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05/05/2026
Cinco de Mayo is one of the best reasons to finally learn the language of Mexican peppers. Mexico is home to at least 64 endemic chilli varieties, yet outside the country, most people know only three or four by name. Find out what makes Mexican chilli peppers, both fresh and dried, so unique. You’ll find them ranked by heat, flavour, and the dishes they are used in.
Cinco de Mayo is celebrated each year on May 5 in honour of Mexico's unexpected military victory over Napoleon III's French forces at the Battle of Puebla in 1862. It is one of the most widely observed Mexican cultural celebrations outside Mexico. At the centre of Puebla's culinary identity, the very state whose soldiers secured that famous victory, is the pepper.
The poblano chile takes its name directly from Puebla (poblano translates to 'of Puebla'). Mole Poblano, the rich, dark sauce made with multiple dried chiles and bitter chocolate that is considered Mexico's national dish, was born in Puebla's convent kitchens. The Cinco de Mayo table, at its most authentic, is a table built on peppers.
From the mild and earthy poblano to the hot, fruity habanero, understanding Mexican peppers is the first step to understanding Mexican cuisine. This guide covers 12 of the most important Mexican peppers used in local cooking, and their ranking on the Scoville scale (spice scale for peppers), how it is usually prepared (raw, roasted, dried, smoked), and the dishes in which it features most prominently.
The Scoville Scale measures how hot a pepper is, namely detecting the concentration of the capsaicin in the chilli peppers, which determines how spicy it would be. The more the concentration of capsaicin, the hotter the pepper. Originally, the test involved diluting a pepper extract in sugar water until trained tasters could no longer feel the heat. The more dilution required, the higher the Scoville Heat Units (SHU).
This Cinco de Mayo, keep yourself abreast with peppers and their hotness levels.
Heat Category |
SHU Range |
Examples |
Mild |
0 to 2,000 |
Bell pepper, Poblano |
Medium |
2,500 to 8,000 |
Jalapeño, Chipotle |
Hot |
10,000 to 50,000 |
Serrano, Chile de Árbol |
Very Hot |
50,000 to 100,000 |
Chile Pequin, Chiltepin |
Extremely Hot |
More than 100,000 |
Habanero |
Superhot |
More than 1,000,000 |
Ghost Pepper, Carolina Reaper, Pepper X |
Globally, the whole peppers below are quite famous, be it the sour and spicy jalapeño or serrano peppers. All of them are used as a puree or chopped into salads, hot chocolates and more.
Jalapeño is a medium-sized, bright green chilli with a mild spiciness. Much of its spice sits in the seeds and white ribs, which are frequently removed to avoid skin irritation. Jalapeños are picked green but ripen to red on the plant, at which point they carry more heat. They are used raw in salsas and guacamole, pickled as a condiment, stuffed and baked, and muddled into cocktails. When a ripe red jalapeño is smoked and dried, it becomes a chipotle.
Used in: Salsas, guacamole, pico de gallo, stuffed jalapeño poppers, tomatillo salsa, and as the base for chipotle.
The serrano takes its name from the mountain ranges, the sierras of Hidalgo and Puebla, where it originally grew. Smaller and significantly hotter than the jalapeño, it has a spiciness that takes a while to catch up, which can catch first-time eaters off guard. Unlike most chillies, serrano peppers do not dry well and are used fresh.
Used in: Pico de gallo, fresh salsas, salsa verde, chilli, soups, scrambled eggs and pickled taco fillings.
The poblano is the mildest of the fresh Mexican peppers and among the most beloved. Large, dark green, and shaped somewhat like a heart, it has thick walls that make it ideal for stuffing. Mexicans typically roast and peel the poblano before use to remove its waxy skin. Its earthy, slightly smoky flavour builds the base of many sauces. Poblanos are also notably rich in vitamins A and C, both of which act as antioxidants in the body.
Used in: Chiles Rellenos, Rajas con Crema, Chiles en Nogada, mole sauces, queso fundido.
Despite its dreaded heat, the habanero pepper carries a pronounced fruity, floral character, with notes of citrus and fresh grass, when raw. It is small and lantern-shaped, and ripens into green, yellow, orange, and red colours. The habanero is the defining pepper of Yucatecan cuisine. Its heat level is more than 30 times that of a jalapeño. Handling habaneros requires nitrile gloves; capsaicin oils linger on skin and do not wash off easily.
Used in: Cochinita pibil, Yucatecan salsas, hot sauces, fruit-based sauces.
When a fresh pepper is dried, its water content drops, which concentrates existing flavours and develops entirely new ones. A fresh poblano tastes mild and earthy; its dried form, the ancho pepper, develops notes of raisins, dried fruit, and mild chocolate.
A fresh red jalapeño carries a vegetal taste and its trademark spiciness; once smoked and dried into a chipotle, it delivers an incomparable smokiness with a subtle tobacco-like flavour. Substituting dried peppers directly for fresh, or vice versa, without adjustment, will change the dish entirely. Dried peppers are typically toasted, then rehydrated in warm water before use.
There are some Mexican peppers which are exclusively dried for sauces and amrinades, and some like the jalapeño, which is dried into a dry form of pepper.
The ancho is the dried form of the ripe, red poblano pepper and the most widely used dried chilli in Mexico. Large, triangular, and with a deep reddish-brown, it has a mild heat with a complex flavour profile which is a mix of sweet, slightly smoky, with distinct notes of raisin and mild chocolate. Ancho chile is one of the three peppers that make up the ‘holy trinity’ of Mexican mole, alongside guajillo and pasilla.
Used in: Mole Poblano, enchilada sauce, adobo, Carne de Puerco en chile negro, tamale filling.
The guajillo is the dried form of the mirasol pepper, named mirasol (looking at the sun) because the fresh chilli grows pointing upward on the plant. Dried, it is thin-skinned, a deep brick-red, and has a mild-to-medium heat with a sweet, fruity, and slightly tangy flavour. Guajillo is the second member of the mole holy trinity. It is tangy and balances out complex sauces, particularly where chocolate is involved.
Used in: Mole, adobo sauces, tacos al pastor, chorizo, marinades, and enchilada sauce.
Pasilla means ‘little raisin’ in Spanish, a reference to the dark, wrinkled appearance of this dried chilli pepper. It is the dried form of the chilaca pepper – long, narrow, and near-black brown when mature. The third member of the mole holy trinity, pasilla, has an earthy, woodsy flavour with subtle notes of dried fruit and chocolate. It is mild enough that it often goes unlabelled in spice aisles, where it is frequently mislabelled as ancho.
Used in: Mole negro, enchiladas, salsas, soups, tamale sauces.
The chipotle is not a distinct pepper species but an offshoot of a ripe red jalapeño that has been smoked and dried. The smoking is done over pecan or mesquite wood for several days, which reduces the moisture content from roughly 88% to 6% and develops a flavour profile entirely unlike the original fresh chilli; smoky, earthy, slightly sweet, with notes of tobacco and dried fruit.
Used in: Adobo sauce, marinades, braised meats, beans, soups, stews, chipotle mayonnaise, chilaquiles.
Cinco de Mayo is the perfect occasion to move beyond the familiar green chillies and Kashmiri red chillies used in Indian cooking and venture into a cuisine that shares similarities with it. Mexican cuisine is layered and complex, and tends to be spicy thanks to the numerous chilli peppers growing in abundance. Understanding them will make you better equipped to transform even simple recipes into something authentic and memorable.
Traditional Cinco de Mayo foods include mole poblano, tamales, tacos, pozole, and chiles en nogada, reflecting Puebla’s cuisine and festive dishes tied to Mexican culture.
