Chipotle Powder Substitutes, Ranked by the Job Chipotle Is Doing

Need smoke? Grab smoked paprika. Need heat? Cayenne. Chipotle powder does both at once, and few substitutes manage that, so pick based on which one your recipe leans on. A chipotle is a ripe jalapeño dried over wood smoke, with good paprika aroma, significant heat and intense smoke flavor. Smoked paprika with a pinch of cayenne gets you closest to all of that. One thing to know before you measure: published heat figures for chipotle itself differ several-fold, so taste as you go.

Quick answer

How the ratios on this page are labeled

Every ratio carries one of four labels.

• Computed: based on a measurable physical relationship.
• Attributed: a named source publishes this ratio. We quote it as theirs.
• Disputed: named sources give different answers to the same swap. You get each one, side by side.
• Method: our starting point, based on how the two compare. Taste and adjust.

Most of the published ratios we found come from one bylined listicle in Mashed, with a few from PepperScale. Neither says how it got its figures, so treat them as rules of thumb. And since chipotle’s own heat is so poorly pinned down (more on that below), no ratio can promise to match your particular jar.

How hot is chipotle, and how hot are the swaps?

These figures come from different kinds of sources and describe different things, so they sit side by side here and don’t get combined.

How to read this:

• The two chipotle figures differ several-fold, and The Spice House’s is for its own morita powder. Vann says most chipotles sold in the US are moritas,¹ but neither source gives its samples or method, so there’s no settling one against the other.
• The 2,500–8,000 range is PepperScale’s. It gives chipotle the same overall range as fresh jalapeño and says chipotle tends toward the top of it,³ but cites no measurement. It runs lower than both other figures. All three stay side by side, unreconciled.
• The jalapeño study shows why single figures mislead. Heat varied widely even among peppers from one supplier.⁴

If chipotle is there for smoke

This is the job most recipes count on. In barbecue sauces, rubs, beans and chili, chipotle brings smoke that nothing else in the dish does.

1. Smoked paprika

Smoked paprika is the closest match for the smoke, since it’s made the same basic way: ripe red peppers dried over a wood fire. Spain’s Pimentón de la Vera is dried over holm oak or oak, while chipotles are commonly smoked over pecan or hickory. So the woods differ, and so do the peppers. Smoked paprika starts from mild paprika types. The La Vera specification describes a smoky, intense and penetrating flavor and aroma, with the sweet type completely sweet and only the hot type showing “pronounced heat on the palate”.¹⁰

Ratio (Attributed): Mashed says to use a teaspoon of smoked paprika for each teaspoon of chipotle powder.¹¹ PepperScale also calls it an excellent one-to-one alternative: you lose some heat but keep a similar smokiness.¹² Use the hot (picante) type if you can find it.

2. Smoked paprika plus cayenne, for smoke and heat

Even hot paprika sits below 900 Scoville units by the international standard’s definition,⁹ which is lower than either published chipotle figure. Cayenne puts some of the heat back.

Ratio (Method): Start with the same amount of smoked paprika as chipotle, then add cayenne a pinch at a time, tasting as you go. Cayenne is much hotter than chipotle by every figure above, so a little goes a long way.

3. Pasilla de Oaxaca

Pasilla de Oaxaca is a chile that’s dried and smoked, unlike ordinary pasilla. It’s harder to find than chipotle, but it is a smoked Mexican chile.

Ratio (Method): Start with an equal amount and taste.

If chipotle is there for heat

When chipotle is one spice among several and the smoke isn’t the point, any hot ground chile will do.

Cayenne

Cayenne brings heat with little smoke or sweetness.

Ratio (Attributed): Mashed says to use half a tablespoon of cayenne for each tablespoon of chipotle powder.¹¹ Going by the heat figures above, even that may be hotter than your chipotle, so start lower if you’re unsure. PepperScale gives no ratio. It says cayenne brings a lot more heat than chipotle and none of its smoke, and recommends it only if you want more heat; otherwise it prefers smoked paprika.¹²

Crushed red pepper

McCormick Science Institute says crushed red pepper flakes typically use the cayenne variety, alone or blended.¹³

Ratio (Attributed): Mashed says to use a teaspoon of crushed red pepper per teaspoon of chipotle powder.¹¹ Grind the flakes if you want the heat spread evenly.

If chipotle is chile body in a sauce

Ancho powder

Ancho is a dried poblano: mild, sweet and smoky with hints of dried fruit. Katzer writes that mole-type sauces commonly pair mild, aromatic chiles like ancho with more pungent ones like smoky chipotle,¹⁴ so ancho gives you the body but not the heat.

Ratio (Attributed): Mashed says to use about a tablespoon and a half of ancho powder for each tablespoon of chipotle powder.¹¹

Pasilla powder

Pasilla is another mild Mexican chile. It’s darker and has no smoke.

Ratio (Attributed): Mashed says to use a tablespoon of pasilla powder per tablespoon of chipotle powder.¹¹

If chipotle is seasoning in chili or taco meat

Chili powder

American chili powder blends ground chili pepper with cumin, oregano, salt and garlic powder, and the chile is usually ancho. You get those flavors, little smoke, and less heat than chipotle going by the figures above.

Ratio (Disputed):

PepperScale adds that chili powder has very little in common with chipotle: no smoke, plus fillers like cumin, onion powder and salt.¹² Starting point: begin at half, taste, and go up to an equal amount. Ease off on the recipe’s own cumin, oregano and salt.

If you have chipotles in a can

Chipotles en adobo are whole chipotles stewed in a thin, well-seasoned tomato sauce. They bring moisture and the sauce’s seasoning along with the chile.

Ratio (Disputed): Mashed’s rule of thumb is about one chipotle pepper for each teaspoon of chipotle powder, or a tablespoon of adobo sauce in place of a tablespoon of powder.¹¹ PepperScale says to start with about half the amount of powder called for, whether you’re using chipotles in adobo, chipotle paste or chipotle hot sauce, then add to taste. It also points out that adobo is tomato-based with its own spices.¹² Starting point: begin with half a tablespoon of adobo sauce per tablespoon of powder and work up.

Other options

About liquid smoke: Vann reports that some chipotle producers already spray chiles with liquid smoke in gas driers instead of smoking them over wood,¹ so some chipotle powders may taste of it anyway.

What isn’t known

• How hot chipotle powder is. The three named figures differ several-fold, and none gives a method.
• Whether a given chipotle powder was smoked over wood or treated with liquid smoke. Vann reports that both happen;¹ none of the sources we checked says how to tell them apart in the jar.

Related

• Chipotle powder and jalapeño powder, the unsmoked version
• Smoked paprika and smoked paprika substitutes, paprika
• Ancho powder and ancho substitutes, pasilla powder, guajillo powder
• Cayenne pepper and cayenne substitutes, red pepper flakes, gochugaru
• Chili powder, adobo seasoning, BBQ spices, best spices for chili