Chilis are healthy foods packed with vitamins C, K, A, and B6, and capsaicin, a potent anti-inflammatory compound. Have you ever wanted to try a Chile Relleno or Southwestern Anaheim stuffed pepper recipe but couldn’t find any Anaheim peppers? Well, you’re in luck – there’s a flavorful world of peppers that serve as perfect substitutes for Anaheim peppers.
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What are Anaheim Peppers?
The Anaheim pepper is a medium-sized chili – around 6 to 10 inches – with a mild to medium heat, only tipping the scale at 500-2,500 Scoville Heat Units (SHU). It is mildly spicy and boasts sweet, peppery, earthy, and smoky flavors. Anaheim peppers have thick, meaty walls of flesh, making them perfect for stuffing, canning, roasting, or frying.
The Best 6 Substitutes for Anaheim Pepper
Whether you want to dial up the heat, prefer a milder experience, or add a smoky twist, here are the best six peppers that serve as perfect substitutes for Anaheim peppers.
Bell Pepper
If spicy food isn’t your thing, ditch Anaheim peppers for the classic, readily available bell pepper. Green and purple bell peppers have an earthy, slightly bitter flavor, while yellow, orange, and red are sweeter and fruitier.
Like Anaheim peppers, bell peppers have large cavities and thick, meaty walls of flesh, making them perfect for stuffing. Bell peppers add no heat to recipes, so you can free the reins when replacing Anaheim peppers.
When using green bell peppers, consider adding a pinch of smoked paprika to your dish to mimic the smokiness of Anaheim peppers. If you have both peppers on hand, consider sautéing a blend of fresh Anaheim and Bell peppers for a vibrant, delicious for curry vegetable stir-fry.
Poblano Pepper
The Poblano pepper is another mild chili pepper often used in Mexican side dishes and Southwestern cuisine. Registering at 1,000 – 2,000 SHU, the Poblano is a perfect replacement for Anaheim peppers. They lend a deeply earthy taste with a hint of bitterness and fruitiness.
Substitute Anaheim peppers for Poblanos in chiles, salsa, relish, and quesadillas. Poblano peppers are shorter and fatter, but you can use chopped Poblano peppers in a 1:1 substitution for chopped Anaheim peppers.
Fresh Poblanos keep well for around a week stored in a paper bag in your refrigerator. However, you can preserve them for up to a year by canning or freezing them.
Jalapeño Pepper
If you’re looking for a spicier kick to your dishes, consider replacing Anaheim peppers with Jalapeño peppers. Jalapeños have a bright grassy flavor with subtle fruity notes.
You can replace Anaheim peppers with Jalapeño in salsa, relish, chiles, and more. Sitting at 2,500 – 8,000 SHU, Jalapeño peppers are a lot spicier than Anaheim peppers. Replace 1 Anaheim pepper with 1/3 Jalapeño or remove some of the Jalapeño’s seeds.
Scrape out the Jalapeño’s seeds and membrane to reduce the heat level. I like to cut the Jalapeño in half (lengthwise) and then scrape out the membrane, working my way from bottom to top. If you want to slice the Jalapeño into rings, cut off the peppers stem end, then remove the seeds with a paring knife by cutting around the core.
Chipotle
Chipotle chilis are dried, smoked, ripe Jalapeños. This tames their heat and brings out a tantalizing, smoky, sweet flavor that makes a wonderful alternative for Anaheim peppers.
You can use ½ Chipotle chili for each Anaheim pepper to maintain the spiciness level. Chipotles can be ground into a spice or canned in adobo sauce. This preserves the peppers, allowing you to use them for longer. Canned Chipotle peppers last up to three months in the refrigerator.
Note that Chipotle’s smokiness can overpower subtle flavors. If you’re replacing Anaheim peppers with a spicier dish like Chipotle bean chili, consider using a more neutral chili to prevent drowning out the dish’s nuanced flavors.
Cubanelle Pepper
The Cubanelle pepper is another delicious mild replacement for the Anaheim pepper. It has a similar size, shape, and flavor profile, but the Cubanelle is slightly sweeter and milder. The Cubanelle only measures in at 0 to 1,000 SHU.
Cubanelle peppers can be used in general cooking, from Asian broccoli salads to salsas, stir-fries, casseroles, and more. Their large pods also make them great for stuffing.
Fresh and whole Cubanelle peppers can last weeks in your fridge’s crisper drawer. However, it’s best to seal any cut, unused peppers, or leftover cooked peppers in a tightly sealed container and use them within a few days.
Hatch Chiles
Hatch chiles are a stand-out replacement for Anaheim peppers. They are almost identical to Anaheim peppers, with one sharp difference: Hatch chiles are much hotter, ranging from 1,000 to 8,000 SHU.
Beloved for their balanced sweet heat and subtle smokiness, Hatch chiles can be used for the same dishes as Anaheim chiles. I recommend using half a Hatch chili and slowly adding more to your dish to counter the extra spiciness.
When making salsas, sauces, and affordable crockpot soups, I like to first char and peel my Anaheim or Hatch peppers. I prefer the smoky flavors of roasting them over an open fire, but the broiler is much quicker and more convenient. After roasting the peppers, I pop them in a covered container to briefly steam – it makes slipping off the skins a breeze.
Understanding Anaheim Pepper
Like other chilis, Anaheim peppers are highly nutritious. They mostly consist of water, making it a perfect low-calorie way to spruce up any recipe.
Anaheim peppers are also rich in iron, potassium, and vitamins C, K, A, and B6. They also contain capsaicin, a potent anti-inflammatory compound responsible for the pepper’s heat.
The Anaheim pepper is named after Anaheim, a southern California city. They first originated in New Mexico but were brought to Anaheim in 1894. The peppers were first grown here commercially by Emilio Ortega, a reputable businessman. The company still sells canned Anaheim chilis under his name.
Are Anaheim Peppers Healthy?
Along with healthy vitamins and minerals, Anaheim peppers contain capsaicin, a bioactive compound with many benefits, including:
- Treating chronic pain
- Anti-cancer effects
- Treating hypertension
- Treating ischemic heart disease
- Anti-obesity effects
A possible drawback of Anaheim peppers and other chilis is an unpleasant, burning sensation that can cause stomach pain and digestive issues.
Reasons to Substitute Anaheim Pepper
If you’re having trouble finding Anaheim peppers at the store, consider substituting it with one of our top recommendations. The substitute list is also ideal if you prefer something milder, spicier, smokier, or a simple twist to your favorite chile recipe.
While Anaheim peppers add a spicy touch to a meal, they can contribute to severe abdominal pain and digestive issues in those with irritable bowel syndrome (IBS). Bell peppers are a low-FODMAP food and an ideal replacement.
Related Questions
What are Anaheim Peppers Used for?
Anaheim peppers are widely used in Mexican and Southwestern cuisine. They are stapes in iconic dishes like chiles, salsas, salads, soups, casseroles, and sauces.
How Hot is an Anaheim Pepper?
The Anaheim pepper has a mild to medium heat, sitting at 500 to 2,500 SHU. Comparatively, it is around 4 to 16 times milder than a Jalapeño pepper on the Scoville Scale.
Are Anaheim Peppers the Same as Green Chiles?
Anaheim peppers and green Hatch chiles are virtually identical in appearance. However, Hatch chiles are much hotter due to the variations in soil compositions.
Conclusion
The humble Anaheim pepper remains a favorite among the long list of chili peppers. However, when you run out, several delicious substitutes exist, including Bell peppers, Poblanos, Jalapeños, Chipotle, and Hatch chilis.
Remember to consider your personal heat tolerance when working with different peppers and enjoy experimenting and discovering new flavor dimensions in your cooking.
Nathaniel Lee is an avid cook, drawing on his decades of home cooking and fine dining experience. He is a contributing chef at Mashed, and his recipes and contributions have been featured in Tasting Table, Edible Arrangements, Insanely Good Recipes, and The Daily Meal.
