Welcome to Chili Pepper Madness, where spicy food is always on the menu. We are here to bring you easy-to-follow recipes you can make at home whenever you want, and as SPICY as you want, too.
Gone are the days of bland and boring food.
I'm Mike, and I run Chili Pepper Madness with my wife, Patty.
I've been a chilihead for as long as I remember. My eyes lit up the first time I ate a spicy chili pepper as a child (in more ways than one!) and I've been hooked ever since. I started as a guy who douses everything in hot sauce (often still do), but over the years I've learned a lot about cooking and how to develop flavor with spices and ingredients in so many different ways.
And I want to share that experience with you.
I love to cook all sorts of simple, down home dishes you'd find in American kitchens, with a spicy twist, though I also deeply love international cuisine. I obsessively follow the peppers grown around the world, which leads me into new spicy cuisine like Thai, Sichuan, African, South American, Caribbean and so much more.
Spicy food is everywhere! I want to bring it all to you so we can all make it ourselves at home.
Patty and I lived in the Chicago, IL area the majority of our lives but now live in the Charlotte, NC area. Here we are able to actively explore our long lasting love for Southern food and BBQ more and more.
What You'll Find at Chili Pepper Madness
- Lots of Easy Recipes. Some recipes take a while to make and require a certain number of steps, but that isn't my focus. You'll find many recipes you can make in 30 minutes or so and don't require a ton of ingredients.
- Customizable Heat Levels. My recipes are spicy, sure, but I do my best to show you how to adjust them to your own preferred heat and spice level. We believe that flavor is the most important thing, not just heat.
- Dishes from Around the World. Spicy food can be found all over the world, and I just love to learn about it. Thai cuisine has some of the hottest food in the world, as does Chinese cuisine, particularly from the Sichuan region. But I follow the spices and peppers all over, from Asia to South America and anywhere I can follow.
- Classic American Dishes. America has so much to offer when it comes to food, especially spicy food with big flavor. You'll find Cajun cooking (a favorite!), dishes from the American south such as BBQ, low country cooking and more, regional favorites and anything I think you'll love.
- Chili Peppers! I am so obsessed with chili peppers, hence the name of the site. I grow a big variety every year, from milder sweet peppers to the hottest of the superhots. And I cook with them all. You'll find a big list of chili pepper types, preserving information, growing information and more so you can seriously rock the garden and make your own unique recipes and spices from scratch.
- Superhot Recipes. Yes, I have many recipes for those chiliheads at the top of the scale, including recipes with ghost peppers, scorpion peppers, the Carolina Reaper and more.
- Hot Sauce Recipes. This is where I began! I love making my own hot sauce and can show you how to make many different types, including fermented and non-fermented.
I hope you'll explore the site and learn for yourself.
A Bit About Mike
- I'm the Content Creator. I make all the recipes and write them up, as well as write all of the content here on the site. Everything comes from me. I style the dishes and take some of the photos, but that is primarily Patty's job, which leaves me more time to cook!
- I'm a Cookbook Author. I am the author of "The Spicy Food Lovers' Cookbook", "The Spicy Dehydrator Cookbook", and others. By my books alone, you can tell that I am a spicy food aficionado.
- I'm a Screenwriter. Yes, I am a produced screenwriter. Here is the IMDB link if you'd care to take a look. My produced credits include the movies VICTIM, ARENA (starring Samuel L. Jackson and Kellan Lutz) and 12 FEET DEEP. I've been hired to write studio scripts and have optioned others as well. I'm still actively writing.
- I'm a Fiction Writer. I love to write fiction, mostly darker stuff, horror, thrillers. I've published fiction novels and numerous short stories, and have even edited an anthology. I'm also an active member of the Horror Writers Association and get to vote for the Stoker awards. See more about my screenwriting and fiction.
- I'm a Beer Lover. I love craft beer and actively explore local breweries. My favorites are IPAs, Pale Ales and Wheat Beers, though there are so many to enjoy.
A Bit About Patty
- I’m the Photographer, Organizer and Anything Needed. I feel super lucky to be able to do this job full time and I love every minute of it. It’s so great to wake up each morning excited about your job. I’m so passionate about food and love seeing all of you making the recipes and finding your own enjoyment in the dishes.
- I Love Gardening. I love growing our own peppers, tomatoes and other yummy delights. Fresh herbs and produce make every dish taste so much better and I find so much joy in growing it ourselves.
- I Love Spicy Food. Working on our Madness websites has been very rewarding for me. I’m a total converted chilihead now and crave the spice that Mike cooks all the time. There is rarely a dish served in our house without a chili pepper in it, or some sort of spicy flavor blast, and I love it.
- I Love Traveling. I love planning trips and going on them. We moved to North Carolina not too long ago so we could be between the mountains and the beach. I love to relax on the beach with a book or go hiking in the mountains and now we can do this very easily. I also love foodie trips and traveling all over the world. I'm always looking to experience the food in various places. And I love to plan parties, with food always being the most important part.
Some Recent Favorite Recipes
- Shrimp Creole. This recipe is pure New Orleans, an icon of Louisiana, with succulent shrimp simmered in a perfectly seasoned tomato sauce made with the Cajun holy trinity. You may need to make an extra large batch. I’ll take mine extra spicy.
- Pollo Asado. Mexican roast chicken is so good! It's the ultimate roast chicken with bone-in chicken marinated in citrus and spices, quick grilled then roasted for big flavor. So tender and juicy.
- Kung Pao Chicken. This is the ultimate stir fry with chunks of marinated chicken stir fried with peppers, scallions and peanuts and an easy but flavorful sauce. Nice and spicy.
- Tikka Masala. This recipe is a creamy Indian-style curry with chunks of yogurt-marinated roasted chicken simmered in a flavorful curry sauce. It is very comforting and perfect for any curry lover.
- Spicy Ramen Noodles. This spicy ramen recipe is easy to make and a thousand time better than store bought ramen, plus you can make it as spicy as you want! Ready in minutes!
- Texas Chili. A bowl of perfection right here! This Texas chili is authentic, meaty, just the right amount of spicy, and not a chili bean in sight.
- Grilled Jerk Chicken Wings. These chicken wings are huge on flavor, with wings rubbed down with loads of jerk seasoning, then grilled until nice and crispy. Fire up that grill, my friends!
- Smoked Jalapeno Poppers. This is the ultimate party food with bacon wrapped jalapeno peppers stuffed with loads of melty cheese and seasonings, then smoked for the most outstanding flavor. These will be your new favorite poppers!
- Homemade Buffalo Sauce. This is so easy to make with hot sauce, butter, Worcestershire sauce, vinegar and more – it’s so much better than anything you can grab from the store.
- Carolina Reaper Hot Sauce. It doesn't get any hotter with this. This homemade Carolina Reaper hot sauce recipe is incredibly hot, made with roasted Carolina Reaper peppers, the hottest peppers in the world, garlic, and onion.
- Sausage and Peppers. This recipe is an Italian-American classic, with sweet bell peppers served with Italian sausage. Serve it on its own or on a bun! Make it mild or spicy.
- Muffaletta Sandwich. I love this one! This is the ultimate sandwich from New Orleans, piled high with Italian meats, cheese, and a homemade spicy olive tapenade. Feeds a crowd!
- See Mike's Favorite Recipes and Patty's Favorite Recipes.
Ralph Telles says
How long do you boil eggs for deviled eggs?
Mike H. says
Depends on the size of the eggs. Large eggs would require 10-12 minutes, for example.
Al says
Love the site, has helped me make some pretty good fermented sauces. Last year was xochiteco & brazilian starfish sauces. This year I had a huge crop of Scotch Bonnets and Carolina Reapers. Fermented each for 5 weeks, then blend with a little vinegar and boiled for a bit. So far so good (although i'm too scared to try the reaper sauce)
Mike H. says
Happy to hear to, thank you! And I am excited to hear what you think about the reaper sauce now. =)
Jim says
Mike,
brilliant green chilli achar pickle recipe. Love it and made a batch last year (2023) and done the same this. I over added the oil and immersed the mix - so it lasted a year. I’ve just finished jar 8 from November 23.
Modifications? None really, though I used all colours as they were in the greenhouse. Insist on yellow mustard seed anything darker doesn’t look good.
Great stuff
Jim N
England
Mike Hultquist says
Glad you enjoyed it, Jim. Feel free to leave a comment on the Chilli Pickle (Achar) recipe page! Cheers! https://www.chilipeppermadness.com/recipes/chilli-pickle/
Taz says
Can you please make kuku paka?
typical east African coast dish
Mike H. says
Thank you for the suggestion, Taz.
Rick Wagner says
Looking around this morning I found Cajun Meatloaf. It struck me as something that you should put your spin on. After a few years, your site remains my goto. -
Mike Hultquist says
Thanks, Rick! It's funny, but I've been wanting that on the site forever! I have to convince Patty, haha. This may tip the scales...
John Smith says
Hi-Love your fermented hot sauce recipe! I have just finished latest batch of 20 lbs plus and wanted to share with you some tweaks to the recipe-not that it needs anything at all. I seed all the peppers, add about 10% of the weight onions and garlic to the ferment and a small amount of Cumin and Coriander i.e. 1 tsp of each to a 15lb ferment. Wonderful stuff.
Mike Hultquist says
I love it! Thanks, John!
Barney Guyett says
Hey Mike, thanks for what doing what you do you’re my go to guy when I’m looking for things to do with my different peppers I have two questions for you one when I am fermenting my hot sauce or my peppers you mention you can add fruit. how do you add fruit? Do I have to, slice it up. Small chop it up. Small put it in just the way it is remove. The skins advice would be great. Another question is I have about 30 to 40 poblanos and I don’t know what to do with it in the past we’ve sliced them before and frozen them so that we can use them later Dyson so that we can put it into breakfast food like scrambled eggs or omelettes is there anything else?
Mike H. says
Barney, for fermenting with fruit, chop it into small pieces to help it ferment evenly. You don’t need to remove the skins unless they’re thick. For your poblanos, besides freezing for breakfast dishes, you can roast them for salsas, stuff them for chile rellenos, blend them into sauces, or add to soups, tacos, and casseroles. Lots of options!
Jack & Diane says
Hi Mike and Patty,
Jack & Diane here in Colorado. We really love your recipes. Just got some delicious roasted green chilis, we're making the green chili stew. We are doing it in the crock pot, the pork loin (they didn’t have shoulder) is chunked in 1-2 inch by 1/2 inch pieces, and we don’t want to overcook it. Your recipe says 90 minutes. Should that be enough in a crock pot on low? Or maybe 2-3 hours?
Thank you!!
Mike Hultquist says
That should be enough with pork loin, Jack & Diane, though you can stir and taste it after 90 to see if you'd like to simmer it longer. Let me know how it goes. Enjoy.
Bryan Holley says
Thanks for sharing your immense chile/salsa/sauce knowledge. I grew a hybrid habanero this year, called Roulette -- all the incredible habanero flavor without the heat. I want to make a sauce that is almost all Roulettes (I also grew habanero, I want to add just enough habanero to give the sauce a kick) but I want no onion, no garlic, no carrot; I also don't want to ferment which I have done following your recipes. I want a sauce that lets the flavor of the Roulette dominate. What simple recipe could you recommend to me to achieve that goal? A neighbor said to 'add some chicken stock' -- not sure I want to do that. I appreciate any help you might offer.
Mike Hultquist says
Bryan, take a look at these recipe results and see if anything jumps out. You can use roulettes.. Happy to help you adapt any of them: https://www.chilipeppermadness.com/recipes/chili-crisp/#growMeSearch=habanero%20salsa
Bryan Holley says
Hi, Thanks for your prompt reply. Chili Crisp oil is not what I'm after. We just had Hatch chiles in town, and I found a recipe to make an enchilada sauce that used mostly just the Hatch chiles. I'm looking for a Roulette sauce like that, that is more sauce than salsa, almost like a Tabasco but without the fermentation and maybe even without little or no vinegar. Maybe lime juice as a preservative? These Roulettes, fresh, they are so aromatic and that's what I'd like to preserve in a sauce. Many thanks, again. P.S. All my peppers are ripe and I want to bring them indoors with rain in our forecast.
Mike Hultquist says
Shoot me an email.
Pilar Horner says
Hello Mike! I'm looking forward to making the Mexican birria recipe you have tonight. I bought dried ancho and guarillo peppers. Do I de-seed them, and then roast them on the stove and then rehydrate?
You don't mention taking out the seeds, and I'm cooking for a large crowd so I'm worried about their ability to handle heat.
Is it worth then to take another step and run the peppers through a food processor and then sear the processed pepper mixture in oil? Or do I skip that step? Thanks so much for your help!!
Mike Hultquist says
Pilar, YES, remove the stems and seeds before toasting them. The ingredients list the peppers as "stems and seeds removed". Enjoy! https://www.chilipeppermadness.com/recipes/birria/