How to Substitute Dried Pasilla Chile With Red Pepper Flakes

Red pepper flakes are hotter than pasilla chiles. You must reduce the amount when substituting.

Pasilla chiles are the dried form of the chilaca pepper. These chiles offer a rich, almost raisin-like flavor, which adds a mild heat and depth to any recipe. They are used in mole sauce for their flavor profile. Ancho chiles, often erroneously called pasillas, are the dried form of a poblano pepper and lack the sweetness and heat of true pasillas, according to "The Peppers Cookbook". Substituting red pepper flakes for dried pasilla chiles can be done in a recipe only if you want the heat of the chiles and not the sweetness of pasillas. Use such a substitution as a last resort if you cannot locate pasillas in Latin markets or on the Internet.

Instructions

1. Replace each whole, dried and crushed pasilla with 1/2 tsp. of crushed red pepper flakes.

2. Taste your dish for flavor. Add more red pepper flakes if the dish does not taste spicy enough. Red pepper flakes often come from cayenne peppers, which are hotter than pasillas. You must reduce the amount in your recipe.

3. Substitute only in recipes when the dried chiles will be removed at the end of cooking time or if the mixture will be ground or pureed. This keeps the texture of the recipe the same.

Tips & Warnings

• If possible, replace the pasilla chiles in your recipe with an equal amount of ancho chiles or a mulato chiles, both of which make better substitutes than red pepper flakes.

References

• "The Peppers Cookbook: 200 Recipes from the Pepper Lady's Kitchen"; Jean Andrews; 2005
• Recipe Tips: Food Subsitutions
• Serious Eats: Serious Heat Chile Substitution
• A Pinch Of: All About Crushed Red Pepper