by Eating Healthy with Chili Peppers: This series will walk through the advantage of adding chili peppers to your meals to kick up the taste and the heat while keeping the calories down.
Prior Post: Eating Healthy with Chili Peppers
As mentioned in last week’s post, chili peppers are quite healthy and are a great way to add flavor to meals without piling on calories, fat, or sodium. They’re packed with vitamins and minerals, can speed up your metabolism—helping to increase the calories you burn—and they are delicious. And even if you’re not a fan of spicy food, you can still find them useful because there are plenty of mild chilis that add flavor without setting your mouth on fire.
I’ll run you through a selection of chilis that are readily available in most grocery stores these days, and I will start with the mildest pods and work up to the insane heat levels so you know which ones are right for you.
Mild
Sweet Peppers: These have become quite common lately and are usually sold in bags with a selection of red, orange, and yellow pods. They are very similar in taste to bell peppers, delivering a nice earthiness along with hints of fruit and sweetness. These have no heat at all and are certainly a tasty addition to many meals, cooked or raw.
Nadapeño: This is a breed of jalapeño that has most, if not all, of the heat removed, and they tend to substitute for the hotter version in many produce sections. They are very similar in taste to green bell peppers, bringing some earthiness and sweetness along with hints of berries. If they have any heat at all, it’s on the mild side, and these should be tolerable to all except those with no ability to handle spice.
New Mexico (Anaheim, Hatch, Pueblo): This group includes the long, mild green chilis. They have a bit more of a grassy taste than jalapeños or bell peppers and sometimes hints of berries. Some varieties can be on the hotter side, so be sure to check the labels, but in general, this is a milder chili pepper.
Poblano: Yet another common mild chili, poblanos have a richer taste than jalapeños or New Mexico varieties and a little bit of smokiness. They are often roasted because they tend to have a tougher skin and make a great addition to many dishes, whether fresh or cooked.
Medium
Jalapeño: This is the most commonly known chili pepper in the United States. The hotter version has basically the same flavor as the Nadapeño, just with more of a kick. The heat can vary significantly, from mild to hot, and typically, larger pods deliver less burn while smaller ones pack more heat.
Fresno: These are similar to jalapeños but are usually red in color and tend to have more sweetness. Fresnos lean toward the milder side, but they can get up to medium or even hot levels. You may see the red jalapeños in stores instead of these, and those have a similar taste and typically bring some decent, leaning to the Hot level.
Chipotle: These are dried and smoked jalapeños with plenty of earthy flavor and notable smokiness. They can actually be hotter than the fresh chili version because the smoking process intensifies the heat, but more often than not, they fall into the medium range.
Hot
Serrano: These little firecrackers have more of a berry taste than jalapeños and share some of the grassy, earthy notes. Typically these are right around the Hot level, but sometimes they have even more of a kick. Though I have been finding some of these in the stores lately that do not have as much heat. If you are looking for the hot ones, pick out the smaller pods as the larger ones are usually in the Jalapeño heat range.
Chile de Árbol: These are generally found in their dried form and certainly pack a punch. They offer a fair amount of earthiness, sometimes with notes of chocolate. There’s a hint of smokiness as well, though not as much as chipotle chilis. The heat typically ranges on the higher end of Hot and sometimes crosses into Fiery territory.
Fiery
Thai: These small green—and sometimes orange—chilis are becoming more common in stores and will definitely perk up any dish they’re added to. Like the serrano, they have a berry-like taste, and their heat can set your mouth on fire. But if used judiciously, these can bring a nice kick.
Habenero: Once considered the hottest chili in the world, habaneros have since been surpassed by various superhots. But don’t be fooled—the habanero still delivers serious heat. As a bonus, they have a very floral and fragrant flavor, offering a unique taste experience. When used correctly, these chilis deliver the perfect union of fire and flavor.
Insane
Ghost Pepper, Scorpion Pepper, Carolina Reaper: There’s not much point in getting into the fine details of these peppers, because the key takeaway is simple—they are hot. As in, melt-your-face-off hot! They do have an intense, peppery flavor, but you’ll only enjoy that for a second before the burn kicks in. These should be used very sparingly—if at all—unless you have a seriously high heat tolerance. Beginners should circle back to the mild chilis and start from there!
Up Next: Fresh, Dried, Pickled, Roasted, or Smoked? What’s the Best Way to Eat Chilis?
