Cayenne Pepper Substitute

Cayenne pepper is hot, red chili pepper, which is used to flavor dishes and also for medicinal purposes. The other names given to cayenne pepper are Guinea Pepper or Bird Pepper. It is named after a city in French Guinea, called Cayenne, which is one of the main cultivators of pepper, bell pepper, jalapeños, etc. Cayenne pepper belongs to the nightshade family. It is four to twelve inches in length, and the color can be deep green, yellow, orange or red. It is long, skinny and wrinkled in appearance and hot in taste. The fruit of this plant are dried and ground or pulped and baked into cakes, when the pepper is fresh. The baked cakes are then ground and sifted to make powdered cayenne pepper. It is often used in cooking spicy dishes, either in the powdered form on in its whole form. Vinegar based sauce is also made using cayenne pepper. Though is it not too difficult to obtain, there are a few substitutes that can be used if you run out while cooking.

Fresh Cayenne Pepper Substitutes

Green chilies are often used as substitutes for fresh cayenne pepper. However, when you buy green chilies, make sure they are firm to the touch and their skin is smooth. If the chilies are wrinkled, their crisp texture and fresh flavor are lost forever. Since cayenne pepper is hot in taste, you will also have to be careful when you choose green chilies. Select chilies which have pointed tips and narrow shoulders. Holland chili is also used as a substitute for fresh cayenne pepper.

Ground Cayenne Pepper Substitutes

Hot paprika is the first choice when it comes to a substitute for ground cayenne pepper. The other options include chili powder as well as red pepper flakes and red chili flakes. If chili powder is what you are going to use, then you will have to make sure the chili powder does not contain any other spices, as more often than not, chili powder comes with other spices added. These spices can alter the taste of your dish to a considerable degree.

Jalapeño pepper, manzana chile, rocoto chile, Scotch bonnet chile, serrano pepper, thai chile, habanero chili, fresno pepper are some other cayenne pepper substitutes. Jalapeño pepper is spicy and rich in flavor. Manzana chili is often used to make salsas and the characteristics of this chili is that it has black seeds. Rocoto chilies are hot chilies and they look like tiny bell peppers and also have a fruity flavor. Scotch bonnet chili is very popular in the Caribbean and is as spicy and hot as jalapeño peppers. Serrano peppers have thin walls, hence they do not have to charred, steamed or peeled before they are used. Habanero chilies are extremely hot and have a fruity flavor. Fresno peppers, on the other hand, are very similar to jalapeño peppers, but have thinner walls as compared to jalapeño peppers.

From the entire list of cayenne pepper substitutes, it can be very confusing to decide which is the best substitute. In case a particular recipe demands cayenne pepper and you have run out, the substitute should be decided depending on the dish to be made. At the same time, you will also have to take into consideration how spicy you want to make your dish, as some of the substitutes can make your dish very spicy indeed.