Can You Tell Your Chipotles From Your Adobos? A Guide to Mexican Chiles

The wall of dried chiles at the Mexican grocery store is always mesmering to me—a mural with colors ranging from bright red to black that exudes the aroma of fruit, chocolate, raisins, and nuts—but it can also be daunting. With at least a dozen varieties on the shelf, it can be difficult to know which type of chile is best for which dishes. Even for those familiar with dried chiles, like me, things get a bit complicated when the same name is used to identify different chiles (pasillas, for example). I put together this guide of 12 popular Mexican chiles that will help you learn the appearance, heat level, and uses of each.

Dried Chile Basics

Chiles were first cultivated around 6000 years ago in what is now Mexico, and some experts believe that the practice of drying chiles was introduced as a preservation method by the Aztecs and Mayans shortly after.  In addition to preserving them, drying concentrates the flavors and aromas of chile peppers to produce earthy, nutty, and fruity notes. Dried chiles incorporate more than just heat and flavor to a dish; they’re also used to thicken blended sauces and make them smoother. If you’re new to working with chiles, it’s a good idea to get familiar with their aroma since that’s a good indicator of how they’ll taste—you can use it as a starting point when mixing and matching chiles for a recipe. 

The only inedible part of a chile is the stem, but the seeds are also often removed to give dishes a smoother texture. However, keep in mind that these seeds contain heat, so there may be some instances when you want to incorporate them into a dish. Chiles with thin skins when raw usually have a smooth skin when dried, with a texture similar to laminated paper; chiles with thick skins will be wrinkly like raisins when dried.

Light vs. Dark Chiles

Dried chiles vary from light to dark in color. Light-colored chiles range from red and burgundy to reddish-brown, and tend to taste bright. Dark-colored chiles are dark brown, black, and purple, with a prominent flavor that’s somewhere between licorice and raisin. As a rule of thumb in many Latin American cuisines, light chiles are usually paired with chicken, pork, or fish, while dark chiles are paired with beef or duck. However, this guideline should not be followed too strictly—chicken is great in mole negro, which uses dark chiles like pasillas, and the popular dish chili con carne is made with beef and features light chiles like árbol. It’s also not unusual to pair light and dark colored chiles in recipes, such as pozole and mole for tamales. 

Heat Measurement

The heat of a chile is measured using the Scoville Heat Unit (SHU). Heat level varies depending on where a chile is grown—hotter climates typically produce hotter chiles, for example—so each chile has a range of SHU. Smaller chile varieties, like chiles de árbol or chiltepin, are typically hotter than large chiles. For the most part, dark chiles carry a lot less heat. Some speculate that this is because they’re picked at the end of the ripening process, at which point they decrease in capsaicin and increase in sweetness; however, this isn’t true of all dark chiles.

Buying, Storing, and Cooking With Dried Chiles

Dried chiles are extremely versatile and can be used to make anything from hot sauce to brownies. In order to maintain the potency of dried chiles, it’s best to buy them whole and crush or grind them when ready to use. If you’re going to blend chiles into a sauce, you’ll need to steep them in hot water for about 20 minutes.

When shopping for dried chiles, make sure the ones you purchase are whole and not cracked into pieces—this ensures better quality and proper care taken when packaging. Don’t buy pre-toasted dried chiles—they’re often burnt and have bitter flavors. Additionally, dried chiles should be pliable.

Store dried chiles in a cool, dry place in a sealed container for freshness and to prevent bugs from getting in. Properly stored chiles will last indefinitely, but will start to lose their flavor and aroma after a couple of years. 

Popular Dried Chiles

Chipotle

Scoville unit: 2,500 to 8,000 SHU
Color: Tan
Flavor notes: Smoky

Also known as chipotle meco, these are smoke-dried jalapeños. They’re light brown and shriveled with a tough, leathery texture and a mild to medium heat level. Chipotles are often blended into salsas or marinades for a boost of smokiness. You can also find them canned in adobo, where they rehydrate when soaked in the sauce. These chiles are smoked longer than chipotle morita (below), which is why they’re drier and stiffer. 

Morita

Scoville unit: 5,000 to 10,000 SHU
Color: Reddish-brown
Flavor notes: Smoky, fruity

These smoke-dried jalapeños are also known as chipotle morita. They’re short, stubby, and reddish brown, with a mild to medium heat level and a smoky, fruity flavor—though their smokiness isn’t as dominant as the chipotle. These chiles are often used in moles and salsas, like salsa macha, but they can also be pickled and used as a condiment.

Guajillo

Scoville unit: 2,500 to 5,000 SHU
Color: Reddish-brown
Flavor notes: Fruity, earthy

One of the most commonly used dried chiles in Mexican cuisine, Guajillo is the name mirasol chiles take on when dried. They’re large and skinny with tough, smooth, bright red skin and a mild heat level. These chiles are fruity and earthy with a touch of sweetness and acidity, and they’re often paired with other chiles like anchos and pasillas. Guajillos are used in tomato-based dishes such as pozole rojo, a pork and hominy stew, and tortas ahogadas, sandwiches drenched in tomato sauce.

Puya

Scoville unit: 5,000 to 8,000 SHU
Color: Dark Red
Flavor notes: Fruity, spicy

Puyas are known by the same name fresh or dried. They’re long and slender with a smooth, reddish-brown skin and a medium to high heat level. Often described as a hotter guajillo, this chile has earthy and fruity notes. A couple of chiles can be soaked and blended into the base of a soup like pozole or menudo (tripe soup).

California

Scoville unit: 500 to 2,500 SHU
Color: Red
Flavor notes: Sweet

Also known as chile seco del norte, California chiles are dried Anaheim chiles. They’re thin with burgundy skin and a low heat level. California chiles are mild and used to add color, sweetness, and acidity to various dishes. They’re a popular choice for chilaquiles and enchiladas.

Chiles de Árbol

Scoville unit: 5,000 to 30,000 SHU
Color: Bright red
Flavor notes: Nutty, spicy

These chiles go by the same name whether fresh or dried. They’re small and thin with bright red skin and nutty, earthy notes, but they’re primarily used for their high heat level. Chiles de árbol are best used in tandem with mild, flavorful chiles, like California and anchos, that would benefit from a kick of heat in dishes like enchiladas and chile con carne (spicy braised meat). Chiles de árbol are also typically crushed for use as red pepper flakes.

Ancho

Scoville unit: 1,000 to 2,000 SHU
Color: Reddish-black
Flavor notes: Fruity

Dark reddish-brown to black with wrinkled skin, ancho chiles are the name of poblano chiles when dried. They have a mild heat level, and, along with guajillos, are one of the most commonly used dried chiles in Mexican cuisine. Their sharp, fruity flavor makes them a great match for salsas and adobos. They work well when soaked, blended, and then incorporated into homemade chorizo. You might see pasilla anchos at the store, but this is a different type of chile. The easiest way to tell them apart is their size—anchos are wide and pasillas are thin. 

Mulato

Scoville unit: 2,500 to 3,000 SHU
Color: Brownish-black
Flavor notes: Chocolaty 

Made from poblanos, these chiles have a moderate heat level and a brownish-black, wrinkled skin. Both mulatos and anchos come from poblanos, but anchos are made with ripe poblanos and mulatos are made with poblanos that have matured longer, and the two chiles have very different flavor profiles. Mulatos taste like licorice, chocolate, and prunes. They’re often used in mole poblano, a thick Mexican sauce, and a versatile mulato salsa that can be used on grilled meats or as a dip.

Pasilla

Scoville unit: 350 to 3,999 SHU
Color: Black
Flavor notes: Smoky, raisiny, earthy

Also known as chile negro, pasillas are the name of dried chilaca chiles.They’re named after raisins—pasas—because of their raisin-like texture and flavor. These chiles have a mild heat level and are long with a black, wrinkled surface. They’re most commonly soaked and blended for use in mole negro, where they contribute a dark color and sharp, earthy flavor.

Cascabel

Scoville unit: 1,500 to 2,500 SHU
Color: Brown
Flavor notes: Nutty, earthy

Cascabel is the name of dried bola chiles. These chiles look like large cherries with a smooth, reddish-brown skin. Their name comes from the Spanish word for rattle due to the sound the seeds make if you shake it. Cascabels have a mild heat level and a nutty flavor. They’re often used in raw salsas where they’re soaked and then puréed along with tomatoes or tomatillos.

Habanero

Scoville unit: 100,000 to 350,000 SHU
Color: Dark orange
Flavor notes: Citrusy, spicy

Known by the same name fresh or dried, these chiles are dark orange and brown with tough, shriveled skin. They have a very high heat level and a floral, citrusy flavor. Blending and rehydrating a small amount of dried habaneros is a great way to add intense heat to hot sauces and salsas rojas. They can also be toasted and crushed in a mortar and pestle or spice grinder to sprinkle over pasta, fried chicken, or eggs.

Chiltepin

Scoville unit: 50,000 to 100,000 SHU
Color: Bright red
Flavor notes: Earthy, spicy

Also known by the same name fresh or dried, chiltepins are considered the “mother of all chiles” because it is the pepper from which hundreds, if not thousands, of others originated. They look like red peppercorns, but don’t confuse them with oval-shaped chile pequins, which are not as spicy as chiltepins. Chiltepins have a high heat level and a smoky, earthy flavor. These chiles are often soaked and blended into salsas but can also be placed in a pepper grinder and ground fresh over a dish. They can be hard to find in some parts of the US, but they’re available online and worth seeking out.