Mother Barnett’s Chilli Sauce Recipe

This homemade chilli sauce recipe comes from my great-grandmother, Florence Barnett, who we called Mother Barnett.

It’s made with tomatoes, green peppers, onions, peaches, brown sugar, vinegar, and pickling spices. The recipe was preserved in my Nana’s collection of family recipes.

Mother Barnett’s Chilli Sauce Recipe

Ingredients

• 1 six-quart basket of tomatoes
• 4 green peppers, finely chopped
• 4 onions, finely chopped
• 4 peaches, peeled and finely chopped
• 2 cups brown sugar
• 2 cups vinegar
• 1 tbsp pickling salt
• 1 bag pickling spices

Instructions

1. Prepare the tomatoes, peppers, onions, and peaches.
2. Combine the ingredients in a large, heavy-bottomed pot.
3. Cook for approximately 1½ hours, stirring occasionally.
4. Continue cooking and stir constantly for approximately 1 hour more, until the sauce has thickened.

Notes from the Original Recipe

• Total cooking time is approximately 2½ hours.
• As a general guide, 5 tomatoes equal approximately 1 quart.
• One package of pickling spices can be divided into approximately 4 portions, wrapped in cheesecloth.

Food Safety Note: The original family recipe instructed readers to place the hot sauce in jars and seal them. It does not provide a tested home-canning process. Do not use these instructions for shelf-stable canning. Follow a current, tested preservation recipe if you want to can chilli sauce for pantry storage.