Guajillo is one of the most widely used dried chillies in Mexican cooking – a dried mirasol pepper with shiny red skin, used for adobo marinades, moles and salsas.
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| Species | Capsicum annuum |
|---|---|
| Heat | mild to medium; we found no reliable SHU figure |
| Origin | Mexico: Zacatecas, Durango, Chihuahua, San Luis Potosí, Aguascalientes |
| Fruit | dried, shiny, red, about 10 cm long |
| Flavour | “fruity, bright and moderately hot” |
| Uses | adobo, mole, salsas, natural colourants |
Dried mirasol
In Mexico, chile mirasol is called guajillo once dried. Beware of confusion: NMSU’s Chile Pepper Institute uses “mirasol” differently, for a pepper type whose fruits stand erect and “look at the sun” – which guajillo pods typically do not. According to a Mexican study, 83.7% of production comes from four states: Chihuahua, Durango, San Luis Potosí and Zacatecas. Zacatecas announced in 2019 that it would seek a designation of origin, but none has been granted yet.
In the kitchen
Guajillo goes into adobo marinades, mole sauces and salsas, and is used industrially as a source of natural colourants. Milk Street describes its flavour as “fruity, bright and moderately hot”. Together with ancho it is one of the most common dried chillies in Mexican cooking.
Heat
The often-quoted 2,500–5,000 SHU has no verifiable source. A 2013 Mexican study measured guajillo at 13,705 SHU (up to 69,210 SHU under heat stress), but its SHU conversions appear inflated – jalapeño came out above 300,000 SHU – so we give no reliable figure.
Related
Poblano and ancho · Jalapeño and chipotle · Drying chillies · Scoville scale
Sources
- Martínez-Damián M. Á. et al. (2019). Revista Mexicana de Ciencias Agrícolas 10(1). PDF
- México Desconocido: Chile guajillo
- Hortidaily (2019): Zacatecas seeks designation of origin
- Milk Street (2019): A guide to dried chilis
- Bosland P. W., Gonzalez M. M. (1994): NuMex Mirasol. HortScience
- González-Zamora A. et al. (2013). Molecules. doi:10.3390/molecules181113471