Mild
Mexican
A spicy-food cooking ecosystem
Cook with fire. Plan with flavor.
Interactive tools for chili lovers — heat calculators, flavor pairings, sauce builders, and a global pepper database.
- 500+ tested recipes
- 120 chili peppers cataloged
- 40k+ home cooks
Where do you want to start?
Pick a vibe — we'll personalize the rest of the page.
What spicy-food style fits your kitchen?
8 quick questions. Result locked until you finish.
Question 1 of 8
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Takes ~60 seconds. We never email you.
Your spice style
Heat Level Calculator
Estimate the perceived heat of your dish and get balancing-ingredient suggestions.
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Perceived heat
0/10
Heat perception varies by person. Capsaicin sensitivity, prep, and dish composition all shift the experience. Always taste as you go.
Flavor Pairing Generator
Pick a pepper. Pick a cuisine. Get a flavor-first pairing map.
Pick your variables and tap "Generate pairing."
Build Your Own Hot Sauce
Inspiration-only planner. Always follow tested food-safety practices for canning and fermentation.
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Pick your style — we'll suggest a category, a flavor profile and the next steps.
Food-safety note. This planner provides flavor inspiration only. For shelf-stable bottling, fermentation, and canning, follow tested guidance (e.g. USDA / NCHFP). Refrigerate fresh sauces and use within 2–4 weeks unless you have followed a tested pH-and-process recipe.
Recipe Database
Filter by heat, cuisine, prep time, fermentation, protein and more.
Hot
Cajun
Cajun Blackened Catfish
Hot
Indian
Goan Vindaloo Curry
Medium
Mexican
Fresh Pico de Gallo (Salsa Fresca)
Medium
Korean
Gochujang Salmon Rice Bowl
Medium
Mexican
Spicy Lime Shrimp Skewers
Hot
Caribbean
Caribbean Jerk Tofu
Hot
American
Fermented Pepper Mash Hot Sauce
Mild
American
Hot Honey Pepperoni Pizza
Hot
Thai
Thai Bird Chili Larb (Larb Gai)
Medium
Mexican
Smoky Chipotle Black Beans
Very Hot
Korean
Korean Buldak Fire Chicken
Global Spice Map
Explore eight fiery cuisines — from Sichuan to Caribbean jerk.
🌽 Mexico heat
Smoky, earthy, layered
- Signature peppers
- Chipotle, poblano, serrano, ancho
- Signature dishes
- Salsa, mole, chiles rellenos
🥢 Sichuan heat
Numbing málà, tingly heat
- Signature peppers
- Facing-heaven, dried Tianjin
- Signature dishes
- Mapo tofu, chili crisp, dan dan
🍲 Korea heat
Fermented, sweet-spicy
- Signature peppers
- Gochugaru, gochujang, cheongyang
- Signature dishes
- Buldak, tteokbokki, kimchi jjigae
🍛 India heat
Layered masalas, deep heat
- Signature peppers
- Kashmiri, byadgi, bhut jolokia
- Signature dishes
- Vindaloo, naga curry, jhalfrezi
🥭 Caribbean heat
Fruity, allspice-led
- Signature peppers
- Scotch bonnet, habanero
- Signature dishes
- Jerk, pepper sauce, escovitch
🌿 Thailand heat
Bright, herbaceous, sharp
- Signature peppers
- Thai bird, prik kee noo
- Signature dishes
- Nam prik, larb, green curry
🍗 Nashville heat
Lacquered, oily, fiery
- Signature peppers
- Cayenne blend
- Signature dishes
- Hot chicken
🦐 Cajun heat
Trinity-based, warming
- Signature peppers
- Cayenne, tabasco
- Signature dishes
- Étouffée, gumbo, blackened
Weekly Spicy Meal Planner
Drag recipes into 7 days. Generate a shopping list. Save locally.
Recipe pool
- Caribbean Jerk Tofu
- Korean Buldak Fire Chicken
- Smoky Chipotle Black Beans
- Thai Bird Chili Larb (Larb Gai)
- Mango Habanero Hot Sauce
- Mild Poblano Cream Pasta
- Fresh Pico de Gallo (Salsa Fresca)
- Hot Honey Pepperoni Pizza
- Cajun Blackened Catfish
- Sichuan Chili Crisp Noodles
- Gochujang Salmon Rice Bowl
- Fermented Pepper Mash Hot Sauce
- Garlic Jalapeño Hot Honey
- Goan Vindaloo Curry
- Spicy Lime Shrimp Skewers
Mon
Tue
Wed
Thu
Fri
Sat
Sun
Chili Pepper Encyclopedia
Scoville ranges, flavor profiles, cuisine uses and substitution ideas.
Carolina Reaper
10/10- SHU
- 1400000 – 2200000
- Flavor
- Sweet, fruity, scorching, lingering
- Uses
- Challenge sauces — use 1/10 of normal amounts
- Subs
- Ghost pepper, Trinidad Scorpion
Ghost Pepper (Bhut Jolokia)
10/10- SHU
- 855000 – 1041427
- Flavor
- Smoky, fruity, lingering, searing
- Uses
- Extreme sauces, naga curry, dry rubs
- Subs
- Habanero + 7 Pot for less heat, more flavor
Scotch Bonnet
8/10- SHU
- 100000 – 350000
- Flavor
- Sweet, fruity, Caribbean
- Uses
- Jerk marinade, pepper sauce, escovitch
- Subs
- Habanero (nearly identical)
Habanero
8/10- SHU
- 100000 – 350000
- Flavor
- Fruity, tropical, citrusy
- Uses
- Mango habanero sauce, jerk, salsas
- Subs
- Scotch bonnet, Fatalii (close cousins)
Thai Bird (prik kee noo)
6/10- SHU
- 50000 – 100000
- Flavor
- Floral, bright, piercing
- Uses
- Thai curries, larb, nam prik
- Subs
- Serrano + cayenne, Scotch bonnet (different flavor)
Cayenne
6/10- SHU
- 30000 – 50000
- Flavor
- Sharp, clean heat
- Uses
- Hot sauce, dry rubs, Cajun blackening
- Subs
- Aleppo (milder), Thai bird (hotter)
Chipotle
4/10- SHU
- 2500 – 8000
- Flavor
- Smoky, leathery, sweet-tobacco
- Uses
- Adobo, BBQ rubs, smoky beans
- Subs
- Smoked paprika + jalapeño
Poblano
2/10- SHU
- 1000 – 2000
- Flavor
- Earthy, mild, slightly sweet
- Uses
- Chiles rellenos, mole, roasted pepper cream
- Subs
- Anaheim (milder), bell + pinch cayenne
Serrano
4/10- SHU
- 10000 – 25000
- Flavor
- Bright, crisp, citrusy
- Uses
- Pico de gallo, salsa verde, ceviche
- Subs
- Jalapeño (milder), Thai bird (hotter)
Jalapeño
4/10- SHU
- 2500 – 8000
- Flavor
- Bright, grassy, mildly sweet
- Uses
- Salsa, poppers, escabeche, hot honey
- Subs
- Serrano (hotter), Fresno (milder)
Recipe Comparison Engine
Compare up to 4 recipes side-by-side on heat, time, sweetness, fermentation, difficulty and method.
Tap ⇄ Compare on any recipe card above to add it here. Up to four at a time.
Continue Your Spice Journey
Peppers tried, sauces saved, recipes finished — all stored locally on your device.
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- Plan a sauce in the Hot Sauce Creator — it lands here.
Trending Spicy Recipes
What home cooks are firing up this week.
Mild
Mexican
Mild Poblano Cream Pasta
Hot
Sichuan
Sichuan Chili Crisp Noodles
Medium
American Southern
Garlic Jalapeño Hot Honey
Very Hot
Korean
Korean Buldak Fire Chicken
Medium
Mexican
Smoky Chipotle Black Beans
Hot
Thai
Thai Bird Chili Larb (Larb Gai)
Mild
American
Hot Honey Pepperoni Pizza
Hot
American
Fermented Pepper Mash Hot Sauce
New to Spicy Cooking?
Start with these mild-but-mighty recipes and a few core kitchen tools.
1
Start with mild peppers
Jalapeño and poblano give you flavor depth without alarming heat. Save Carolina Reaper for month six.
2
Learn to balance, not just burn
Fat, acid, sweetness and bulk all cool down a dish. Chili-flavor first, heat second.
3
Pick three core tools
A cast-iron pan, a microplane and a quality spice grinder cover 80% of spicy cooking.
Spicy Cooking, Answered
Honest answers — including the food-safety ones.
How do I balance a dish that's too spicy?
Add fat (dairy, coconut, avocado), acid (lime, vinegar), sweetness (honey, sugar), or bulk (rice, beans, more vegetables). Heat perception is personal — taste as you go.
Is fermenting hot sauce safe at home?
Yes, when you follow tested guidance from sources like the USDA / NCHFP. Use the right salt brine, sanitize equipment, and never improvise canning instructions for shelf-stable jars.
What's the best beginner chili pepper?
Jalapeño. Predictable mild-to-medium heat, broadly available, and works in almost every cuisine.
Why does fat (dairy, coconut) cool heat?
Capsaicin is fat-soluble. Fat physically washes it off your taste receptors. Water doesn't — it just moves the heat around.
How do I store homemade hot sauce safely?
Refrigerate fresh, non-fermented sauces and use within 2–4 weeks. For shelf-stable bottling follow tested pH-and-process guidance — do not guess.
What does "swicy" mean?
Sweet + spicy. Think hot honey on pizza, mango habanero, chili-crisp on ice cream. A dominant flavor trend across modern menus.
How we test, taste & write
Every recipe is kitchen-tested, every product is hands-on reviewed, every claim is sourced.
Recipe testing methodology
4-stage testing: prototype → heat calibration → balance → clean re-test.
Editorial standards
Every recipe is cooked twice. Every product is hands-on tested. Every claim is sourced.
Affiliate disclosure
How we earn, what we recommend, and how that funds testing.
Food-safety notes
Fermentation, canning and pH guidance — what to trust and what to skip.