What's Ancho Chili, and Why Does It Taste Like Raisins?

Ancho chili is a ripe red poblano pepper, dried until it turns deep brownish red, and drying gives it a raisin-like, faintly cocoa flavor with only mild heat. Because it is so gentle, cooks use it by the tablespoon or by the whole pod for color and body in mole, chili, adobo and enchilada sauce.

What is ancho chili?

Poblano and ancho are one pepper, Capsicum annuum, sold under two names. The poblano is picked green for roasting and stuffing, while the ancho is left on the plant to ripen red and then dried until its skin wrinkles and darkens.

The name is Spanish for "wide," a fair description of a dried chile that is broad at the shoulders and tapers to a point.

Recipes and labels use both "ancho chile" and "ancho chili" for the same dried pod, because chile is the Spanish spelling and chili the usual American one.

Plant

Capsicum annuum, the poblano pepper

Form

Ripe red poblano, dried whole

Origin

Puebla, Mexico, which gives the poblano its name

Heat

Mild, usually listed at 1,000 to 1,500 Scoville heat units

Close relative

Mulato, a poblano variety that ripens brown before drying

Poblanos come from the state of Puebla in central Mexico, and ancho is one of the most used dried chiles in Mexican cooking. It sits with mulato and pasilla in the trio of dried chiles that mole poblano is built on.

Puebla gave the pepper its name, but most poblanos now grow farther north. In 2023 Zacatecas harvested about 177,000 metric tons, more than any other state, and Puebla ranked only tenth.

What does ancho taste like, and how hot is it?

Drying turns the grassy bite of a green poblano into something closer to dried fruit.

Most cooks describe ancho as raisin- or prune-like, with a light cocoa bitterness and an earthy sweetness underneath. The skin is thin, and the flesh softens into a sauce more readily than the leathery skins of some other dried chiles.

Why does ancho taste like raisins?

The sweetness starts on the plant. In a 2023 study of Capsicum peppers, fully ripe fruit held about 36 grams of sugar per kilogram, against about 20 grams in the same peppers picked green.

Drying then takes most of the water away. Mexico's standard for whole dried chiles allows an ancho no more than 12.5 percent moisture, so the sugar of a ripe red poblano ends up packed into a thin, leathery pod.

Heat during drying also sets off browning reactions between those sugars and the pepper's amino acids, the same family of reactions that browns bread crust.

Research on dried peppers links these reactions to darker color and new roasted aromas. They are the likely source of ancho's prune and cocoa notes, which a green poblano never has.

How hot is ancho?

Anchos are usually listed at 1,000 to 1,500 Scoville heat units, with some sources going to 2,000. Even the top of that range sits below a jalapeño, which starts around 2,500.

Individual pods vary, so one ancho in a bag can be noticeably warmer than the next. Mexico's dried-chile standard allows for that spread by placing ancho in its mildest class, 900 to 3,000 Scoville units, together with mulato and pasilla.

Most of that heat sits in the pale veins inside the pod.

Researchers at New Mexico State University's Chile Pepper Institute found that in milder peppers the heat compounds are held in tiny sacs on the placenta, the tissue the seeds grow from.

Pulling out the veins along with the seeds takes a warm batch down a notch. The seeds themselves carry little heat of their own.

Because the heat is gentle, ancho goes into a pot by the tablespoon rather than the pinch. That quantity is what lets it change the color, body and sweetness of a sauce, something a pinch of cayenne cannot do.

The same weight has a downside, since a sauce built only on ancho can taste heavy and flat. Tomato, lime, vinegar or raw onion supply the brightness it lacks.

On the spice shelf ancho sits closer to sweet paprika than to cayenne, because both are mild red chiles used for color and depth first.

How is ancho different from mulato, pasilla and guajillo?

Mole, pozole and red enchilada sauces often call for two or three dried chiles at once. Through a plastic bag in a shop, those chiles can look much alike.

Mulato comes from a poblano variety whose pods ripen to dark brown instead of red, and it is picked a little later than ancho. It dries almost black and tastes more of chocolate and less of red fruit.

Held up to a window, an ancho glows reddish through its skin. A mulato looks brown to nearly black against the same light.

Pasilla is a different pepper altogether, the dried chilaca, and its long thin shape sets it apart from the broad ancho.

Those differences are why cooks combine the chiles rather than pick one. Recipes for pozole rojo and birria commonly pair ancho with guajillo, because ancho gives sweetness and body and guajillo gives tang and a brighter red.

A hotter chile such as árbol joins them only when the pot needs real heat. Neither ancho nor guajillo brings much of it.

Should you use whole ancho chiles or ancho powder?

Whole anchos and ground ancho carry the same flavor, but they do different work in the pot.

A soaked whole chile blends into pulp that thickens enchilada sauce, adobo and mole. Powder seasons a dish without adding that bulk, which suits chili, beans and dry rubs.

Pure ground ancho is not the same thing as the American chili powder next to it on the shelf. Chili powder is a blend that usually includes cumin, oregano and garlic, so the label tells you which one you are holding.

The two share a history, which explains the mix-up. In the 1890s William Gebhardt, a café owner in Texas, ground ancho chiles imported from San Luis Potosí into a seasoning he began selling in 1896.

Ground ancho scorches quickly in hot fat, so blooming it in oil takes only a few seconds over moderate heat before the liquid goes in.

Whole pods keep their aroma longer than powder, which is one reason regular ancho cooks buy it whole and grind small batches as they need them.

How do you prepare ancho chiles for sauce?

Preparing whole anchos takes about half an hour, and most of that is waiting while the chiles soak.

1. Stem and seedPull off the stem, split the chile open, and shake or scrape out the seeds and pale veins.
2. Toast brieflyPress the flattened chile onto a dry pan over medium heat for a few seconds per side, until it smells sweet and blisters slightly.
3. SoakCover with hot water or stock for 20 to 30 minutes, with a small plate on top to hold the chiles under, until the flesh is soft all the way through.
4. BlendBlend with garlic, onion, tomato or spices and enough liquid to keep the blades moving.
5. StrainPush the puree through a sieve when the sauce needs to be smooth, as for enchiladas.
6. Fry and simmerPour the puree into a little hot oil, stir as it sizzles, then simmer with salt until it thickens.

The toast is where a sauce is most often spoiled. A chile scorched while toasting in a dry pan turns bitter within seconds, and that bitterness carries into everything it is blended with.

Rick Bayless gives two signals for the toast. A faint crackle when the pressed chile meets the pan means the heat is right, and anything more than a slight wisp of smoke means the chile is burning.

When the pod is flipped, a well-toasted underside looks mottled tan and smells of roasted chile.

The soaking water holds flavor, but it can also taste harsh. A spoonful tells you which, and fresh water or stock can take its place if the liquid tastes bitter.

Seeds come out mostly for texture, since they add little flavor and a gritty edge.

A rustic pot of chili can keep a few seeds, and a smooth enchilada sauce is better without any.

The final fry and simmer turn a chile puree into a sauce, because hot oil and reduction cook off the raw, flat taste of blended chile. A sauce that still tastes thin at this stage usually needs salt and time more than it needs another chile.

How much ancho should you use?

A medium dried ancho weighs roughly half an ounce. Once stemmed, seeded and ground, one pod gives about one to two tablespoons of powder, depending on its size.

That puts a 2-ounce bag at about three medium pods, so one batch of enchilada sauce usually takes more than a single small bag.

Those ranges are starting points, and fresher chiles reach the same depth with less. Past a certain point, extra ancho makes a sauce heavier and more bitter.

Adding more ancho is a poor fix for a sauce that tastes flat, because salt and acid bring the chile flavor forward faster.

Where does ancho chili work best?

Ancho earns its place wherever a dish needs dark, fruity chile body more than heat.

• MoleWith mulato and pasilla, ancho forms the chile base of mole poblano, under nuts, seeds, spices and chocolate.
• ChiliGround ancho gives the pot a dark base, with cumin, oregano and a hotter chile layered on top.
• Adobo and braisesBlended soaked ancho coats beef or pork and clings to shredded meat.
• Salsa roja and enchilada sauceSoaked ancho with tomato, garlic and onion makes a deep red sauce with little burn.
• Stuffed anchosA soaked pod slit from stem to tip holds cheese for chiles anchos rellenos, with no charring or peeling needed.
• RubsGround ancho with salt, sugar and cumin colors a crust on pork, brisket or chicken.
• BeansA spoonful adds the savory depth that meat drippings would otherwise bring.
• ChocolateA little ground ancho sits well with cocoa, cinnamon and vanilla, the same partners it meets in mole.

The partners that keep coming back are cumin, Mexican oregano, garlic and tomato. Cumin adds bass, and tomato and oregano bring the brightness ancho lacks.

Clove and cinnamon also appear beside ancho in mole, but only in small amounts, because both can take over a sauce quickly.

Stuffing works with anchos because the dried pod is soft and pliable once soaked. A fresh poblano has to be charred and peeled before it can be filled.

Guests who avoid heat are another reason to reach for it. A pot of chili or a tray of enchiladas can taste fully seasoned on ancho alone, with a hotter salsa served at the table for anyone who wants more.

What can you substitute for ancho chili?

The closest ancho substitutes are other mild dried chiles with dark fruit, because a hot chile alone replaces the one thing ancho barely has. Sweetness and body matter more in the swap than heat does.

Mulato is the best choice for mole and dark sauces, since it comes from the same plant.

Paprika fixes the color but not the depth, and that gap shows most in enchilada sauce. A spoonful of tomato paste helps fill in the missing body.

A fresh poblano cannot stand in for ancho, even though it is the same pepper.

It has not ripened or dried, so it brings grassy flavor and water in place of dried fruit and body.

Smoked paprika and chipotle bring smoke that ancho does not have. They suit a rub or a pot of beans where smoke is welcome, and they pull a mole or a red enchilada sauce off course.

How do you buy and store ancho chiles?

A good dried ancho is soft and leathery, and it bends without cracking. Fresh stock is a deep brownish red and smells of dried fruit when you hold the bag close.

Brittle, dusty or faded pods are old, and they tend to taste flat after soaking.

• Pliable textureThe chile bends and flexes rather than snapping.
• Deep colorReddish brown to near black, without pale or bleached patches.
• Right shapeBroad and heart-shaped, since a long thin chile in an ancho bag is probably pasilla.
• Single-chile powderThe label on ground ancho lists only ancho chile.

Labels cause real confusion in the United States. Fresh poblanos are often sold as "pasilla," and dried anchos sometimes carry the same name, so the shape of the pod is a better guide than the sign above it.

In Mexico, whole anchos are also graded. The national standard for dried chiles, NMX-FF-107/1-SCFI-2014, sorts them into three grades by pod length, evenness of color and surface defects.

Bags sold abroad rarely print the grade. Size and even color still tell a shopper most of what the grade would, because larger, evenly colored pods give more flesh and a cleaner red sauce.

Whole anchos keep best sealed away from light and heat, and the shelf life chart gives the window for each form.

A brittle pod is still usable after a longer soak, but it gives a thinner and less fruity sauce than a fresh one.