What Can You Substitute For Chili Powder?

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If you’re looking for a substitute for chili powder, this easy recipe is perfect for you. Using common ingredients already in your pantry, you can make chili without chili powder and still get that delicious, spicy flavor. 

If you love to eat a lot of chili, you may end up with a shortage of chili powder, which means you have to be creative about seasoning.

This article helps you make a perfect substitute for chili powder in your kitchen. Read on to get started!

What’s Chili Powder?

Chili powder is made from ground chilies, which is not surprising. Sometimes, a particular chili is used to make chili powder. You might have used chipotle chili powder for Mexican dishes or peri-peri chili powder for seasoning chicken.

Generic chili powder is usually made from red chilies because they are hotter than their green counterparts.

Other spices that can be added to ground chilis include cumin, onion powder, and garlic powder. Cayenne pepper is used in hotter chili powders.

Each blend is unique, so the heat level of chili powder will vary from one recipe to another. Chili powder can be purchased in mild, medium, and hot varieties. However, homemade chili powder offers a wider range of options.

Making Your Own

Homemade chili pepper is a great substitute for empty jars from the store.

This recipe is easy and you will likely already have all the ingredients in your spice cupboard. Making your chili pepper has another benefit: you can make it as hot or mild as you like.

This is the base recipe:

• 2 tablespoons paprika (if you are out check out article on substitute for paprika)
• 1/2 teaspoon cumin
• 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1 teaspoon onion powder
• 1 teaspoon oregano
• 3/4 teaspoons cayenne powder

Combine them all in a bowl. Mix well. This chili powder can be kept for up to 6 months, but we usually use it within a month.

You can add other chili powders, such as ancho powder, chipotle powder, or any other name variety, to the mix for a more spicy taste. Start with 1/2 teaspoon of the powder and test it to see if you like it hot enough before adding more.

Barebones Chili Powder

You can reduce the amount of chili powder you use if your spice rack is full. You can give your food the spicy kick you want by using only paprika and cayenne pepper instead of chili powder.

It won’t have the same rich, complex flavor as you’re used to, but it will be good in a pinch.

You can substitute 1 tablespoon chili powder for 2 teaspoons paprika, 1 cup cumin, and 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper to get the right ratios.

Cayenne pepper can be added to spice things up.

Chili Flakes

If you don’t have the ingredients for making your chili powder, what other options are there?

Chili flakes are the best chili powder substitutes. A lot of households have chili flakes in their kitchens.

You can either add the flakes to your food or grind them up.

I find that adding the flakes in soups, chilis, and other liquid-based dishes works well. You’re less likely to get a mouthful just of flakes because the juices absorb the flavor.

You can use chili flakes to make a rub for meat or season dry ingredients.

This can be done easily enough using a mortar and pestle. You can crush the flakes between two tablespoons if you don’t have a mortar and pestle.

Chili flakes, whether ground or not will add on heat level to your chili powder. If you need to reduce the spice level, you can use fewer chilis.

Hot Sauces

You can substitute chili powder for some Tabasco or Sriracha hot sauce if you are making soup or chili that is liquid-based.

Many hot sauces contain a chili pepper base, which means they will have a similar taste to chili powder.

These sauces often contain sugar and distilled vinegar. The vinegar can impart a sharp, acidic flavor that you won’t get from chili powder. It’s not necessarily bad, but it can be a problem for some people.

Sauces such as sriracha can add sweetness to chilis, soups, and stews. It’s not necessarily a bad thing, but it is different.

If you use chili powder instead of hot sauce, you can reduce the amount of sugar in your soup or chili recipe.

Use the hot sauce in a marinade to season dry foods like meat and vegetables. The flavors and spices can be infused into the food by soaking the meats or vegetables in hot sauce.

It will become a dip if you add hot sauce to the top. The spice will still be there, but the sauce’s flavors will be stronger than the meat and veg. They will not marry but exist side-by-side.

Seasoning

If you are desperate, you can check your drawers and cupboards for the packets of seasoning that you often receive with meal kits.

To give your food some kick, you can use Creole seasoning, taco seasoning, and Cajun seasoning. They are pepper-based but contain different spices. This means the taste may not be what you expect.

Taco mix is a mixture of darker Mexican peppers that is similar to chili powder.

Cajun seasoning and Creole seasoning both contain cayenne pepper and/or paprika, which gives them a similar base to chili paste. Although the exact blends can vary, they are similar.

What To Avoid

Keep in mind that not every spice is the same. It’s not always a good idea to grab the first spice you see.

Here are some things to avoid when substituting chili powder.

Curry Powder

Some curry powders contain chili powder, while others use cayenne pepper.

Curry powders are much more popular in the UK than in the USA or India. If you have pre-mixed curry spice, don’t put it in your chili.

Curry powders are often made with turmeric, cardamom, and cinnamon. These spices create a unique flavor that is great for curries, but not chili!

Wasabi

This spicy Japanese horseradish plant has a kick. It’s so spicy that it can burn your nose before you even get to eat it.

Although wasabi can be delicious in sushi and katsu, it will not replace chili powder in your soups or sauces.

The same applies to mustards and other horseradish-based ingredients or foods. They are fundamentally different from peppers.

Capsaicin, an oily chemical found in peppers and their derivatives, creates heat and spice. This chemical binds with our taste buds and triggers a response known as the TRPV-1 response.

This response can also be triggered by heat, which is why pepper-based products make you feel hot.

Capsaicin is not produced by Wasabi or its related’spicy’ plants. They contain an ingredient called allyl Isothiocyanate.

Allyl isothiocyanate, when eaten, binds to your tastebuds and triggers the TRPA-1 reaction. This response can also be triggered by a variety of chemical irritants.

Your brain perceives wasabi as a chemical irritation, not a source of heat. This is why chili peppers and wasabi are different spicy flavors that shouldn’t be mixed.

Black Pepper

Although they may share a common name, black pepper and white pepper are not related.

The black pepper plant’s fruit is used to make black and white pepper. These peppercorns are also known as peppercorns. They can be used to make red, green, black, and white peppers.

Black pepper is made from unripe, cooked peppercorns. It is the most commonly traded spice in the entire world.

The uncooked peppercorns are what make green pepper. It is very popular in Thai cuisine, but it doesn’t ship well if it isn’t preserved.

White pepper is made from peppercorns’ ripe seeds. The seed’s dark, red flesh is removed so that the final product is white.

Red peppercorns are the ripened fruits of the pepper plant. They can be preserved or pickled for later use, but they can also be dried.

Piperine is a chemical that produces a rich, aromatic spice from these peppers. Piperine triggers both heat-activated TRPV-1 and acidic sensing TRPA-1 reactions. It’s a mix of chili powder and wasabi.

Black or white peppers can be used to season food, but they cannot replace chili peppers. The flavor is too different.

Chili Powder FAQ

A Spicy Ending

Whether you’ve run out of regular chili powder or just trying to cut down on the number of spices in your diet, this recipe is a great way to make a substitute for chili powder and enjoy all the goodness of chili without any stress.