What Should You Know About Chipotle Powder Substitute?
Concerning its definition, the chipotle powder is a spice with mild spicy as the prominent taste. Producers often thoroughly crush the smoked and dried jalapeno peppers to make the powder.
Due to its origins, people called it chipotle, another name of its main-only element. Besides, in chipotle, you might notice the jalapeno also appearing in other recipes that require a light spiciness, such as pizzas.
However, unlike fresh jalapeno, chipotle can be preserved for a long time. That has its roots in the particular smoking and drying method used to create the powder.
Because of the unique producing process, chipotle powder’s taste combines a mild spiciness and a faintly smoking smell.
More than that, suppose you have time to make chipotle powder by yourself; you can add extra seasonings to it.
For instance, my kids love eating dishes with a bit of sweetness. Since then, I often add a little sugar to the powder and other made-at-home pieces of food to go up to my children’s appetite.
Of course, you can pick up other seasonings to bring into your powder, such as salt, vinegar, and others.
Remember that chipotle pepper is indispensable in this recipe to make the primary spicy flavor.
The Best Chipotle Powder Substitute
Despite the widespread usage of chipotle powder, you might lack the ingredient in your pantry from time to time. Then, please take a look at its eight best substitutes to complete your meal without changing the flavor.
They include chili powder, adobo seasoning, guajillo powder, crushed red pepper, ancho powder, and smoked paprika.
1. Chili Powder
The first ingredient you can think about to replace the chipotle powder is chili powder. It is a pretty common spice found in most supermarkets or local grocery stores.
More than that, chili powder offers a unique taste, a combination of many spices and herbs. The most usual ingredients to create the chili powder include cumin, garlic powder, onion powder, dried chiles, cayenne pepper, paprika, oregano, etc.
Although the chili powder is produced with different elements than the chipotle one, they both have a similar mild spicy taste.
Primarily, you can use the product from chili to go up the heat in most Latin American dishes like enchiladas, tacos, and others.
If you want to ultimately go up the spicy flavor and make the most mouthwatering food, adding extra spices would help.
2. Adobo Seasoning
The next option I suggest to replace the taste of chipotle powders is the adobo seasoning.
In the past, Adobo used to be served as a marinating ingredient in cooking food. That might be the main reason why people call it Adobo, meaning “to marinate” in the Spanish language.
However, nowadays, people rarely utilize the Adobo to marinate meals anymore. Instead, they take advantage of it as a condiment.
The seasoning often includes various ingredients such as oregano leaves, black pepper, turmeric, and garlic. Besides, it might contain cilantro, lemons, onions, or others based on different regions and food cultures.
The adobo seasoning has a unique spicy taste that even can make your eyes sweat when having close contact with it.
A typical example that includes the ingredient is the Mexican meatballs. Chefs make the small lip-smacking balls by perfectly combining ground pork and the marinara sauce in the short-time simmering process.
When it comes to the adobo seasoning’s form, it offers the wet and dry one. Given that you want to keep it longer, using the dry form is my suggestion.
3. Guajillo Powder
Suppose you are a big fan of Mexican dishes; you might be too familiar with the Guajillo powder. It is a common spicy ingredient heavily used in Mexican cuisine.
Plus, it can substitute the chipotle powder pretty well due to their similar taste.
For more details, the Guajillo is a kind of dried chili pepper. People make the peppers by heating the chile mirasol peppers. You can see that mirasol chile is grown in many areas in Mexico.
Concerning its taste, the Guajillo powder is a perfect combination between light sweetness and mild spiciness. That might be the main reason leading to a distinctive, albeit popular, feature of the Mexican powder.
4. Crushed Red Pepper
As its name indicated, crushed red pepper is a spicy ingredient made from crushing and grinding many types of red peppers.
Among them, the cayenne pepper is indispensable. Besides, you might realize other condiments mixed in the crushed red pepper such as bell pepper, serrano, jalapeno, etc.
In my experience, if you want a perfect type of crushed red pepper that satisfies all of your family members, do it by yourself at home.
That means you can adjust the degree of spiciness in the pepper. More than that, adding any chili pepper you want into the mixture is possible.
For it contains numerous chili types, it also offers many distinctive colors. Besides, its spiciness can range from mild to medium, based on the amount of chili you are putting into.
5. Ancho Powder
When thinking about the Ancho powder, some of you might associate it with the new version, also called poblano pepper.
However, different from the poblano, Ancho powder has a longer lifetime.
They have a hue that can change from black to dark red-brown based on the drying period and method.
What’s more, the Ancho powder offers a memorable taste like raisins. Before being ground, the poblano peppers own a pretty big size, similar to the bell peppers.
When substituting the Ancho powder for the chipotle one, I recommend using it for Mexican dishes. Furthermore, it can also be utilized in noodles and soups as a sprinkling ingredient.
6. Smoked Paprika
Last is the smoked paprika, a well-known condiment in Spanish meals. Cause the smoked paprika also offers a mildly spicy taste, it can replace the chipotle powder.
Regarding producing the smoked paprika, makers dry and smoke pimiento peppers before grinding them thoroughly into powder.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I Replace Chipotle Paste For Chipotle Powder?
While both are from chipotle, they have different forms, one is pasted, and one is powder. Since then, in some recipes, the chipotle paste might change the texture of your dishes. However, you can convert from those two ingredients to complete your meal in many cases.
How Does The Chipotle Taste?
As I have just mentioned, the chipotle is mainly made by drying and smoking jalapeno peppers. Hence, besides the spiciness, its unique flavor is the smokiness. Suppose you take a deeper insight into the ingredient; you might find it a little sweet as well.
If you want to gain the sweet flavor, wait until the chilies have a deep red hue before picking them down from the vine.
Conclusion
You can pick up one of the ingredients above to have the best chipotle powder substitute.
In my opinion, suppose you want to find a common alternative, use the chili powders. They also offer a similar taste to the chipotle ones. Besides, the smoked paprika is excellent to consider. You can notice it has an especially smoking flavor as the chipotle. Plus, you can easily make them at home to ultimately serve your demands.
Leave a Reply