Chile de Arbol

Chile de arbol are long, red, slender very hot chiles used in Mexican cooking. De arbol chiles are available fresh, dried and in powdered form.  Also referred to as simply arbol chiles and are used in sauces and fresh salsa dishes.

These chiles are grown in Jalisco, Nayarit as well as the Mexico City region of Mexico.

One of our favorite salsas combine arbol chiles, guajillo chiles and peanuts, aka. salsa de cacahuate y chile arbol y guajillo. I love this on tacos and even a dip for fresh vegetables.  It is pretty hot so be advised.

How Hot Are de Arbol Chiles?

On a scale of 1 - 10 the arbol chile is about a 7.5.   On the Scoville heat scale it is between 15,000 to 30,000.

Substitute For Chile de Arbol

If you don't have de arbol chiles you can easily substitute:

• Red pepper flakes which are primarily cayenne chiles.  Use 1/4 to 1/2 teaspoon would be equal to about 1 whole arbol chile.  Alternatively you may want to substitute equal amounts of of either of these hot chiles:
• Thai chiles which are reasonably easy to find in most Asian grocery stores
• OR -Chiles Japones, look for these in Mexican grocery stores
• OR - Chile Tepin, more expensive and most likely found in Mexican grocery stores
• OR - Chile Piquin, again look for these in Mexican grocers.