The chilaca pepper is a dark green, curvy, mildly hot pepper that is an important part of Mexican cuisine. When dried, it is called the chile negro or pasilla pepper.
SCOVILLE HEAT UNITS: 1,000-2,500 SHU
Capsicum Annuum
What is a Chilaca Pepper?
The chilaca pepper is a mildly hot pepper that is an important part of Mexican cuisine. When dried, the dark green skins darken to a richer brown-black color. It is then called the chile negro or pasilla pepper. The pods are long and thin, and grow to about 6-9 inches in length, and 1 inch wide.
Chilaca Pepper Appearance and Uses
The peppers have a flattened shape, and its skin is somewhat wrinkled. It matures to a dark brown color, and has a rich flavor when fully matured.
The Chilaca is usually dried, and in this form is known as the Pasilla or Pasilla Bajio. The fresh chilies are rarely used, but the popular dried form, the Pasilla, is great for many sauces in Mexican food such as enchilada sauces and mole sauces, or can be ground and made into a table sauce, or condiment. They are widely used in Mexican cuisine, though the dried pods have gained much popularity in the United States for their flavor and versatility.
I personally must have pasilla peppers in my pantry at all times, along with my favorite ancho peppers, guajillo peppers and chiles de arbol. They form a wonderful combination of flavor for so many sauces. You'll find numerous recipes across my site here using all of these peppers, particularly the chilaca chile in dried form.
Fresh chilaca chilies are better used for fresher applications, such as chopping them for fresh salsas. They're also good for roasting and grilling, then chopping into quick salsas or sauces. Because of their thinner skins and thinner shape, they're aren't ideal for stuffing, though you can stuff them.
How Hot is a Chilaca Pepper?
Chilaca peppers are considered mildly hot peppers, ranging from 1,000 to 2,500 Scoville Heat Units on the Scoville Scale. Compare this heat with a typical jalapeno pepper, which averages about 5,000 SHU, and you'll find fresh chilacas are 2 to 5 times milder. This isn't very hot by some chilihead standards, but for general cooking, you'll notice a bit of overall heat and spiciness.
Learn More About These Other Mexican Peppers
Where Can I Buy Chilaca Chili Peppers?
You should be able to buy chilica chili peppers from your local Mexican grocers, or you're better off growing them yourself. Or, you can buy chilaca peppers from Amazon (affiliate link, my friends).
NOTE: This post was updated on 8/4/20 to include new information. It was originally published on 9/20/13.
Gary says
Hi Mike,
I'm really enjoying your website, especially the hot sauce recipes. My wife brought home about 20 fresh chilaca peppers (they're huge) from our local Mexican market to use for hot sauce. Lacking a hot sauce recipe specifically for chilacas, I'm planning on following your jalapeno hot sauce recipe, substituting chilacas for jalapenos. Is there any reason this shouldn't work?
Mike H. says
Hi Gary, I actually have a post on chilacas - check it out. For the recipe, that should work perfectly fine. Only a few things to consider. Chilacas are milder than jalapeños, so if you want to bring the heat back, consider adding a hotter pepper or a pinch of chili flakes. And also chilacas are larger and thinner, so you may need more of them to achieve the same body and consistency in the sauce, depending on their water content. Do experiment and let me know!
Shannon says
Hello, your link here for the recipe doesn’t take me anywhere other than back here. Is there a recipe somewhere I’m not seeing? Thanks!
Mike Hultquist says
Shannon, you can use chilaca peppers in place of other peppers in many of my sauces and hot sauce recipes. See my post on Hot to Make Hot Sauce from Dried Chilies here: https://www.chilipeppermadness.com/recipes/how-to-make-hot-sauce-from-dried-peppers/. That's a good place to start. Use them for an enchilada sauce. Let me know if you find a recipe that looks good and I can help you adapt.
Cindi says
I just bought some long skinny peppers at my local Stop and Shop but they were simply marked 'hot peppers'. Looking at your peppers we found they are Chilaca. I have one red and one green. But I don't know what to do with them!
Mike Hultquist says
Cindi, there are MANY recipes here for you to use them. You can cut them up and cook them with onions and celery for the base of a soup or sauce, make hot sauce, salsa, pickle them, etc. Happy to help guide you if you have some ideas of what you'd like to make.
Scott Schmutzler says
Does the flesh (inside) of a chilaca/pasilla turn brown when ripe?
Michael Hultquist - Chili Pepper Madness says
Scott, chilaca peppers do mature to a dark brown color.