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.
Hey there, I’m Mike! (Also known as the guy behind Chili Pepper Madness!)
I’m a 3-time cookbook author and lifelong chilihead who’s been obsessed with bold, spicy flavors for as long as I can remember. Together with my wife, Patty, I’ve built Chili Pepper Madness into a go-to resource for anyone who loves adding a kick of heat or bold flavor to their cooking.
My goal is simple: to show you how to take everyday ingredients and turn them into exciting, flavor-packed dishes you’ll love to make and share.
Whether you’re a fan of fiery heat or just a hint of spice, I’ve got recipes, pro tips, and proven techniques to help you bring bold flavors to life in your kitchen. I’m here to help you grow as a cook and maybe as a chilihead, too!
I’m constantly inspired by the incredible ways chili peppers and other vibrant ingredients are used around the world, from comforting American classics with a spicy twist to global cuisines like Thai, Sichuan, and Caribbean, and many other countries.
Every recipe on Chili Pepper Madness is developed, tested, styled, and photographed by me (with help from Patty in the Photography department!) I don’t hire this out like so many other recipe sites. No way! I love bringing my passion for spice to your life! Learn more about my philosophy and how I test all of my recipes.
I started this site over 25 years ago, long before food blogs were a thing, as a way to share my love of chili peppers and hot sauce. It was originally called Jalapeno Madness, but we’ve evolved and we’ve been growing and growing ever since.
We now have millions of visits every month, nearly 200K followers on Pinterest, 176K+ on Facebook, 58K+ on Instagram, and 230K+ on YouTube. I love connecting with you all!
I was even the YouTube Creator of the Day and have a silver plaque from YouTube! How awesome is that?
Patty and I made the move from Chicago, IL, to Charlotte, NC, where we’ve been exploring Southern food and BBQ, adding even more depth to our love of spicy cuisine.
We make it a point to travel frequently to study and experience food from around the world. We’ve been all over the United States, the Caribbean, Mexico, Spain, Hungary, Brazil, Argentina, Australia, Hawaii, even Antarctica!
Everywhere we go we seek out culinary knowledge in the form of cooking classes, food tours, and events, all in search of delicious cuisine so I can share what I learn with you.
Whether you’re a seasoned cook or just getting started, I’m here to help you level up your cooking game.
Let’s get spicy together! Check out my Recipe Index with over 1,000 recipes and dive into the world of bold, exciting flavors.
Features
I am proud to have been featured on YouTube Creator of the Day, WGN News, the Dishing Podcast, and Chile Pepper Magazine, where I was a writer for years.
I’ve been featured on CNN, NY Times, Buzzfeed, Taste of Home, Delish, PopSugar, SheKnows, and Parade.
I’ve also been featured by some fellow food bloggers including Recipe Tin Eats, Tastes Better from Scratch, Salt and Lavender and Downshiftology.
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
- Pollo Asado Recipe. 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 Recipe. 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 Recipe. 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.
- Texas Chili Recipe. 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 Recipe. 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.
- Muffaletta Sandwich Recipe. 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.
David says
Mike,
You nailed this one! AWESOME!
David
Michael Hultquist - Chili Pepper Madness says
Thanks, David!
Lynn Cheesbrough says
Great hot jelly. I don't know what happened but it REALLY. Hard to spread.Any suggestions? Lynn
Michael Hultquist - Chili Pepper Madness says
Lynn, not sure. It is too thick? You might reprocess with a bit more liquid?
Heather Jones says
Good morning, I love your recipes. I can’t find Ghost Chillies here in England, can you suggest an alternative. Many thanks, be safe
Regards Heather
Michael Hultquist - Chili Pepper Madness says
Welcome, Heather. You can look for dried pods or powders to mix into foods, or look for other superhot peppers, like 7 pots, though those can be even harder to find. Habaneros are usually more commonly found, though not as hot, but still quite hot. You might be better off finding an online resource and shipping them to you. Dried is a good option, though.
John D'Orazio says
Mike,
Have you ever tried dehydrating the pulp and seeds left over from straining a Louisiana style hot sauce and grinding into a powder? Is it worth it or is most of the flavor left behind in the sauce?
Thanks,
John
Michael Hultquist - Chili Pepper Madness says
John, yes, I have a post on this very thing: https://www.chilipeppermadness.com/recipes/seasonings-from-hot-sauce-pulp/
Lee Mathis says
Hi...
I am going to start fermenting hot peppers for making sauces and I see that the best temperatures are between 55 - 75 degrees. I live in Western Colorado in the high desert and my place varies in temp from 65-90 degrees.
Are there any inexpensive 'fermentation' chambers or something where I can start fermenting them and keep them in these temperature ranges?
Thanks,
Lee
Michael Hultquist - Chili Pepper Madness says
Lee, look into fermentation crocks, which may help. You can also keep your ferments in a cupboard somewhere out of the light where it will be slightly cooler. You can still ferment.
Michael Miller says
Hi Mike - love your content and visit the site all the time! Wondering if you have a tamale recipe that you could share - I searched but didn't see one.
Take care,
MM
Michael Hultquist - Chili Pepper Madness says
Hi, Michael. Sorry, I do not! I hope to get one online in the future!
flash gordon, m.d. says
great site!! i've recently been reading the scientific literature about some of the health benefits of capsaicins and have started adding more spice to my diet.
i noticed you like chicken wings. they're one of my staples, too. since the grilling process is time intensive, i've been using an air fryer with superb results. one thing many air fryer recipes specify for extra crispiness is 1 TBL/lb of BAKING POWDER. i just add a half tsp of salt, dried or ground pepper and the baking powder to dry wings before cooking and they're amazing. i just shake 'em in an inflated plastic bag to coat evenly, 15' at 250F, flip and 450F for 15' more, shaken once. it's worth a try.
you also mentioned brining your wings - what's your method?
thanks. keep up the good work!
Michael Hultquist - Chili Pepper Madness says
Thanks so much. Yep, air fryer wings are great! I usually do a simple salty brine, but sometimes season it up a bit, usually overnight. Thanks!!!
Rashidah Tutashinda says
I am so happy I found this group. The only thing I can ever be sure of in my garden for the pass few years has been my peppers. So this year Hot sauce! Thank you for this site. What a blessing.
Michael Hultquist - Chili Pepper Madness says
Cheers!!
Anne Short says
Hi Mike and Patty!
This is Anne hailing from Alberta, Canada. We live in plant hardiness zone 4a: -30 to -25 Fahrenheit.
I am able to eat spicy, it is my husband who went from hating black pepper to “cannot get enough spicy heat on food” My Dad loves to garden and play with hybrids and cross pollination. Not sure if I can add a picture. But I wasn’t home last fall and so I had my husband dry all our peppers that my dad grew. This is his list and more forgotten: Hot peppers in 2018 Hot Sauce
Loco,
Basket of Fire,
Filipino,
Cheyenne(my own seeds from the original hybrid a few years ago - this is the most dependable Hot pepper - lots of fruit and ripen very early.),
Portugal,
Scotch Bonnet,
Caribbean Red Habanero (that is purported to be the hottest in the world,)
Yellow Habaneros,
Cayenne,
Anaheim
And more I can’t remember.
Anyhow, after this loongg comment.
I am wondering the best way to pull the most spiciness out of a dried hot pepper.
I have tons of Carolina Reaper Peppers that we grew from seeds last year, managed to save 2 plants for this year and grew more from seeds.
What are your thoughts? I must have 20+ pepper varieties. I want to keep the Carolina Reapers separate, I do have a base sauce that I created and can add pure heat to it to get the spiciness in a good flavoured sauce (tomato based with brown sugar, sweet peppers, carrots, garlic and onion and more). It’s actually a mild hot sauce, 1 tsp most can handle, but keep adding and then the heat picks up. I would like the heat instantly there and the amount used is more like a drop instead of a tsp. So in my original recipe in 2017, I used 2.5 cups of The list above in ground Up peppers. Then in 2018, I had 5 cups of ground up peppers and doubled my recipe, except that it was so bitter and spicy that I had to not double my recipe, but had to multiply it by 15! The capsicum was too bitter to enjoy any flavour. We like spicy heat, but it has to taste good. Stuff like Pure Cap is crap. Anyhow if I can send you a photo, you would see last year’s harvest dried in a dehydrator. But I will have a whole new fresh crop coming soon. Please advise as to how to prepare my dried peppers for the most heat and of course I will separate out my Carolina reapers as a hot sauce in its own league. ☺️
Michael Hultquist - Chili Pepper Madness says
Hi, Anne. The best way to reduce the heat is to core out the pepper innards, though this doesn't really work with superhots. You can also dilute the heat by using fewer peppers or adding in other ingredients. For MOST heat, really use only the hottest peppers possible! I hope this helps!
Gary Gable says
Hi Mike,
I'm looking for a recipe for hot sauce that is made with fresh peppers. I found recipes for dried and powders, but not fresh. Can you please help me?
P.S. We LOVE your website!!!!
Thank you,
Gary
Michael Hultquist - Chili Pepper Madness says
Gary, I have a TON of hot sauce recipes. You can check them all out here: https://www.chilipeppermadness.com/chili-pepper-recipes/hot-sauces/
Barbara says
I am delighted to find your site! I want to grow chili peppers because the variety of them is so limited in Tokyo stores. I tried growing Jalapeno peppers (my favs) from the seeds in the ones I was able to purchase and failed -- no plants whatsoever. And now, thanks to you, I know why. I can't wait to buy seeds and plant, plant, plant!
When you're ready to travel to Japan, please let me know. I would love to return the favor with a guided tour, or advice. Maybe you can even be an advocate for more variety of chili peppers in Japan!
Try this with Jalapeno peppers. Add a half or more Jalapeno pepper to a blender, add about a cup of full-fat yogurt, a few ice cubes, and a dash of salt. Blend until the peppers are fully minced and incorporated and the mix becomes drinkable. Enjoy it with Indian food especially -- (I learned this from a Chicago-based Indian food restaurant owner) or anything else. This is actually one of my favorite breakfast drinks.
You may also like this classic guacamole recipe from Roberto Santibanez -- it's the best I've ever tasted. In it, he tells you how to test for the "heat" of Jalapeno pepper in such a way that you don't have to remove the seeds or pith. It's a perfect chili pepper hack!
Thanks again for everything!
Michael Hultquist - Chili Pepper Madness says
Thanks, Barbara! Welcome, my fellow chili pepper lover!
Susan says
Hi Mike! While prepping for a Cat 1 hurricane here in SENC I got a call from a friend to come pick as many serrano peppers from her plants as I wanted. Dodging the first rain bands I ran over and now have a bag of at least a pound. I consider myself a good fresh salsa maker but I’m wanting to dip a toe into hot sauce and here’s where I found you guys! I can’t wait to make the Serrano hot sauce with tequila as well as all the other great ideas. Have you ever tried making hot sauce with ground fire roasted Hatch chile? I have a bunch from a trip to NM last year. Made some amazing red chili last night!
Thanks, Susan
Michael Hultquist - Chili Pepper Madness says
Glad you found me, Susan! Cheers! Yes, I do love my Hatch peppers. Take care, and good luck with the weather!
Linda says
You sure you aren't Mexican? If not, we can adopt you. LOL. Looks absolutely fabulous. Can't wait to try it. Running out the store right now, mask and all.
Michael Hultquist - Chili Pepper Madness says
Haha, thanks, Linda! A high compliment indeed!