Morita peppers are a type of chipotle pepper made from smoked, red-ripe jalapeno peppers. The main difference is that Moritas are smoked for less time, which leaves them softer and retains their slightly fruity flavor. They are very richly flavored. Learn more about them below.
Scoville Heat Units: 2,500 - 8,000 SHU (or up to 10,000)
Capsicum Annuum
Are you a fan of smoked and dried chili peppers for different sauces and flavor? It's time you introduced the morita chili to your kitchen! These peppers are loaded with character, and you'll find them a wonderful addition to your cooking arsenal.
What is a Morita Pepper?
Morita chilies are smoked, red-ripe jalapeno peppers. In fact, morita peppers are one of two types of chipotle peppers, often referred to as chipotle morita chile. The other type is the chipotle meco, which is more tan or gray in color. The main difference is that morita peppers are smoked for less time , which leaves them softer and retains their slightly fruity flavor. They are very richly flavored.
Essentially, jalapeno peppers start out green on the plant, but eventually ripen to a vibrant red color if they are left on the plant long enough. Once they ripen to dark red, the peppers are picked and dried in smoke houses to achieve their wonderful flavor.
Learn more about the chipotle chili pepper here.
How Hot is a Morita Pepper?
Moritas are as hot as your typical jalapeno peppers, which range from 2,500 to 8,000 Scoville Heat Units on the Scoville Scale. They give a good level of heat, but nothing dramatic. It isn’t really a hot pepper, but for some people, the heat is just right.
What Does a Morita Pepper Taste Like?
The flavor of the morita chili pepper is a mixture of fruity and slight acidity, with just a touch of smoke. Overall they are fairly mild in their overall flavor and intensity, though pleasantly so.
Cooking with Morita Chili Peppers
Dried Morita chili peppers can be used as you would cook with the chipotle pepper. They are great for rehydrating and making sauces or flavoring simmering soups and stews. Rehydrate them by soaking them in very hot water until they are very soft, usually 15 to 30 minutes.
You can build flavor by lightly toasting these peppers in a hot pan or even in a toaster oven, which helps to loosen up some of the oils in the skin. Then, rehydrate them.
You can also grind up morita peppers to make a flavorful chili powder, which you can use as a general seasoning, a rub, or for making sauces, soups, stews and more. Just be sure to remove the stems and seeds before grinding.
They are great flavor building peppers very popular in making mole sauces and certain salsa dishes, particularly in the areas of Puebla and Veracruz, Mexico, they are hugely popular in the United States for southwestern and Tex Mex cuisine.
Chipotle Moritas Vs. Chipotle Mecos
Morita peppers and mecos are both chipotle peppers. However, morita chile peppers are smoked for less time than chipotle mecos, making them fruitier with a milder smoky flavor, which is characteristic of chipotle chiles. Chipotle mecos are smoked for twice as long. Moritas retain some of the reddish color from the red ripened jalapeno peppers, as well as much of the heat.
Morita chilies are most commonly used in making the popular commercial chipotles in adobo sauce that add wonderful flavor to many dishes.
Where Can I Buy Morita Peppers?
You can find morita peppers typically in Latin markets, though I am finding them more and more available in typical grocery stores. You can also order them online. I like to order them from Amazon.
Buy Chipotle Morita Peppers from Amazon.com (Affiliate link, my friends). Enjoy! Let me know what you love to make with them.
Learn More about Popular Mexican Peppers
- Ancho Peppers
- Chile de Arbol Peppers
- Chipotle Peppers
- Cascabel Peppers
- Guajillo Peppers
- Mulato Peppers
- Pasilla Peppers
- Puya Peppers
- A Guide to Mexican Peppers
Got any questions? Ask away! I'm glad to help.
NOTE: This post was updated on 3/3/20 to include new photos and information. It was originally published on 9/22/13.
Don says
I cure my own pork bellies for bacon. I do it only in the winter, as i “cold smoke“ (dont try this at home). I do use a modicum of broken moritas, seeds included, in my brine. But where they reall shine is tn the smoking process, itself. I have a 500 gallon offset smoker. I build coals in a trashcan then add sime applewood splits (well seasoned) to smolder/flame intermittently, before adding a pound of the freshest moritas i can find. I smoke for 2 hrs, keeping temp below 35 degrees. Refrigerate the bellies by hanging them in a walkin cooler @ 33 degrees and 60 % humidity with fans going. I repeat this process until 28 % weight loss. This takes a hella lot of cold smoking hours. Ive been sucessful enough that i have regular buyers for whom i provide glass door coolet/humidfiers for display to the public
Mike Hultquist says
Sounds awesome, Don. Nice!
Don says
I learned about these peppers while working at a Michelin 4 star restaurant. We had, literally, a couple hundred pounds of various peppers, stored in food-grade bins, in our climate-controlled earthen basement.
My first recipe that included Moritas ( I was one of six prep cooks ) was a juniper berry,ginger, morita sauce, for barbeque. I was in love at the moment of my first taste. Im a life-long cook, just turning 79, snd my pantry, at home, includes a LOT of dried peppers. Moritas are my fav; spicy, SMOKY and sweet, kind of like a raisin. If you guys are realky into making a dish “sing“ take out red bells and substitute moritas...
Mike Hultquist says
OUTSTANDING, Don! Sounds amazing. Yes, I greatly enjoy cooking with moritas. Wonderful flavor.
TERESITA C NAWROCKI says
absolutely agree! we mix them with toasted almond paste and toasted sunflower seeds paste... it is celestial!!
Guy Auxer says
Love your site, products and recipes. Morita has replaced black pepper on our table.
Mike Hultquist says
Thanks, Guy. Yes, moritas are outstanding.
David says
Hi Mike, I've just now ground some moritas, and then read your article here - I notice that you advise to remove seeds before grinding but I left them in on the theory that it would make a hotter powder. What's the rationale behind removing the seeds? This is my first time grinding chillies, so any advice will be appreciated.
Michael Hultquist - Chili Pepper Madness says
David, most people find the seeds to be rather bitter. You can leave them in if you'd like. They are edible. FYI, the heat isn't really in the seeds, but in the placental innards of the peppers. Best!
Jane Romanchuk says
How do you store Morita chilies?
Michael Hultquist - Chili Pepper Madness says
Jane, as they are dried, I store them in airtight bags in my pantry, though can also freeze them.
brent says
Chipotle means smoked jalapeno.
Chipotle Meca is the longer smoked chile, sold dried and also usually the one in the adobo can. Although I've seen websites that refute this and say the lightly smoked morita is in the adobo cans..
NO website I ever read specifies what Mecas and Moritas get for smoke time (like Mike said: meco=more morita=less) or whether smoked pellet, charcoal, electric, briquette, lump, mesquites etc. I've never seen this info anywhere.
It doesn't matter. I buy them both dried in the SW region. I don't grind them up that often for DIY chile powder but they taste good.
I'm only here to tell the reader one simple thing: if you don't have a smoked hamhock or turkey piece.... then a dried chipotle (either one) ROCKS for a pot of beans or a soup. As good if not better than a hock. Also better than expensive smoked paprika for smoke flavor.
Michael Hultquist - Chili Pepper Madness says
Thanks for contributing, Brent. I appreciate it.
Josiah Gagosian says
Moritas are one of two types of chipotle, the other being mecos. Moritas are absolutely chipotles. They're the ones used most often in commercial chipotles en adobo.