Food Hacks: Best Substitute for Chipotle (2024)

FAQs

What can I use as a substitute for chipotle? ›

Smoked Paprika has all the smoky flavor you crave, making it the best substitute for chipotle. Although it is a much milder spice than dried chipotle or even fresh jalapeños, mix in the desired amount of cayenne pepper to dial up the heat.

Ranchero sauce has a zesty, smoky, subtly spicy, and salty flavor but is milder than Adobo sauce's flavor profile. This substitute is best for recipes that don't need the bitter tang or sweetness of the Adobo sauce, such as dips and dressings.

Can you substitute chipotle paste for harissa? You could but I would cut it with something mild in flavor, like tomato puree, if you're using it as a condiment, rather than an ingredient. While both are spicy ingredients, they have different flavors, so don't expect the finished products to taste the same.

Cayenne pepper comes in robust flakes or a finely ground powder. Cayenne is a spicy chipotle powder substitute for any dish lacking heat. Because cayenne is spicier, use half the amount you would when substituting for chipotle powder.

The Takeaway

Chile powder is ground chile peppers without any additives. Chili powder is a blend of ground peppers, spices, or salt that is traditionally used to flavor chili. The recipe will tell you the kind of chile powder to use, like ancho chile powder or chipotle chile powder.

Chipotle peppers are dried smoked jalapeno peppers. They have an underlying sweetness with bitter and smoky notes. These chiles measure 2,500-10,000 Scoville Heat Units (SHU), so they deliver medium heat and smoky-sweet flavor.

A chipotle (/tʃɪˈpoʊtleɪ/, /tʃɪˈpɒtleɪ/, chi-POHT-lay, chi-POT-lay; Spanish: [tʃiˈpotle]), or chilpotle, is a smoke-dried ripe jalapeño chili pepper used for seasoning. It is a chili used primarily in Mexican and Mexican-inspired cuisines, such as Tex-Mex and Southwestern United States dishes.

A suitable substitute for adobo seasoning is a blend of common spices, such as garlic powder, onion powder, oregano, paprika, cumin, salt, and pepper. Alternatively, you can try using Cajun seasoning or mild curry powder to achieve a similar flavor profile.

The Best Chipotle Chillies in Adobo Sauce Substitutes

For recipes where there is already tomato replacing the chipotle with smoked paprika is often enough. Start with 1-2 teaspoons smoked paprika and add more as needed. If you want some heat as well, any fresh or dried chilli peppers can be added to taste.

What is the difference between adobo and chipotle? ›

The primary difference between the two, I discovered, is ingredients. Canned chipotles come packed in an adobo sauce—that's a rich sauce made with onions, garlic, spices, and vinegar. It adds a bit of acidity, a bit of sweetness, and a rich complexity to the chipotles.

Fresh jalapeño peppers

While fresh peppers cannot deliver the smoky flavor of a chipotle, they'll add great heat and fresh taste. Again, chipotles are made by smoking and dehydrating jalapeño peppers. Fresh jalapeño peppers. So, you can use fresh jalapeño pepper as a substitute for chipotles in a pinch.

As a replacement for sriracha? Just hear us out: Sriracha and chipotle sauces are made with jalapeños — chipotle peppers are just smoked — so you'll still get a comparative burst of peppery flavor. This also means that both sauces will land in the same neighborhood on the Scoville scale.

Chipotle paste is made from a purée of chipotle chillies – jalapeño chillies that have been smoked and dried. It usually includes ingredients such as onion, garlic, tomato purée, vinegar, spices, dried herbs and sugar.

While both sauces are made with jalapeno peppers, chipotle is made with smoked jalapeno peppers, which gives it a distinct smoky flavour, whereas sriracha is often made from fresh jalapeno peppers and has a slightly sweet, tangy flavour. It is also often a hotter sauce.

Chipotle seasoning is a blend of smoky and spicy seasonings, usually including chili powder, garlic powder, cumin, oregano, and more.

Chipotle powder has a smokiness to it and um, but it is much hotter than paprika. Smoked paprika and sweet paprika very kind of different have that red powder is to them, but they, it's more added as like that SMO ish kind of flavor has a bit of umami to it, where the Chipotle powder is typically added to be add heat.

Chipotle's motto of “food with integrity” was inspired by what founder Steve Ells learned about American food production. Ells became committed to serving food that was ethically and naturally produced, which Chipotle claims results in meat that is tastier than what other restaurants serve.