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Herbs & spices

Chili pepper

Capsicum annuum, CapsicumAlso called chilli pepper, chilli, hot pepper and chili

Chili pepper is a fruit used as a spice, with moderate capsaicinoid heat. Cooks grill, roast, and stuff chili peppers or use them to season dishes.

  • Plant-based
  • Gluten-free
  • No listed allergens

About the plain ingredient, not packaged products; general information, not medical advice. Details

Part used
Fruit
Family
Solanaceae
Cooked most in
Asia, Africa, The Americas
Top country
Indonesia
Chili pepper, whole

Photo: Takeaway · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons

In the kitchen

How to use chili pepper

Typical ways to cook or use it

  • Grill
  • Roast
  • Season
  • Stuff

Cooking with it

Avoid overcooking chilies, as they can fall apart.

Flavour

Taste and texture

Heat

Capsaicinoid3 out of 5

Nutrition

What 100 g of chili pepper holds

Per 100 g, raw. Averages from USDA; real values vary by variety, season and growing conditions.

Protein 17%Fat 4%Carbohydrate 79%of the macronutrients by weight

Nutrition per 100 g of chili pepper, raw
Energy40 kcal · 166 kJ
Protein1.9 g
Fat0.44 g
of which saturated0.04 g
Carbohydrate8.8 g
of which sugars5.3 g
Fibre1.5 g
Sodium9 mg
Cholesterol0 mg
Nutrition per 100 g of chili pepper, raw: minerals and vitamins
Potassium322 mg
Calcium14 mg
Iron1 mg
Magnesium23 mg
Zinc0.26 mg
Vitamin C144 mg
Vitamin A (RAE)48 µg
Folate23 µg

Source: USDA FoodData Central (food 170106), public domain. Minerals and vitamins are listed only where USDA measured a non-zero amount.

Around the world

Where chili pepper is cooked

117 dishes in the catalogue use chili pepper. Here is where they come from.

Dishes by continent

Countries whose dishes use it most

Counts are catalogued dishes from each country that list chili pepper among their ingredients.

Origins

Native to
Peru, Bolivia
First cultivated
in Mexico

  1. The 1500s · Spain

    By the mid-1500s, chilies were common in Spanish gardens and used in numerous dishes.

  2. 1526 · Italy

    Chilies had reached Italy by 1526.

  3. 1543 · Germany

    Chilies had reached Germany by 1543.

On the table

Dishes made with chili pepper

48 of the 117 catalogued dishes that use it, spread across the countries they come from.

  • Coto makassar

    Indonesia

  • Goulash

  • Laksa

    Iran

  • Batiburrillo

    Paraguay

  • Bok l'hong

    Cambodia

  • Ofe Oha

    Nigeria

  • Zibdieh

  • Dagga

  • Amatriciana sauce

    Italy

  • Dhokla

    India

  • Maskurolhi

    Maldives

  • Varena

    Ukraine

  • Evil jungle prince

    United States

  • Frita

    Algeria

  • Galayet bandora

    Jordan

  • Huevos rancheros

    Mexico

  • Gilda

  • Mititei

    Romania

  • Bîstan

  • Relleno Negro

  • Shuizhu

    China

  • Ema datshi

    Bhutan

  • Caluk noodles

    Indonesia

  • Danwake

    Nigeria

  • Chili

    Mexico

  • Matang satay

    Indonesia

  • Kuli-kuli

    Nigeria

  • Kuwah Pliëk U

    Indonesia

  • Kuah beulangong

    Indonesia

  • Otak-otak

    Indonesia

  • Arsik

    Indonesia

  • Asinan Bogor

    Indonesia

  • Lontong kikil

    Indonesia

  • Nasi gandul

    Indonesia

  • Soto Betawi

    Indonesia

  • Nasi langgi

    Indonesia

  • Kikil satay

    Indonesia

  • Nasi lapola

    Indonesia

  • Sambal lingkung

    Indonesia

  • Sangsang

    Indonesia

  • Snail satay

    Indonesia

  • Tongseng

    Indonesia

  • Dengke Mas Naniura

    Indonesia

  • Lotek

    Indonesia

  • Rujak cingur

    Indonesia

  • Rujak kuah pindang

    Indonesia

  • Spicy porridge

    Indonesia

  • Tanggo-tanggo

    Indonesia

Dish lists come from Wikidata; a dish counts when its recorded ingredients include chili pepper.

Good to know

Diet and allergens: chili pepper in detail

These notes describe the plain ingredient. Packaged and prepared products vary, so read the label; for allergies and medical diets ask a doctor or dietitian.
Allergens
None of the 15 listed allergens foundChecked and not found: soy, eggs, fish, milk, lupin, wheat, celery, sesame, mustard, peanuts, molluscs, sulphites, tree nuts, crustaceans, gluten cereals.
Animal origin
No animal ingredients foundChecked and not found: egg, fish, meat, dairy, honey, insect, gelatin, poultry, bone char, shellfish, other animal, animal fining, animal rennet.
Gluten
None
Alcohol
None
Caffeine
None
Pork
None

Family

Related forms

Made from it
chili powder (dried, ground)
Kinds
bhut jolokia, bird's eye chili, jalapeño
Varieties
bhut jolokia, bird's eye chili, jalapeño

Cooked together

Ingredients that go into the same catalogued dishes.
Photo credits for this page (12)

Around the world

What chili pepper is called

Names in 134 languages, from Wikidata.

  • Spanish

    chile · pimiento chile · pimiento · guindilla

  • French

    piment · Piments du Chili · Piments · Piment du Chili

  • Italian

    peperoncino

  • Portuguese

    chili · pimenta chili

  • German

    Chilipfeffer · Chilischoten · Chili

  • Dutch

    chilipeper

  • Greek

    τσίλι

  • Turkish

    acı biber

  • Russian

    красный перец · перец острый · чили · горький перец

  • Polish

    papryka chili · papryka chilli · chilli · papryka ostra

  • Arabic

    فلفل حار · فلفل أحمر · الفلفل الحار

  • Persian

    فلفل تند · فلفل قرمز

Show all 134 languages

  • Achinese

    Campli

  • Albanian

    specë e djegëst

  • Armenian

    կարմիր պղպեղ

  • Assamese

    জলকীয়া

  • Asturian

    guindilla · pimientu picante

  • Balinese

    tabia

  • Bangla

    মরিচ

  • Banjar

    lombok

  • Basque

    pipermin

  • Belarusian

    чырвоны перац · перац чылі

  • Belarusian (Taraskievica orthography)

    чырвоны перац

  • Bikol

    sili

  • Bosnian

    čili

  • Brazilian Portuguese

    pimenta

  • Breton

    pimant

  • Bulgarian

    люта чушка · люти чушки

  • Burmese

    ငရုတ်

  • Cantonese

    辣椒

  • Catalan

    bitxo · Capsicum annuum L. var. minimum · pesteta · pebrot picant

  • Central Dusun

    losun · lado

  • Central Kurdish

    بیبەری تیژ

  • Chinese

    辣椒 · 智利辣椒

  • Chuvash

    Хаяр хĕрлĕ пăрăç

  • Cornish

    puber chili

  • Croatian

    čili

  • Czech

    chilli paprička · čili paprička · chilli · chili

  • Danish

    chili

  • Egyptian Arabic

    فلفل حار

  • Esperanto

    kapsiketo

  • Estonian

    tšilli

  • Fiji Hindi

    mircha

  • Filipino

    sili · sili (bunga)

  • Finnish

    chili · chilipippuri · chilipaprika

  • Fon

    atakín

  • Galician

    pemento chile

  • Georgian

    წიწაკა

  • Guarani

    Ky'ỹi

  • Gujarati

    મરચું

  • Haitian Creole

    piman

  • Hebrew

    פלפלת צ'ילי · פלפל חריף · פלפל צ'ילי

  • Hindi

    मिर्च · लाल मिर्च · मिरची

  • Hungarian

    csilipaprika

  • Iban

    chabi

  • Icelandic

    Chili-pipar · Eldpipar · Chillipipar · Chilli

  • Ido

    Chili-pimento

  • Igbo

    Ose · ose

  • Indonesian

    cabe merah · cabe · cabai pedas · cabe pedas

  • Irish

    piobar sillí

  • Japanese

    唐辛子 · とんがらし · とうがらし · トンガラシ

  • Javanese

    lombok abang

  • Kannada

    ಮೆಣಸಿನಕಾಯಿ

  • Kashmiri

    مرژٕ وانٛگن

  • kbp

    kpɛɛnzʊʊ

  • kge

    cabi

  • Kikuyu

    Hoho ya kanũgũ

  • Korean

    고추

  • Kurdish

    îsot

  • Kyrgyz

    калемпир

  • Lao

    ໝາກເຜັດ

  • Latin

    Capsicum · Chilli

  • Latvian

    čili pipari

  • Lingala

    pilipilí

  • Lithuanian

    raudonasis pipiras · Čili pipirai · Aštrieji pipirai · Čili pipiras

  • Macedonian

    лута пиперка · луто пиперче · чили

  • Madurese

    cabbhi

  • Maithili

    मर्चाई

  • Malagasy

    sakay · sakay (zavamaniry)

  • Malay

    cili · pokok cili · cabai

  • Malayalam

    ചുവന്നമുളക്

  • Marathi

    मिरची

  • Mazanderani

    اخلاد

  • mcn

    kìwàysi᷆rtà

  • Minangkabau

    lado

  • Mingrelian

    ზაფანა

  • mnw

    မြေက်

  • Mossi

    kipare

  • N’Ko

    ߝߙߏ߬ߕߏ

  • Navajo

    azeedíchʼííʼ · azeedích’íí’

  • Nepali

    खुर्सानी · खोर्सानी

  • Newari

    मल्ता

  • Nias

    lada soyo

  • Norwegian Bokmål

    chilipepper · chili

  • Norwegian Nynorsk

    chilipepar · Chilipepper · Chili · Chilipeppar

  • nrm

    piment · piment (frouque)

  • Occitan

    piment

  • Odia

    ଲଙ୍କା ମରୀଚ · ଲଙ୍କା · ମରୀଚ · ମରିଚ

  • Ossetic

    цывзы · Чили цывзы · агъыркы

  • Pampanga

    lara

  • Punjabi

    ਮਿਰਚ

  • Quechua

    utsu

  • rki

    ငရုတ်ပင်

  • Romanian

    ardei iute · ardeii iuți · chili

  • Sanskrit

    मरीचिका

  • Santali

    ᱢᱟᱺᱨᱤᱪ

  • Serbian

    čili

  • Serbian (Latin)

    čili

  • Shan

    မၢၵ်ႇၽိတ်ႉ · ၽိတ်ႉ · မၢၵ်ႇႇၽဵတ်း

  • Shona

    mhiripiri

  • Sicilian

    pipi ardenti · pipi brucenti · pipareddu

  • Sindhi

    ڳاڙھا مرچ

  • Sinhala

    මිරිස්

  • Slovak

    chilli paprička · čili

  • Slovenian

    čili

  • Somali

    besbaas

  • Sundanese

    cabé · cabe · céngék · lada

  • Swedish

    chilipeppar · Chilifrukter · Chili · Chilepeppar

  • Tajik

    қаламфури тунд · қаламфури чилӣ

  • Tamil

    பச்சை மிளகாய்

  • Tatar

    кызыл борыч

  • Tatar (Cyrillic)

    кызыл борыч

  • Telugu

    మిరపకాయ · పచ్చి మిరపకాయ · పచ్చి మిరపకాయలు

  • Thai

    พริก

  • Tulu

    ಮುಂಚಿ

  • Tumbuka

    kambuzi

  • Ukrainian

    перець чилі · гострий перець

  • Urdu

    مرچ

  • Uyghur

    قىزىلمۇچ

  • Uzbek

    chili qalampiri

  • Vietnamese

    ớt

  • Waray

    harang

  • Welsh

    pupur tsili

  • Western Panjabi

    مرچ

  • Wolof

    kaani

  • Wu Chinese

    辣椒 (果实)

  • Yoruba

    ata ṣọ̀mbọ̀

Photos

More photos of chili pepper

Sources and credits

Data

Wikidata item: Q165199

Photos

Photo: Takeaway · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons

Photo: Narek75 · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons

Photo: Sabina Bajracharya · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons

Photo: Gzzz · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons

Photo: Suyash Dwivedi · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons