Thursday, August 2, 2012

Pineapple & Habanero Sauce Knock-Off

I can not even tell you how excited I am to share this recipe with you today.  Recently we tried the Rothschild Farm Roasted Pineapple Habanero Sauce from Costco and it is amazing.  Looking at the ingredients, I knew it was something we could totally recreate.  And if you know Costco, just when you fall in love with something, they stop carrying it so I was totally on a mission.  (Note:  They still carry it, however it was so easy to make it doesn't matter.)


We LOVE Costco at our house and sometimes you can find the most amazing foods there that you can not find anywhere else (well, maybe online but I am not a big online shopper).

This sauce is absolutely amazing!  So far we have tried it on grilled chicken, pork chops, shrimp tacos, poured over a brick of cream cheese as a dip and straight up salsa with chips.  I swear, if you like sweet and spicy - this sauce is the bomb!


The bottle from Costco, while large (37 oz), is around $8.  Not a cheap condiment.  Looking at the ingredient list, I knew it was very doable.  There is absolutely nothing I wasn't familiar with so I headed to the store.  Grabbed my ingredients and set out to develop my recipe.  I don't have an exact breakdown of cost, but I am certain I spent no more than $8 and I was able to get over 4 pints of sauce.

Honestly, I thought it would take me a couple tries but it turned out amazing, right out the gate!  So here it is.


Pineapple Habanero Sauce

Ingredients:
4 cups sugar
1 cup apple cider vinegar
1 cup pineapple juice
3 Tbsp lemon juice
3 Tbsp cornstarch (mixed with a bit of water to create slurry)
1 medium to large pineapple, roasted, finely chopped
1 medium onion, finely chopped
1 red pepper, finely chopped
1 yellow pepper, finely chopped
1 mango, finely chopped
5-6 habanero peppers, roasted, finely chopped

Create a simple syrup in a large pot by whisking the sugar, vinegar, pineapple juice and lemon juice over medium high heat until the sugar dissolves. Turn up the heat and bring to a boil for 2 minutes.  Turn off the heat and let sit while you prep the remaining ingredients.


Roasting the pineapple and habaneros will bring out their inherent sweetness and richness.  This can be done on your grill outside or using a grill pan on your cook-top.  (I chose to use my George Foreman since it was pouring rain outside when I was working on this recipe.)  Slice the pineapple in rings and grill until the sugars begin to caramelize and creates grill marks on both sides.


Note:  Before finely chopping my pineapple I trimmed away the outer rind.

Lightly char the skins of the habanero peppers over an open flame or on a searing hot grill pan.  Do not grill your red and yellow bell peppers in order to maintain some crunch and texture in the sauce.


Make sure the habaneros are super finely chopped. If you want to tone down the heat slightly carefully remove the seeds.  (I used my chopper so that I would not have to touch the peppers - I have a habit of getting hot pepper oils on my fingers and touching my eyes.  The pepper oils not only make your hand tingle but burns like crazy on your face.  NOT FUN! Additionally, the chopper allowed me to make sure the peppers were in super tiny pieces so no one bites into a large piece of super hot pepper.)

Next, finely chop all fruit, peppers and onion into 1/4" pieces (or smaller).  Stir the remaining ingredients into the simple syrup you prepared earlier.  Stir in the cornstarch (mixing with a few tablespoons of water first to create a slurry).  Bring the mixture to a boil and the turn down the heat to simmer for 5-10 minutes.  The consistency should be syrupy and chunky.

This recipe makes 4-5 pints of sauce.  The sauce may be canned using a water bath for 15 minutes. Or placed in jars and frozen.  Sauce should remain fresh in the fridge for approximately 2-3 weeks (if it lasts that long).


As with the store bought sauce, it is the perfect pairing with so many things including chicken, pork, fish and seafood.  It makes a great appetizer when partnered with cream cheese or goat cheese and used as a dip or a topping on crackers or croutons.  We love it to just dip tortilla chips (alongside a margarita and life is good).


I am going to take a small jar and pour it over a few pieces of chicken in the crock pot for dinner tonight.

I just love the versatility of this sauce.  The sweetness is awesome when paired with the heat of the habanero.  Plus, the vinegar offers just enough tang to help cut some of the heat as well.

I hope you enjoy!

Linked up with:  House of Hepworths, Somewhat Simple, Chic on a Shoestring Decorating, The Frugal Girls, Nap Time Crafters, eighteen25, Tatertots and Jello, Funky Junk Interiors, I Heart Naptime, A Crafty Cook, Under the Table and Dreaming



83 comments:

  1. Awesome!!! I was going to head out to costco to buy a jar for a pizza recipe I am creating and I came across this when looking for the exact name. I am SO making this instead and I will link my readers here too.

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  2. THANK YOU so much! Costco has been out of this sauce for a while now. Last time I was there, they said they had some on order....it's been weeks and still no sauce. Online, outside of Costco, this sauce goes for $14-plus a bottle. Yikes! We loved this sauce on so many things. Can't wait to try your recipe!

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  3. you show a canner,
    Is this recipe canner ready?
    and will it keep 1 year like the other canning items??
    Would really appreciate a Reply
    thank you for your recipe its yummy

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    1. To my amazement I found a jar in the back of the pantry from last summer! Still as good as ever! Plenty of acid in the recipe so should keep just fine if sealed properly.

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    2. Put it in a preserve jar. Add water to a pressure cooker enough to cover the jar. Bring the water to a boil WITHOUT the jar. If your cooker has setting set it to maximum. Put the jar in UPSIDE DOWN. Close the cooker. Let it "cook" for a minute after it starts steaming from the valve. Turn it off, release the pressure and remove it right away. It should last for many years. This procedure can be done for almost anything.

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    3. This is not proper canning techniques. The jars should never be put in a canner, water bath or pressured, upside. When the temperature rises in the jars, the contents expand, forcing air out of the jar. If it's upside down, it will force liquid out and contaminate the rim, resulting in a failed seal.

      Once removed from the hot water bath, many place the jars upside down to COOL, with the belief it creates a better seal. This is also not recommended by the extension office.

      Please check proper techniques before making horrible recommendations. Ideally, I'd hope the blog author would remove the above post.

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    4. Also cornstarch is not approved for canning. You should use ClearJel instead. It is a modified starch.

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    5. Per King Arthur's website: So it's my understanding that cornstarch isn't optimal for canning, not for safety reasons, but because it has a tendency to clump. Clear Jel is the substitution if you can find it. Per King Arthur's website: If the recipe calls for cornstarch or tapioca, use slightly less than double the amount of Clearjel. To prevent clumping, be sure to mix Clearjel with the sugar in the recipe before combining with fruit.

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  4. I just bought this sauce from Costoc yesterday, and knew I wanted to make it. It's THAT good. Imagine my surprise to find your recipe online -thank you in advance!!!!!!! Can't wait to try it!

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    1. Horray! Your recipe is exactly what I was looking for. It's no longer in Sam's and my Salmon was without last night. I just need a few ingredients from the store and I can make this. Omg! Thank you! Bless your little heart! Rothschild habenero sauce, horray! Thanks so much!

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  5. I just made this sauce. It is totally awesome! It is just like the original and I think possibly even a little better.

    Lady, you rock!!!

    Many thanks!

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    Replies
    1. Glad you like it! I made another batch a few weeks ago! So good for summer!

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  7. I am not a fan of heat, but THIS sauce is so addictive that I'm sitting here with my mouth on fire and can't stop eating it (as a salsa with Tostitos! YUM!). I decided to find a recipe - as you said, Costco often stops offering things just when you find out you're addicted to them - and here I am. THANK YOU for this! I just bought a bottle but it won't last long, and I'll be making this. The George Foreman idea is a good one too - I have one gathering dust in my pantry.

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  8. Could you swap the pineapple for peach? I made 15pints of this today, now I have 30 pounds of peaches to can!!

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  9. I've been looking for this sauce for a while now after Costco discontinued it. It looks awesome! I don't have a grill though. How can I do the peppers in a similar fashion without a grill?

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    Replies
    1. put them on a fork or tongs
      and hold over the flame on the stove just until they begin to char

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  10. Can't wait to make my first batch! Thank you for sharing this recipe. I love this sauce and was sad to have Costco tell me they will no longer be carrying it.

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  11. SPECTACULAR!!! I made this today and I can't stop eating it! After canning 10 jars (1/2 pints) I had a bit left over in the pan so I poured it on top of a wedge of cream cheese and scooped it up with organic blue corn chips. Absolutely delicious. I had to force myself to stop eating it! I did end up having to make some slight changes to the recipe. First I had no pineapple juice so I substituted orange juice,only to realize that duh, I had pineapple juice after all! After I broiled(no grill) and chopped up the fresh pineapple for the recipe I had at least 1 cup of juice! oh well, OJ worked fine. Also when I cut open my mango it was rotten, it looked fine on the outside but the inside was gray and smelled bad. So what to do? I had no peaches left as I had just made a batch of peach habanero sauce, which is excellent too! So I opened a can of organic mandarin oranges and chopped them up and added it in place of the mango. Next time I will try it with a 'good' mango and pineapple juice not orange and compare the taste. Ya'll have to try this recipe, it is wonderful! Thanks for sharing! PING another jar has sealed ;) LOVE that sound!

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  12. I've been making this sauce for many years. I bought the Costco stuff just to compare with what I make. Practically identical except for the heat level. I like hot & spicy. For my tastes I would triple the amount of habanero :) I find that a lot of the heat gets lost once you add the sauce to whatever it is you're making. For a great snack, use this sauce as a topping on vanilla ice cream. The hot and cold interacting as you eat it is something else!! Remember though, I make mine with extra heat. Costco now offers a cherry pomegranate habanero sauce which is very good...and yes, I've been making a cherry habanero (extra hot) sauce for years as well. If only I would've marketed this stuff years ago:(

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  13. For those of you who live near an HEB, they carry this sauce and often have a B1G1 yellow coupon attached.

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  14. I followed this recipe and I got just a bit over 5 pints, seemed a bit to liquidy, but is still cooling in the pint jars, not sure if it will thicken a bit as it cools. Just seemed like it didn't thicken quite as much as the stuff from Costco. But had a great taste to it and speaking of Costco, they have some Kirkland brand smoked pulled pork, I use it to make shredded pork tacos, and this Roasted Pineapple & Habanero Sauce on these tacos is just remarkable... Give it a try. Thanks so much for providing this recipe, Costco has been out of this for a few months now.

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  15. OHMYGOSH!!! This is my favorite sauce of all time and am SOOOOOO irritated at Costco for depriving me of my addiction. I went to the store today and bought everything on the ingredient list. After coming home I googled it with the full title and came across this post. I'm so excited to get started. Thank you so much for posting!

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  16. Thanks! Your recipe nailed it, thanks for figuring it out so I didn't have to try :-)

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  17. I do think in dissecting this bottle that there are GREEN onions in it and not a typical white or yellow onion. I just finished my batch using a yellow onion and I'll see how it is. Next time I'll try with the green onions. It's very good! Woohoo!

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  18. This is wonderful. I added it to my personal recipes on AllRecipies.com since I didn't find it already listed there. You might want to consider adding it there and making it available to others!

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    1. The sauce is fantastic. I was told at Costco that it is seasonal. in spring and summer they carry the pineapple habanero flavor and for the holidays and winter they carry the other flavor. Can't remember the name but it is dark in color. Not nearly as good as the pineapple habanero flavor.

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  19. I am going to have to make bigger batches, whenever someone tastes it and loves it, I send them home with a bottle. The only thing I tweak is the size of the veggies, I puree them because my son THINKS that he doesn't like them. Mine is more of a sauce consistency without the chunks, still has all of the flavor though. Many thanks:)

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  20. I was at my local Costco this weekend and saw they had this sauce back in stock. Maybe just for the summer?

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  21. Tried this recipe and gave out to friends and family! It was a big hit and "on the mark" compared to store bought. Many thanks!

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  22. Thank you SO MUCH for this-- just discovered this stuff today at Costco and if they (or Robert Rothschild Farms) ever discontinue/stop carrying it, now I have a recipe... and/or if I ever have time to "really" cook again.

    I don't suppose you (or anyone) have a recipe for Robert Rothschild's now discontinued Hot Peach & Apple Chutney? We were addicted to that and haven't been able to recreate it.

    Thanks again!

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  23. Thank you for the great reproduction of this sauce. It is so on. How long did it take to reproduce? I noticed that the costco version uses green onion, do you know if they used both?.

    One change I will make to thicken the sauce is adding three table spoons of the corn starch instead of two. Other than that great job...

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  24. I got the sauce yesterday at Costco and they did say it was leaving for the winter!!

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  25. Made this sauce for our church bazaar and sold out quickly. Made another batch yesterday(larger). Could not find habanero so I used Scotch Bonnets. Talkabout heat. Tastes great and wonderful addition to our Hugh list of jams and jellies.
    Thanks

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  26. I took a picture of this sauce at Costco also the ingredients! I'm so relieved you already perfected how much to put in! I bought all ingredients last night,but didn't know how much of of every thing to use! Thank you! Time to get cooking:)

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  27. Wow this is great, Thank you for taking the time to do the homework and then sharing.
    I have a question about the pineapple, do you center core it before chopping or use the entire slice, I would think the core would be too hard.
    When I post this on my website I'll link you for Kudos.

    Thanks Again
    Rich

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  28. So many wonderful things going on in this sauce: sweet and vinegar, soft and crunchy, yellow and red. I used canned pineapple but roasted my habaneros to almost black. I used 4 habaneros with seeds and it has much heat. Wonderful sauce. Swen

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  29. Made this last August for our church bazaar. Item sold very well and all loved its taste. Thanks for the recipe. Will be starting again with double the size.

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  30. Thank you! I'll try this. Tip: Mix the sauce with a good portion of Dijon mustard for a wonderful sweet & hot accompaniment to sausages!

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  31. Hello! We live in Colombia, South America, but I really miss this sauce, so I searched and found your recipe. Was wondering if I could cut the recipe in half and enjoy the same results? We do not have a lot of space for storage.

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  32. Do you peel the skin off the habanero peppers after you roast them before chopping?

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  33. Hey there.
    I'm assuming that when you refer to a mango (just after the red and yellow pepper) in your recipe that you mean a (green) bell pepper and not a "mango" as in the exotic yellow tropical fruit "mango".? In the South, (Texas, TN, etc.) we don't call them Mangoes. :) Not that the tropical fruit wouldn't be good.. But I do notice green chunks that appear to be bell peppers in my Costco Sauce. They also list it as Mangoes on the bottle. . Please clarify Thanks

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  34. Well I answered my own question after researching a little. I went on the Rothchild website and on one of the pics and description of their Roasted Pineapple & Habenero Sauce says something along these lines " with a hint /touch of passionate mango". This would be the tropical rather than a green bell. lol.

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  36. Made this tonight! Marinating a pork tenderloin in it! It tastes just like the sauce in the jar!! Thank you so much for posting this yummy recipe!!!

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  37. Questo è il secondo anno che faccio questa grandiosa salsa
    Grazie quest'anno utilizzo scorpion chocolate
    Per cominciare doppia dose
    Poi vediamo come va
    Grazie mille per la tua fantastica ricetta

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  38. Questo è il secondo anno che faccio questa grandiosa salsa
    Grazie quest'anno utilizzo scorpion chocolate
    Per cominciare doppia dose
    Poi vediamo come va
    Grazie mille per la tua fantastica ricetta

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  39. This comment has been removed by the author.

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  40. Flour and cornstarch are good for canning . My one ball recipe for a certain pickle calls for flour. This recipe is the bomb. I now make this instead of buying it.

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  41. Thank you for posting this recipe. I've made a 1/2-batch yielding about 9 4-oz jars and it is a hit. I made one minor change to the recipe that I think is worth repeating. I lightly grilled the onion (cut into thick slices) as well and then chopped the onion. In my opinion, the grilled onion flavor is superior to the raw onion flavor. Thanks again! -jp

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  42. This recipe has been a big hit with my friends and family. We too could not find the sauce at Costco until recently. After comparing theirs with your recipe, have decided your recipe beats Costco's hands down. My friend and I plan our pineapple roasting on her outdoor grill and make a double or triple batch sharing all the chopping duties. One batch was not enough because we ended up sharing it with everybody who then came back for more.

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  43. Great job on the recipe! We made this tonight so I'm looking forward to using it! This is a very good copycat recipe!

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  44. I used this at one of my Hot Dog stands for a year, and now I will make yours tonight.....YOU SAVED (my #2) hot dawg after the # 1 New Yorker....mahalo !!

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  45. Of Course it is called Da Big Kahuna Dog....

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  46. The Roasted pineapple sauce that I received from my sister in law from a produce market containen only pineapple,sugar, water, jalapeno, pectin, citric acid, roasted garlic, Habenero pepper. ..so , to make it easier, I just purchased pineapple preserves n will add red Jalapeños, roasted garlic, citric acid or red wine vinegar,n habeneros

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  47. How do you print the recipe? There is no print button???

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  48. Does anyone know if I cut out or maybe just add half of the vinegar, if that would mess up the taste of this sauce. I do not like the smell or taste of the apple cider vinegar, otherwise this recipe is amazing?

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    1. You will not taste the vinegar. Us ethe recipe exactly the way it is. It is spot on

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  49. I have made this sauce for the last 3 years! We love it. Thank for sharing and providing easy to follow instructions!

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  50. After our move from the big city to our forever home we have noticed we we can no longer get items in the local grocery. We have come across this site to make some of our favorite food enhancers one being this great recipe here pineapple Habanero sauce. Thank you so much for sharing this recipe it is our favorite when used in white bismati rice. we generally use a 1/4 cup of this added to our the water in our rice as we cook the rice.

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  51. You’re my hero!! Felt like I was reading my own words in that first paragraph 😂 Cant wait to get home and make this!

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  52. Thank you for this recipe! I have an habenero plant and luckily found this pin. I now have a way to use the peppers into this delicious salsa. Also, great to give as a gift.

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  53. I know it's been awhile since you posted this, but we've been looking for this sauce for ages and happened across yours. We're going to give it a go and see how it turns out. We used to put ours over pork meatballs with a rice/vegetableix and we'd devour it. Thanks for sharing this.

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  54. OMG! I've been buying this sauce at the Texas HEB grocery chain for years. (They still carry it along with the Cranrazz flavor which is wonderful too.) The Pineapple Habanero sauce is amazing over vanilla ice cream. I now live up north in Iowa and the only way to get it is online and it's price is RIDICULOUS!!!. I'm so excited to see this posting! Thank you!

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  55. Savor the tangy kick of Pineapple & Habanero Sauce with this fantastic knock-off recipe! Elevate your dishes and your savings by adding a dash of flavor and a sprinkle of #Use Promo Codesmagic.

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  56. Made this today. Fell in love with this glaze many years ago. Took a pic of the ingredients because I knew Costco would get rid of it. Figured I’d at least look and see if someone had already done the work 😂 this tastes exactly like I remember. Next summer I’ll make a ton and can it because I’ll eat this on just about anything. Thank you so much. You made me a very happy person.

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  57. I made this delicious sauce today! Like a lot of commenters, I had found this at Costco and wanted some more only to find it was not a an available. I only added 3 habaneros AND I took the seeds out. It still has a good kick and made my nose run, but this was about perfect for me. I will definitely be making this again! Thanks for sharing!

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  58. Will this ok if you freeze instead of processed in small ziplock freezer bags?

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