What does pasilla chili powder taste like?

It has a deep, earthy flavor with notes of raisins, dried fruit, and cocoa. The heat is medium, and the overall profile is subtly sweet and smoky rather than sharp or bright.

How hot is this chili powder compared to cayenne or jalapeño?

Pasilla chili is milder than cayenne but warmer than most jalapeño powders. It sits in the medium heat range, adding warmth without dominating the dish.

Can I use this in place of regular chili powder in recipes?

Yes, though you should know that many commercial chili powders are blends that include cumin and garlic. This is pure ground chilaca pepper, so you may want to add other spices separately if your recipe expects a blend.

What's the difference between pasilla and other Mexican chili powders?

Pasilla comes from the chilaca pepper and has a darker, fruitier flavor than ancho or guajillo. It's less sweet than ancho and less tangy than guajillo, with more pronounced cocoa and raisin notes.

Does this need to be toasted before using?

No, the powder is ready to use as-is. The peppers were sun-dried before milling, so they already have concentrated flavor. You can toast it briefly in a dry pan if you want to intensify the smokiness, but it's not necessary.

Pasilla Chili Powder

The 3-second version

Milled from chilaca peppers grown from saved heirloom seeds
Sun-dried using slow traditional methods for concentrated flavor
Raisiny sweetness with cocoa and dried fruit undertones
Medium heat level, not mild
Flavor profile is earthy and dark, not bright

Why it's on GiftsFeed

Sun-Dried Heirloom Chili Powder from Indigenous Mexican Chilaca Peppers

Most supermarket chili powder is a blend of dried chiles, cumin, garlic, and whatever else the factory uses to stretch volume. This is a single-variety pepper grown from saved seeds, sun-dried, and milled—nothing else. That means you get the actual taste of the chilaca pepper, which is fruitier and more layered than the generic burn of mass-market powder. It's for people who want to control what goes into a dish rather than accepting someone else's spice-cabinet shortcut.

Good gift when

Cooks who want nuanced chile flavor beyond generic heat
Anyone building depth in braises, stews, or slow-cooked dishes
People looking for traditional ingredients with traceable sourcing
Home cooks ready to move past supermarket chili powder

Skip it if If you need very mild seasoning or prefer chili powder with no perceptible heat, this will still register as a chile even at medium intensity.

Specs

Pepper Variety: Chilaca
Origin: Mexico
Drying Method: Sun-dried
Heat Level: Medium
Certifications: Kosher

What's included

Pasilla chili powder

If you're giving it

No sizing to guess

Small jars ship well and suit cooks who care about ingredient sourcing.

The details

This chili powder is milled from chilaca peppers that have been grown and sun-dried in Mexico using traditional methods. The peppers come from heirloom seeds, and the slow drying process concentrates their flavor into something that tastes of dried fruit and cocoa alongside the expected chile warmth.

The heat level sits in the medium range, making this approachable for most dishes where you want complexity without overwhelming spice. The flavor profile leans toward dark, earthy sweetness rather than sharp heat, with a subtle smokiness that builds as it cooks.

Use it anywhere you want layered chile flavor: stews, braises, rubs for roasted meat, or stirred into cheese sauce for pasta. It works well in both Mexican-style cooking and in dishes where you want a warm, fruity depth that doesn't announce itself as specifically "chili powder." The powder is kitchen-ready and fine enough to incorporate directly into sauces, marinades, or dry rubs without additional prep.

Because the peppers are cultivated from saved seeds by a small-scale farmer, this carries the flavor of a specific place and method rather than the generic heat of industrial chili powder. The sun-drying and traditional growing practices preserve nuances that get lost in faster, hotter commercial processing.

Burlap & Barrel

Pasilla Chili Powder

Cultivated from saved seeds and slow-dried for raisiny depth and cocoa undertones

$9.99at burlapandbarrel.com

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Ships and sold by Burlap & Barrel. About this merchant

The 3-second version

Milled from chilaca peppers grown from saved heirloom seeds
Sun-dried using slow traditional methods for concentrated flavor
Raisiny sweetness with cocoa and dried fruit undertones
Medium heat level, not mild
Flavor profile is earthy and dark, not bright

Questions

What does pasilla chili powder taste like?: It has a deep, earthy flavor with notes of raisins, dried fruit, and cocoa. The heat is medium, and the overall profile is subtly sweet and smoky rather than sharp or bright.
How hot is this chili powder compared to cayenne or jalapeño?: Pasilla chili is milder than cayenne but warmer than most jalapeño powders. It sits in the medium heat range, adding warmth without dominating the dish.
Can I use this in place of regular chili powder in recipes?: Yes, though you should know that many commercial chili powders are blends that include cumin and garlic. This is pure ground chilaca pepper, so you may want to add other spices separately if your recipe expects a blend.
What's the difference between pasilla and other Mexican chili powders?: Pasilla comes from the chilaca pepper and has a darker, fruitier flavor than ancho or guajillo. It's less sweet than ancho and less tangy than guajillo, with more pronounced cocoa and raisin notes.
Does this need to be toasted before using?: No, the powder is ready to use as-is. The peppers were sun-dried before milling, so they already have concentrated flavor. You can toast it briefly in a dry pan if you want to intensify the smokiness, but it's not necessary.