Louisiana Pepper Exchange – Red Habanero Puree

I stumbled on Louisiana Pepper Exchange accidentally while researching some recipes, and discovered that they make a range of pure pepper purees from Jalapenos all the way up to Carolina Reapers, with the ingredients of each puree just being the pepper and some salt for preservation. I was intrigued as having some shelf-stable pure peppers to cook with without going through the process of dicing and slicing seemed like it could be very convenient.

I ordered a variety pack including their jalapeno, orange habanero, red habanero, cayenne, and ghost pepper purees, and decided to try out the red habanero product first.

Opening up the jar there’s a strong habanero pepper smell, and the puree has a nice thick smooth consistency. These do contain quite a bit of salt, 240mg per 1 tsp portion according to the label, and 1 tsp is equivalent to 1 pepper. That makes these not as suitable for use as a hot sauce, but it does make them a great ingredient to cook with, as when cooking it’s easy enough to compensate for the salt content of the puree by adding less salt overall to the dish.

In terms of flavor it’s exactly what it says on the jar – a nice fresh full ripe red habanero flavor. I made some spicy sauteed shrimp using a couple spoons of this puree and the result was both extremely tasty and spicier than I expected. The company also suggests using some of their purees in cocktails, which I have not tried yet, but could be delicious in more savory cocktail recipes.

If you’re looking to add some fresh pepper flavor to your cooking and would like the convenience of being able to just open a jar when the inspiration strikes, these are worth picking up.

Ingredients: Red Habanero Pepper, Salt

Heat Level: 5/10. This is almost pure habanero pepper, it’s quite spicy on its own, but is meant to be used as a cooking ingredient.