsaicin will burn your skin. I smoked my peppers in my offset smoker at 225-250. If you want to use your oven, set it to 325 and the ingredients will take around 30-45 minutes. Keep and eye on the ingredients as they burn quickly.

Wash peppers and tomatillos. Cut the onion into large rough dice or into 8 pieces. Quarter the tomatillos. Cut the bell peppers around the seeds and placenta into sections. I keep the pepper in bigger pieces since they cook faster. The ghost peppers will remain whole and the stems will get removed before blending. Seed removal is optional. Remove the garlic cloves from the paper covering. Place these ingredients into a large mixing bowl and add oil, salt and pepper. Toss to combine ingredients. If smoking, don’t add the spices as they will get added later on. I found that the flavor of the spices get lost during the smoking process. If you’re using your oven, add the spices at this time.

Using a perforated pan helps keep your smoker clean and the smoke is able to reach the underside of the ingredient. 

If you’re smoking your ingredients, warm up your smoker at 225-250 for and offset smoker. If you’re able to control the temperature better than an offset smoker, say with a pellet smoker, set it to 250. Place the ingredients on a perforated sheet pan or cooling rack. These will smoke for around 3 to 3-1/2 hours or until ingredients are soft. They need to be soft so that they blend nicely. The ingredients will be nicely brown and smokey.

If you're using your oven, place ingredients on a sheet pan with parchment paper and bake at 325 for 30-45 minutes. Again, keep an eye on the ingredients as the ghost peppers will dry and burn quickly.

Smoked ghost peppers and other ingredient right off my smoker. 

Add your ingredients to the vinegar and spices in a stock pot.   This get simmered together for a few minutes to infuse the flavors together.  

When the ingredients are fully soft, pull from oven or smoker. Meanwhile, add the vinegar to a small stock pot. Place in the spices if you smoked your ingredients. Turn the heat on high and bring the vinegar to a boil. Reduce heat and add the ingredients. Simmer for 2-3 minutes.

Add ingredients from the stock pot into a blender with the water. Turn blender on high and blend for 45 seconds to 1 minute. If you need, add some water while blending to get the consistency on the sauce you want.

Check sauce consistency while blending and add more water/vinegar as desired.  

Strain your sauce for a smoother sauce.

I like having a smoother sauce so I strain mine through a fine mesh strainer. I use a small ladle to lightly press the sauce through the strainer.

Cool the sauce at room temperature to room temperature. Place into a mason jar or hot sauce bottles. I refrigerate this sauce. However, the pH is around 3.7 and can be shelf stable. If you want, add more vinegar to lower the pH about 1 tbsp at a time. Keep in mind that this will slightly change the flavor profile.

This will stay good for a very long time in the refrigerator. It is a great sauce and I think you will use it all up very quickly that you don’t need to worry about storing it too long.

Enjoy!

Logan