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Taco Johns Hot Sauce

14 years ago

Hello everyone! I live in Zone 4 and have tomato and pepper plants just exploding with fruit. I figure it's time to start figuring out what I'm going to do with all of them. I love salsa quite a bit and plan on making some in the weeks to come. However, I would also like to make some hot sauce. For those of you familiar with Taco Johns, do you have any idea how to produce a hot sauce similar to their hot (red) sauce? I am thinking the recipe can't be too complex, but before experimenting, I wanted to see if anyone had any ideas for me. Thanks for any help. For those of not familiar with TJ's, it's a West-Mex restaurant that features tacos/burritos/etc. Their hot sauce is a fresh/spicy tomato based sauce from what I can gather.

Featured Answer

johnny90275

14 years ago

Hey everyone, I actually used to work at Taco John's about 10 years ago, I was 15 and worked there until 17 or 18 I think. Anyways we used to make the red and green hot sauce from scratch before getting it prepackaged (like they do now). The red hot sauce was not my favorite (too watery), but basically from what I remember was just tomato paste, cayanne peppers, water, ground up in blender. The green was my favorite and I remember exactly what was in it. I remember we took a can of whole pickled jalapenos and just put the whole can juice and all in a blender. and thats it! I loved that sauce, I only remembered because I remember thinking I cound'nt believe how good and easy it was, lol.
John

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Comments (9)

robeb
14 years ago
Taco John's was my favorite mex fast food joints for years. I had one just a few blocks from my house and visited that place at least once a week, almost cried when they closed.

I haven't had any TJ's food for a few years, and I miss it. Loved that hot red sauce. They also had a green sauce that made you sweat.

Sorry i can't help you with a recipe for the sauce, but I'll be following this thread in hope that someone else will.

Their combination burritos...mmm!
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Taco sauce is similar to a salsa but has less texture of solids in it. Its basically made the same way as salsa with the same ingredients, but its usually pureed and is a bit watery compared to a salsa. The recipe you have is quite low in added acid, even though the tomato paste may contain any acid. Ground Cumin is also used in taco sauces. Judging by the amount of chili and cayenne, yours may be a mild to medium heat, which is easy to increase or decrease by using more or less cayenne. For chili powder, you can change to ancho pepper powder too, or a mix of several other low heat chilies.
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Peanuttree - Thanks for your suggestion. I may try to experiment with some different liquids (like tequila). Lamalu - With most of the others I used the basic recipe below. BASIC HOT PEPPER SAUCE 3 c Distilled white vinegar 2 lb Cayenne OR jalapenos Seeded and chopped 2 ts Salt Simmer vinegar, salt and peppers at least 5 minutes. Process in processor. Store in a glass bottle. Put in a dark cabinet and let age at least 3 months. Strain when ready to use. I did make one batch of Habenero sauce using a mix of yellow habs and Jamaica Scotch Bonnet and the following recipe. HABENERO HOT SAUCE 1 Â½ cups chopped carrots 1 onion, chopped 1 Â½ cup lime juice 3 cloves garlic, minced 2 tsp salt 1 cup chopped habanero chiles, about 12 chiles, (I generally use 15-20 habs) 1. Combine all the ingredients, except for the habaneros, in a saucepan and bring to a boil. Boil for 10 minutes or until the carrots are soft. (Adjust the heat by adding fewer habaneros not by increasing the carrots, as this can alter the flavor.) 2. Place all the ingredients in a blender or food processor and puree until smooth. Strain for a smoother sauce. 3. Pour in sterilized jars and refrigerate (or process in a water bath as I do). Both of the recipes came from Pepperfool that has many more (see link below). I have already bottled the Habenero sauce and it's just as hot and flavorful as you might expect. I put 1 pint in a canning jar and hot processed. I put the rest in 5oz woozies that I had sterized but did not hot process them nor did I refrigerate. The pH was about 3.5 when I bottled it. Does anyone have any thoughts on whether it needs to be refrigerated? John A Here is a link that might be useful: Pepperfool
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John- This is somewhat similar to a question I asked a while back... They should be fine with a pH that low and no additives. The woozies can't be boiling water bathed, but they are designed for properly acidified foods such as your sauce. I tend to refrigerate them anyway since I have the space. Bryce Here is a link that might be useful: Link
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taradye3
10 years ago
Johnny90275...do you remember or know how to make the TJ pink sauce...the house dressing?
obchili
10 years ago
OMG. I LOVE TJ's! I wish there was one here north of the border.
peppers_galore
10 years ago
The green sauce information is interesting. I always had a feeling it was nothing more than pickled jalapenos. It is good, but it seems to be hit or miss. Some days it is runny and some days it is thick. The same is true with the heat level. Some locations may still be making the green sauce in house.
seysonn
10 years ago
Taco sauces are fairly mild.

The green one, I make with fresh green Jalapeno and tomatillos the amount of each will depend on how much heat you want. You can also substitute green tomatoes for tomatillo. BLENDED. Add salt to taste.

The red one, is make with RED Jalapeno and ripe tomato. BLENDED. Add salt to taste.

These are my recipe's and not from any reference.
DMForcier
10 years ago
The successful green sauces I've made / seen are blended of jalapeno and tomatillo (about 3:2) with onion optional (I like it). Then the sauce is *fried* in a hot pan - or at least cooked. Yummy.

Dennis
Vicky Renee
2 years ago
I know this is a VERY old thread, but I had to share this.
I spent quite some time trying to Google how to make Taco John's red sauce and I figured it out!!
I decided to look at the ingredients on a Taco John's sauce packet and try to find something similar in ingredients at the store.
Taco John's packet reads.....
"Water, tomato paste, chili puree, jalapeno puree (jalapeno peppers, salt, acetic acid, vinegar), salt, sugar, citric acid, sodium benzoate as a preservative."
There is a party dip called "Hell On The Red" that I found locally here in KC.
It has just about everything Taco John's sauce has with the exception of the green chili puree.
So.....I got some green chilis in a can to add.
When I tasted Party Dip, to me it was too hot (even though it says mild) I decided to add a can of chopped tomatoes with green chilis (instead of the can of green chilis) with half of the jar of Party Dip.
Put it in my little electric chopper thing and mulched it down to a sauce. I added like 1.5 teaspoon sugar and dashed some salt in there.
Omg that's IT!!!
My beloved Taco John's sauce!
I made a beef super burrito and I was in heaven!!!
Vicky Renee
2 years ago
And.....
Taco John's copycat meat seasoning.......
2 lbs ground beef
1/2 cup chopped onion (goes in with hamburger when frying.
After hamburger is browned add....
2 t Chili powder
1 t Paprika
2 t Sugar
3/4 t Beef bouillon (I used Better than Bouillon)
1.5 t Salt
1/2 t Garlic and onion powder
2 cups water
Simmered on medium heat for about 40 mins.

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