Homemade Brazilian Hot Sauce Recipe – Molho Apimentado

This homemade Brazilian hot sauce will add a dash of tropical seasoning to your dinner table.

A bottle of well-made Brazilian chili sauce, made with spicy chili peppers, vinegar, and flavorings, is one of the most essential arsenals in one’s home pantry or on a shelf in the kitchen.

Whenever a dish turns out bland, a drop or two of one of my Brazilian sauces can perk it up, enliven all the other flavors of the meal, and make diners sit up and take notice.

Many brands sell this delicious sauce, but for me, a born and raised Brazilian, there is nothing tastier than preparing it at home.

Oh, and for reference, this sauce has no cachaça because I honestly have never had/seen a sauce like that in Brazil, as other blogs wrote about.

Without further ado, let’s get to this traditional Brazilian sauce recipe, also known in the country as molho apimentado.

My favorite occasions to serve this Brazilian red pepper sauce

• Super Bowl game day – perfect to dip some appetizers and snacks!
• Parties with friends
• Barbecues with family
• Dinner with hubby – when a dish turns out a bit bland or just fell like having it

My favorite dishes to serve with this Brazilian hot sauce:

• Coxinha
• Pastél
• Chicken hand pies (or hearts of palm hand pies)
• Feijoada

For how long can I keep this Brazilian sauce in the fridge?

For up to 3 months, but if in doubt, my dear reader, always follow your nose!

Tips for making the perfect Brazilian hot sauce:

• Remember to always use a clean spoon when taking getting the sauce. Don’t use a spoon “dirty” with other foods, or you might spoil the sauce.
• If you don’t want your Brazilian sauce on the hot-spicy side, remove the pepper seeds.
• Alternatively, you could also add more brown sugar to balance the spicy out.
• Watch out for your finger, especially if you wear contact lenses! The chili pepper is really hot, so you might want to use gloves in that case.

How to make Brazilian hot sauce

Before you begin, know that this homemade cayenne sauce recipe is very easy to prepare, it takes about 10 minutes or less to complete, and yields about 2 1/5 cups or 600 milliliters of sauce.

So, start off by washing the chili peppers, slice them in big pieces, and add it to the blender together with all other ingredients.

Blend it until smooth. 

Pour the sauce into glass jars with air-tight lids, or heated and sterilized jars to store for longer.

Store it in the fridge and enjoy!

Did you like this Brazilian red pepper sauce? Then share it with a friend who might also like it and/or save it to your Pinterest board!