EASY STEP BY STEP Chili Powder Recipe made from from Jalapeno Peppers! This homemade recipe shows how to dry jalapeno peppers and then crush into ground seasoning. It’s a super easy DIY project, perfect if you have extra jalapeno peppers! I do this every Summer with our garden peppers!
This year we planted a few more jalapeno pepper plants than usual. Actually we didn’t plan on this but some of our jalapeno seeds got mixed up with green pepper seeds and then suddenly as the seeds started to come up and turned into seedlings, we realized we were going to have a ton of jalapeno peppers. This was fine with me because you know I love candied peppers and eat about half a cup a day (amazing for a afternoon snack with crackers and cheese).
But a girl can only have so many jars of candied jalapenos stored up for Winter. With a few pounds of jalapeno peppers just picked (and more to pick tomorrow) I got to thinking about what else could I do with them?
I love preserving vegetables for Winter (here is my guide) to give a little garden memory when it’s snowing here in the Northeast. If you look at our mini freezer right now it’s stocked up with tomato sauces, salsa verde and pumpkin puree ready for Winter. My goal is not to buy any tomato sauce ever again and keep it in rotation with all the Summer tomatoes we’ll grow again next year. Hopefully this dream comes true.
What to do with a whole lot of peppers when you want to preserve? Make ground chili powder of course!
Lens cap for size comparison, lots of peppers!
Chili Powder Recipe!
We use chili powder in a ton of recipes, especially in the Winter when we hibernate in cozy sweaters and blankets. Chili powder is great to use in soups, stews, casseroles, taco meat, on sandwiches and more!
From this:
To this:
Enjoy everyone! Hope this helps you out during garden season! Enjoy this chili powder recipe!
Need a suggestion for a food dehydrator? I use this one and love it! I use it so often during the Summer!
Pin for later:
Chili Powder Recipe
PrintIngredients
- Jalapeno peppers - cut in half (amount of peppers is up to you)
- *Make sure your peppers are dry. If moist pat them with towel as the peppers will dry faster*
- *I take the seeds out because I find that they are too spicy with seeds. If you can handle the heat then leave the seeds in*
Instructions
- Cut each jalapeno pepper into half, place on food dehydrator sheet.
- Dehydrate at 125 degrees for 4-8 hours until brittle and will crumble upon a squeeze of the fingers. Check every 30 minutes as depending on the size of your pepper and dehydrator, time varies.
- For powder: Put dried jalapeno peppers in coffee grinder and grind until powder. Store in jar.
- For flakes: Put dried jalapeno pepper in food processor and pulse a few times until flakes. Store in jar. Be careful when opening up the food processor when you're done or you'll be coughing a cloud of jalapeno powder up! 🙂
Looking for more jalapeno recipes?
Try my…
Debbi Acuna says
What if you don’t have a good dehydrator?
Stacy Koss says
Hi 🙂
Love your article but have a question. You show yours on a baking sheet, how long and at what temp?
Thanks!!
John Matthews says
Hi,
Thanks for the great article! I was wondering if you can give a ballpark estimate as to the ratio of fresh peppers to powder? For example does 2 lbs of fresh peppers yield 1 cup of powder or 1/2 cup or 1/4 cup, etc?
Thanks,
John
Christopher Pope says
Whats the best way to tell by look when they are done and ready to ground?
Donna says
Could the peppers be dried in the oven?
Pamela says
Hey Donna, they can. What’s the lowest your oven goes?
LoveTheHeat says
Great post, thank you!
Any ideas on how to make the powder more granular so you can’t easily inhale it? Think powdered sugar versus table sugar, well kind of… The problem I’ve had is that people can get lungs on fire just by opening the container, which can kick up a little jalapeño dust, which can accidentally get inhaled. The issue is even worse with peppers much hotter than jalapeños.
I’ve thought about trying to grind a lot less. The drawback is that it doesn’t apply evenly leaving some small chunky bits. Do a few chunky jalapeño bits actually sound enticing to you? They do to me also! But for sensitive guests, teeth crunching an even small solid chuck can be painful. Even for myself when using the very hottest peppers, it’s can be an unpleasant wake up call!
Any ideas or replies welcome. thanks again for the post! ?️
Becca says
I make a mixed hot pepper blend. I use mostly jalapeño but also include habenero, cayenne and ghost peppers I use bullet type blender to keep the pepper dust contained.
Zintia says
Bueno yo los puse en microhondas y salieron secos.. Asi q solo tener cuidado al momento de licuarlo .. por q si q sale picoso.. gracias por las receta
Pamela says
Hey Zintia, I don’t recommend using the microwave for this recipe.
Janet says
Can these be dried in the oven? I don’t have a dehydrator but would love to make these. What temp and how long in the oven?
Pamela says
200 degrees for about 2-4 hours – depends on how big and wet the peppers are. I’d look at them every 30 minutes to make sure they don’t burn.
J.J. says
I have a bag of peppers waiting for this. It dawned on me JALAPENO SALT. I bought a jar years ago havent found it since. Idk why it never dawned on me to make my own. Seriously! Try it on roasted sweet potatoe fries its SOOO GOOD! =) Thank you!!!!
Judy says
Can I process the crushed and dried jalapenos in a mason jar in a water bath for long term storage?
Pamela says
Hey Judy, I never did a water bath for this, but the powder in a mason jar stores for a LONG time.
Judy says
Thank you so much for a quick reply as I have already gotten a case of jalapenos
Debra says
Great idea. I have to make some to give as gifts this winter!
Ashley says
Chili powder, tomato powder … these posts are so cool!
Juliana says
This is such a nice thing to make with all the jalapenos…great idea Pam…I will keep this in mind when harvesting.
Have a wonderful rest of the week!
grace says
this is a really smart way to make the most of your crop! i can think of a zillion places to use something like pepper powder!
Amy (Savory Moments) says
This is another really neat preserving idea! I love it! A lot of times jalapeno plants go so crazy. We always can some pickled ones, but this will be another idea to try. Thanks!
GiGi Eats says
Gah! This is quite creative, that’s for sure! I am so not a spicy person though – I might be the ONLY ONE!!
Hotly Spiced says
How awesome to make your own dried spice powder. I think I’d be removing the seeds too. And I do like how you may never have to buy tomato sauce ever again xx
Kelly says
Oh my goodness, those peppers look gorgeous! I love everything you grow in your garden 🙂 So creative to make crushed chili pepper flakes. Love this recipe!
Jamie | The Kitchenarium says
YES!
Jess @ whatjessicabakednext says
Love this post, Pamela! Never ever thought about making my own chilli powder! Such a brilliant idea, definitely going to be trying this, thanks for sharing! 😀
Susan says
Wonderful idea! You keep insisting on making me with I had a dehydrator!
Pamela says
If you have lots of veggies and herbs I think it’s definitely worth the investment.
kristina says
I need to make this for my boyfriend… he puts peppers in EVERYTHING
http://dayinmydreams.com/
Pamela says
You’d be GF of the year!
denise@magnoliaverandah says
We have a freezer full of little bags of chilli. This is such a great idea to dry them.
Pamela says
This is a perfect idea for them Denise!
Saskia Ericson says
Have never even thought of making my own dried chilli powder – that is pure genius! And I just clicked thorough to your candied jalapeño recipe. Pinned it for trying later. I reckon I’ll be eating those straight from the jar. YUM.
Jessica @ Sweetest Menu says
This is SUCH a neat idea! I just like chilli and chilli flakes but I never ever thought to make my own. Brilliant!
Cailee says
YUM!! This looks so good!! I bet this makes the BEST tacos!! I’ve been super into Mexican food as of late!! …so this is totes perfect for me! Thanks for sharing!!
Angie@Angie's Recipes says
NOW I have to get some chilli peppers to make this!
Pamela says
Awesome, enjoy Angie!
Sues says
Love this idea!! We actually have quite a few jalapeños this year and I might just have to do this 🙂
Pamela says
I hope you do it, let me know how much you like it.
katie says
NO WAY. First you show me the tomato powder (which I’d been buying) and now this (which I’ve also been buying).
WHY am I not making these in my dehydrator?!?! On it.
PS I made tomato basil rollups this weekend. YUM.
Pamela says
You go girl, dehydrate your heart out! Yum, that sounds great. I think we need to swap some roll ups. I’ve been into watermelon lime lately.