Dried Chile

Wholesale Dried Chili Peppers & Powders

OliveNation sells a wide selection of dried chile pepper. We have dried hot chili peppers, whole dried chili peppers, and chile powders. Our online store is a fantastic way to buy top quality dried chiles for home or professional use. Whether you need hot red peppers, pepper flakes, or ground chile powder, we offer a wide selection of pepper varieties and forms to meet any cooking, brewing, or baking need. Home cooks and chefs love to use our dried peppers and chile powders for their recipes. OliveNation spicy chile peppers and powders are perfect for a variety of cuisines. Shop our selection of chile peppers for Chinese, Thai, Mexican, Southwestern, and Indian cooking.

Whole dried hot chili peppers are awesome for flavoring cooked and baked dishes. Try our New Mexico Chile Peppers for an earthy flavor, Whole Pequin Chiles for heat, or shop our other dried red peppers. You can also find a great selection of chile powders and flakes.

The heat profile of dried hot chili peppers varies by variety and is measured on the Scoville Scale. Ranging from mild to flaming hot, hot chili peppers are a must for many ethnic and regional cuisines. From simply sprinkling crushed red pepper flakes as a condiment to adding depth and heat to slow-cooked favorites like chili, stews, and barbecue, hot peppers are a classic flavoring ingredient.

Rehydrating Dried Chiles

We recommend using plastic gloves when handling dried chiles. Use whole chiles only, uniform in color and evenly dried. Throw away any that are broken, split, discolored or have light spots.

To prepare the dried chile, remove the stem by cutting the top off of each pepper. Then, cut down the side of the chile to split it open. Use your fingers or a spoon to scrape out any or dried veins. Discard the seeds, veins and stem.

Place the chiles on a medium/hot griddle or pan and roast them for 3-4 minutes. Turn often to prevent burning. Burnt chiles will need to be discarded as they will add the burnt flavor to any cooking.

After roasting the chiles, place them in a bowl and cover them with hot water. Soak 20-30 minutes depending on thickness, using a spoon to push under the water. You may save the soaking water, which should resemble diluted coffee, only if the flavor is not bitter. You may use the soaking water in place of any water in any recipe using peppers (of course), soups, stews, etc.

Once the peppers have been rehydrated, you can chop them up and add them as desired to dishes. Or, you may use a blender to puree into a paste. Please note a food processor may not process it as smoothly as a blender will. Add some liquid (water, soaking liquid, etc) to the chiles to blend them properly. Blend or puree the chiles and liquid into a paste and use as needed.

Did you know that toasting dried chiles actually increases their flavor? The best way to do this is in the oven. We like the oven method because pan roasting can sometimes scorch them with a resulting burnt flavor.

Getting the Full Flavor out of Dried Chiles

To oven-toast chiles, first clean the peppers with a moist paper towel. Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. Arrange the peppers in a single layer on a baking sheet. Leave them in the oven for about 7 minutes or until the peppers are slightly puffed. Cool the chiles, slice them in half and remove the seeds. You then have the option of cutting them into tiny pieces or grinding them in your spice grinder. Another choice is to rehydrate them and puree. Always remember to wear rubber gloves when handling chiles!

What are Scoville rating units?

The Scoville Scale (named after pharmacist Wilbur Scoville) is a measuring method to determine the spiciness of foods. The scale is based on a test called the Scoville organoleptic test that uses capsaicinoid sensitivity to determine heat/spice levels. The Scoville Unit is the base measurement of spicy heat attributed to a particular chile pepper according to its capsaicin count. Capsaicin is a chemical compound occurring naturally in chile peppers. It actually stimulates the nerve endings of the skin, primarily in your mucous membranes. The higher the Scoville rating, the hotter the pepper will taste. The range goes from a low end of 100 (pepperoncini peppers) to about 1,000,000 (bhut jolokia from Northern India) to up to 15,000,000 for pure capsaicin. Before buying chile peppers, it is wise to check the rating since it might be much higher than you or customers can comfortably tolerate. All OliveNation chile peppers will list the Scoville Rating on the product description for easy reference.