This homemade chili powder recipe is easy to make with simple spices, just what you need for the perfect bowl of chili, soups, stews and more. So much better than anything from grocery stores. Create your own signature blend!
Chili powder is one of the most important ingredients to any spicy food loving cook. It forms the base of flavor on which to build other flavors as you layer in your ingredients.
Very much like a good curry powder in Indian cuisine, your choice of chili powder can not only define your dish, but it can make or break that dish as well.
A great chili seasoning mix will incorporate different flavors to make your dish truly memorable, with a focus on depth and character, not just heat.
Many people have asked me...
What Exactly is Chili Powder?
Chili Powder is a blend of ground dried chiles that have been ground into a powder and mixed with other ingredients to form a seasoning blend. This is not to be confused with a Mexican chili powder, which is a singular dried chili pepper type that has been ground to a powder.
An example is "Ancho Powder", made from ground ancho peppers. It is one of my favorites to cook with, but when referring to the American version of chili powder, we're talking about the blend.
You can, of course, purchase your own chili powders online, but making them at home is the best method, primarily because of freshness, and because you can control what goes into your finished chili powder yourself.
About the Chili Peppers
You can make chili powder from any type of chili pepper. There are many, many peppers available to you in the world to do this, and, because of this immense variety, your variations are practically endless.
Most American chili powder blends incorporate Mexican or New Mexican pepper varieties. Favorites include ancho peppers, chipotles, moritas, pasillas, guajillos, and chiles de arbol.
However, you are free to incorporate others. In fact, I grow chile peppers in my home garden every year and I dehydrate them to make my own powders all the time. Perfect for the home cook.
If you're interested in doing this, see my post on How to Dehydrate Chili Peppers to Make Homemade Chili Powders.
You don't have to dehydrate them yourself, though. You can easily purchase store bought dried peppers from your local grocer, usually find in the Mexican section, or look at a local Mexican grocer. You can also use pre ground chilies and just mix them, which most people do.
If you're unable to find them, order them online. I will leave some links below to help you get started. Also, you can order singular chili powders online as well and use them to form your own spice blends, such as ancho powder, guajillo powder, and more.
The best chili powders include multiple ground chili pepper types to add dimension to the final seasoning.
Once you have chosen your chili peppers, you can then consider your additional ingredients.
Chili Powder Ingredients
- Guajillo Powder
- Ancho Powder
- Cayenne
- Garlic Powder
- Onion Powder
- Cumin
- Salt (if desired)
Let's discuss how to make chili powder, shall we?
How to Make Chili Powder - the Recipe Method
For Grinding Your Own Peppers.
First, choose your chili peppers. For this recipe, I am using dried guajillos, anchos and cayenne peppers. Paprika and smoked paprika are popular choices as well.
Add the dried peppers to a cast iron pan or skillet over medium heat and dry toast them a couple minutes per side, until they just start to puff up and darken in color. You will just able to start to smell them. This helps release their natural oils.
Remove from heat, then remove the stems. Slice them open and remove the seeds.
Add the dried pods to a food processor and process them until a powder forms. You may have some coarse chunks that you can either leave in or strain out.
Store in airtight containers and use as desired. Makes about 1/3 cup of chili powder.
Chili Powder Mixing Instructions - Making the Chili Powder Blend
Mix together the chili powder with the garlic powder, onion powder, salt and cumin. You can add other ingredients as well, such as dried oregano, dried basil or more.
Storage Information
Store chili powder in an airtight containers and use as desired. It will keep for 6 months or longer, but will begin to lost potency after about 3 months. It is best to make smaller batches to be used within that time.
Recipe Tips and Notes
- The Ingredients. You don't need a ton of other ingredients to make a great chili powder, as the focus is on the chili peppers. The other ingredients are there to support and enhance the chili peppers. My favorites include cumin, garlic powder, oregano, basil, onion powder, and sometimes a bit of salt and pepper. That's it. You CAN include other ingredients to your preference, though, as you will be the ultimate cook and judge of your own food, and besides, it is sort of fun to experiment with different seasoning blends to make your own spice mix.
Many recipes call for chili powder as a primary seasoning ingredient, but what happens if you don't have any on hand? Check out my post on Chili Powder Substitutes for a longer discussion and other ideas.
Try Some of My Seasonings/Powders Made from Dehydrated Peppers
Try Some of My Favorite Chili Recipes
Mike’s Recommended Products
Try some of these links to Amazon (affiliate links, my friends) to help you get started on making your own homemade chili powders.
- Ancho Chiles
- Guajillo Peppers
- Magic Bullet MBR-1701 17-Piece Express Mixing Set
– For Grinding down the chili peppers for powders.
– For Grinding down the chili peppers for powders.Other Resources
- How to Dehydrate Chili Peppers – Includes a video with a longer discussion on drying chili peppers in general.
- The Spicy Dehydrator Cookbook – by Michael Hultquist (that's me!)
Got any questions? Ask away! I’m happy to help. If you enjoy this recipe, I hope you’ll leave a comment with some STARS. Also, please share it on social media. Don’t forget to tag us at #ChiliPepperMadness. I’ll be sure to share! Thanks! — Mike H.
Homemade Chili Powder Recipe
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons guajillo powder
- 2 tablespoons ancho powder
- 1 tablespoon cayenne
- 1 tablespoon garlic powder
- 1 tablespoon onion powder
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ¼ teaspoon cumin
Instructions
- Mix together the chili powders with the garlic powder, onion powder, salt and cumin. You can add other ingredients as well, such as dried oregano, dried basil or more.
- Store in airtight containers for up to 1 year and use as desired.
Notes
Add the dried pods to a food processor and process them until a powder forms. You may have some coarse chunks that you can either leave in or strain out. Then, proceed with the recipe. Makes about 1/3 cup of chili powder.
Nutrition Information
Shane Keene says
Nice! I ground my own dry peppers--using arbol chilis because they're what I had instead of cayenne--and included a smoky morita. Then followed your recipe verbatim.
Perfect.
Mike H. says
I appreciate it, Shane. Enjoy!
Kathy says
I never even thought about making my own chili powder but seeing as how I love to garden in the Charlotte NC area, I believe I will have a few new peppers growing in my garden next summer with which I will be drying and making your recipe for Chili Powder -- Can't wait to try it!!
Mike Hultquist says
Perfect, Kathy! Happy experimenting!
Michelle says
Hey how about dried chili sources that aren’t Amazon?
Michael Hultquist - Chili Pepper Madness says
Michelle, check out my Resources page, or you can order direct from the manufacturers.
KC says
the BEST PLACE for your chile needs
Michael Hultquist - Chili Pepper Madness says
Thanks, KC!!
Teresa says
Michael:
First let me say, I love your website. It has opened a whole new world for me. I live in North Carolina and I want to make homemade chili powder among other things as well. I recently purchased Chile Arbol Powder on line. Is there a source to purchase dried peppers you can provide to us? I am in the mountains of North Carolina with limited access to dried peppers. Thank you and love all your recipes.
Michael Hultquist - Chili Pepper Madness says
Hi, Teresa. I recently moved to NC, the Charlotte area. Loving it here. Amazon is a great resource. You can buy a few bags and grind them down for your own enjoyment. You might also dehydrate some fresh pods with a dehydrator. Just search "dried peppers" and you'll find a number of them. Good luck, and enjoy!!
Rob says
Great recipe! Couple of questions - one of the things I’m thinking of using my powder for us as an ingredient in my homemade hot sauce / Buffalo sauce. The fresh cayennes I’m growing will be used but not sure if I should therefore be using powder of same chilli? Also have some Naga Yellow growing and thinking of utilising these in powder - would they mix well with other cayenne (even Malagueta) in a powder? I’m a complete novice!
Michael Hultquist - Chili Pepper Madness says
Rob, yes, you can mix peppers and also pepper powders to make different hot sauce blends. I do it all the time. Very common! Let me know how it turns out for you. Enjoy!
Carol Wheeler says
I live in Mexico, and chili powder for Texas chili is something we have to bring down with us. However we have all kinds of wonderful dried chiles in the traditional markets and supermarkets, so I'm going to give your recipe a try. It sounds delicious.
Ground chile is available everywhere, so I'll use that. In teaspoons, how many would you use of guajillo and ancho? I also plan to add a drizzle of homemade chile morita en aceite to my pot of chili. (We like it spicy!)
Muchas gracias.
Michael Hultquist - Chili Pepper Madness says
Hi, Carol. I would use 3 tablespoons each of ancho and guajillo powders, then adjust from there. Let me know how it goes for you. I hope you enjoy it.
Carol Wheeler says
Thank you, Michael for your kind reply, I'll let you know how it goes.
c Preston says
Thanks for this site. I am just beginning to explore the wide world of chilis, and you have given good guidance many times.
c
Michael Hultquist - Chili Pepper Madness says
Thanks so much! I'm glad to be helpful and inspire. Enjoy!
Erica says
HELP. I have ground New Mexico chili powder. How much of it do I use to make recipe for chili powder with
1 tablespoon garlic powder
1 tablespoon onion powder
½ teaspoon salt
¼ teaspoon cumin
Thanks.
Michael Hultquist - Chili Pepper Madness says
Erica, start with 5-6 tablespoons and adjust from there. You will likely want MORE chili powder, but it is good to start small then add more to taste. Let me know how it turns out for you.
Jenni Bobicz says
I have some recipes that I have been using store-bought chili powder in, and now I'd like to remake these recipes using pure chile powder instead. I bought some high-quality singular chile powder (I think it's ground ancho). Since the store-bought stuff has salt and other spices in it, I'm thinking I probably need to use less chile powder in the recipes, and maybe add some salt, garlic, oregano, and cumin. One of these recipes is a taco seasoning mix that I usually make a big batch of in advance, so I won't be able to add to taste. Do you have a recommendation on how much less chile powder to use, and what ratio of salt, garlic, and cumin to add?
Michael Hultquist - Chili Pepper Madness says
Jenni, I lean toward chili pepper heavy blends, and find myself using about 2/3 chili powder when making a blend like this. The other 1/3 consists of the rest of the ingredients, like garlic, oregano, then a bit of salt and cumin. Watch the salt, as it can get salty pretty quickly. I actually usually do NOT add salt to many of my blends, preferring to add it in separately. Cumin should be used sparingly, as it is a pretty strong flavor. Give that a go, taste, then adjust from there to your personal tastes. Let me know how it goes for you. I hope this helps!
Jim says
Very happy that I subscribed to your newsletter. Always full of great information and fantastic recipes. I’m just hardening off my pepper seedlings (been a cool spring here in Ontario Canada!) and looking forward to some exciting sauces and cooking from your recipes. In the meantime I’ve pretty much finished last years dried peppers thanks to this recipe!
Michael Hultquist - Chili Pepper Madness says
Excellent! Thanks, Jim! Glad you found me!
col says
doubled the chilis and other ingredients then added a teaspoon of oak smoked paprika. great 🙂
Michael Hultquist - Chili Pepper Madness says
Outstanding!!!
John Munies says
Excellent recipe.!
Michael Hultquist - Chili Pepper Madness says
Thanks, John!!!
Nadia says
The perfect blend. Didn't change a thing.
Michael Hultquist - Chili Pepper Madness says
Excellent!