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Cascabel chiles can add hot and spicy flavors to your dishes, and if you’re a fan of spicy food, you should opt for these peppers. Cascabel chiles are round and large in most cases, and their color ranges from bright red to dark red, depending on the aging and ripening periods.
Although these peppers are hot enough, they are mildly hot with a nutty flavor. Cascabel chiles are native to Mexico, and it has an exciting smokiness to them. You can use these chiles in sauces, salsas, and even stews and soups. It is also suitable for your meat and fish, making it an excellent spice choice for your barbecue.
However, there are some situations where you will need these chiles, but they’re out of your reach, making you settle for other cascabel chile substitutes.
Some of the best substitutes for cascabel chile include cascabel powders, cascabel chile paste, guajillo chiles, pasillo chiles, and puya chiles. These options will work perfectly if a few adjustments are made.
What Kind of Pepper Is Cascabel?
The cascabel pepper is a mildly hot pepper that ranges from a Scoville heat unit of 1000- 3000 on a Scoville scale.
Cascabel peppers are not suitable for recipes that require very hot chiles, but if you must make use of them, you must make use of double the amount you would’ve used.
Compared to the jalapeno peppers, the hottest cascabel chiles is equal in heat to the average jalapeno.
Best Cascabel Chile Substitutes
1. Cascabel Powder
Cascabel powder is one of the best cascabel chile substitutes. Besides, what’s a better substitute for a dash of pepper than its powdered form? If you are out of cascabel chiles, you can always use the cascabel powder as it provides you with the same flavor profile as the cascabel peppers.
Just as the name suggests, the cascabel powder is made by blending cascabel chiles into powdered form.
Cascabel powder is usually expensive, so you should be prepared to spend slightly more than usual. You should note that the powdered form enhances the flavor and spiciness, so you should add a little less of its powder to your dish.
2. Cascabel Chili Paste
Just like the cascabel powder, the cascabel chili paste is made with cascabel chiles, but in this case, it should be hydrated and blended just like most pastes. In some parts, the cascabel chili paste is known as cascabel purees.
An added advantage that this substitute poses is that it can be saved for months in jars as long as you use a sealed jar and store it in a refrigerator.
It would help if you didn’t worry about doing this all by yourself as you can always find this substitute readily made on shelves in supermarkets, so keep an eye out.
3. Guajillo Chilies
If you can’t get any cascabel-related substitute, you can also use the guajillo chiles, as these peppers have a similar taste profile compared to the cascabel chiles.
Guajillo chilies are the dried form of the mirasol peppers, so if you are wondering, you can make them by drying the mirasol peppers.
These peppers are more abundant in Zacatecas, and these peppers are of two variants; the regular guajillo chiles and guajillo puya.
The guajillo puya is more diminutive and hotter, while the regular guajillo chili is more prominent, longer, and has a broader variant with a rich flavor.
The guajillo Chile is a fantastic substitute as you can simmer it, pulverize, seed, and mashed into sauces or puree. This pepper is versatile as you can use it in marinades, spice rubs, pasta, and even butter alongside other ingredients.
4. Puya Chili
The puya chili is a form of guajillo chili, except it is much hotter. You should note that the puya chili are much hotter than the cascabel chiles, so you should e extremely careful in your application.
The puya peppers provide you with a fruity flavor profile, and that is why you should use them in their mashed and pureed form. If you want to extract more of its flavor, you should try soaking it in warm water before mashing it.
The puya chiles are an excellent substitute for cascabel chiles as pizza toppings, and their addition complements your fish and pork perfectly.
These chiles are initially bright red, but as they grow older, they turn deep red. The puya Chile is an excellent source of a great flavor and spicy heat.
5. Arbol Chilies
The Arbol chiles are native to Mexico, and they also provide you with solid heat, just like the puya peppers.
Arbol chilies are usually long and often green when younger, but as they age on, they turn red. The Arbol peppers can be available in powdered, fresh, and dried forms, so you can also get them in a form that suits your dish more.
The Arbol chiles would work well as an excellent topping for your dish due to their colorful nature. These chiles are rats, tail chilies, or bird’s beak chilies in some parts of the country, so you shouldn’t be confused when you hear people calling those names.
The Arbol peppers are scorching, so you should be using less of it when substituting it for your cascabel chiles. It is a perfect substitute for soups, stews, marinades, and salads.
You can opt for the California chiles, Mulato peppers, chipotle Chile pepper, and dried New Mexico peppers, but that should be after you’ve searched for the ones above and didn’t get any.
What Is Cascabel Chiles Used For?
The cascabel chiles have a smoky and nutty flavor overtone, making them suitable for your soups, stews, casseroles, enchiladas, fajitas, sauces, and salsas tamales, and even your favorite, tacos.
The cascabel chiles are not limited to these; they can also be used in marinades and stuffing for your fish and meats.
Is Chipotle A Morita?
Morita pepper is a dried and smoked version of red jalapeno peppers, and it can also be said to be a type of chipotle pepper.
If you have seen and tasted the Meco chiles, you say that they are similar to the Morita chiles and the Meco chiles are another form of chipotle peppers. The Meco chiles can also be known as chipotle ahumado or brown chipotle.
How Spicy Is Cascabel?
Cascabel pepper is relatively mild in the heat with a Scoville heat unit of 1300- 2000 Scoville unit on the Scoville scale.
The closest comparison to this pepper is the Chile guajillo, which has a Scoville heat of 2500-5000 SHU on the Scoville scale.
How Do You Use Morita Peppers?
You can use Morita peppers just like the cascabel chiles. The Morita peppers are great for rehydrating, making sauces, and flavoring simmered soups and sauces.
You can rehydrate these peppers by soaking them in hot water until they are very soft for about 15- 30 minutes.
