Pasilla Powder: Ground Chile Negro, Its Flavor, Heat and Uses

Pasilla takes its name from raisins, pasas in Spanish, and the powder lives up to it: mild, very dark and dried-fruity. It’s ground pasilla chile, a dried chile also called chile negro, and its fresh form is the dark green chilaca. It’s one of the backbones of Mexican mole, where ancho, mulato and pasilla are often called “the holy trinity.”¹ And it isn’t an ancho, even though grocery stores often mix up the two.²

At a glance

Pasilla, chilaca and the name

The pasilla, also known as chile negro, is one of the most common Mexican chiles. Its fresh form, the chilaca, is dark green, almost black, and gets used much more rarely. The Codex international standard for dried chile lists “Pasilla” among the varietal names of chilli pepper it covers.⁵

The name comes from the chile’s resemblance to raisins, pasas in Spanish, in texture and smell. You’ll often read that chilaca comes from a Nahuatl word for “old.” None of the sources we opened confirms or rules that out.

Not an ancho. Pasilla and ancho are different chiles. Gernot Katzer notes that a dried poblano may be an ancho or a mulato, while the pasilla is the dried chilaca. He also warns that the same chile cultivar may be sold under different names.¹ PepperScale says dried pasillas and anchos often get mislabeled as each other in grocery stores, though the pasilla is much narrower.² You’ll also hear that some US growers and stores sell fresh poblanos labeled “pasilla.” No source we could open documents it, so check the shape and color: chilacas are long and slender, poblanos broad and heart-shaped.

Not pasilla de Oaxaca. Katzer pictures the pasilla de Oaxaca as a chile that’s dried and smoked, unlike ordinary pasilla. A jar labeled “pasilla de Oaxaca” should taste of smoke.

Origin. The species Capsicum annuum is native from the southern United States to Brazil and the Caribbean, and four lines of evidence point to its domestication in central-east Mexico.³ None of the sources we checked documents where the chilaca type was developed, which Mexican states grow it now, or whether it traveled abroad in the Columbian exchange.

Flavor

The name points to a raisin-like smell. Ground pasilla tastes dark and dried-fruity, with a slight bitterness and an herbal, almost cocoa-like depth. PepperScale describes it as earthy, sweet and fruity, with hints of cocoa and a little berry.

How hot is pasilla?

How to read this:

• Neither CPI nor Katzer gives a number. Both class pasilla as mild or low.
• The Codex threshold is a category boundary, not a measurement of any pasilla.
• PepperScale’s 1,000 to 2,500 SHU is a general rating, not a measurement. It’s where the widely repeated figures come from, and it doesn’t say how the range was arrived at. We found no measurement of a named lot. NMSU notes that HPLC is the most accurate way to measure chile heat and that Scoville taste tests are subjective.⁶

How it is used

Mole. Mexico’s agriculture ministry says dried ancho, mulato, mirasol, guajillo and pasilla go mainly to the artisanal mole industry.⁷ Katzer writes that ancho, mulato and pasilla are often called “the holy trinity” and flavor mole rojo, also known as mole poblano.¹ El Universal also lists pasilla among the chiles in mole poblano. Katzer regards Oaxaca as the home of the moles, with seven classical recipes, and notes that mole negro needs the costly and rare chilhuacle negro. See mole powder.

Sauces and salsas. Pasilla goes into table sauces and salsas, and the peppers are ground into powder for similar uses or as a seasoning. A few good places for the powder:

• Red enchilada sauce, tortilla soup and chili. See best spices for chili.
• Rubs for beef, pork and mushrooms.
• Black beans and lentils.
• Anywhere you want chile flavor and color with little heat.

PepperScale suggests rehydrated pasillas for sauces, stews, soups, salsas and marinades and the powder for rubs, and names red meats like lamb and beef, cumin, and fire-roasted tomatoes as good partners.

Technique. Like other ground chiles, pasilla powder burns easily. Warm it briefly in oil over moderate heat, or add it with the liquid.

Buying and quality

• Check the label. Pure pasilla powder lists only pasilla chile. A jar that adds cumin, oregano or salt is a blend.
• Color and smell. Good powder is very dark brown to nearly black and smells of raisins. Pale, dusty powder has faded.
• Smoked or not. “Pasilla de Oaxaca” is a smoked chile, so buy it on purpose, not by mistake.

Storage

Keep the powder airtight, dark and cool. We found no shelf-life figure for pasilla powder from a regulator or standards body. For whole dried pasillas, PepperScale says they keep a year or more if stored properly. That’s a writer’s guidance for the pods, not a tested figure for the powder.² When the dried-fruit smell is gone, replace it.

Nutrition and health

USDA FoodData Central has an entry for whole dried pasilla peppers, with one pepper weighing 7 g. It has no entry for the powder and no teaspoon weight.⁸ Per pepper:

A whole pepper is more pasilla than most servings hold. A teaspoon of powder in a dish for four gives you far less.

Capsaicin. The strongest human evidence is for a prescription skin patch, not chile in food. A 2017 Cochrane systematic review found moderate-quality evidence that a high-concentration (8%) capsaicin patch gave moderate pain relief to a minority of people with postherpetic neuralgia.¹⁰ None of the sources we reviewed supports claims that pasilla helps prevent prostate or breast cancer or fights arthritis. We’re not claiming pasilla treats or prevents any disease.

Safety

• Mycotoxins (EU). EU law caps ochratoxin A at 20 µg/kg in dried Capsicum fruits, whole or ground, and sets 5.0 µg/kg for aflatoxin B1 and 10.0 µg/kg for total aflatoxins.¹¹
• Handling. Even mild chile powders irritate eyes, so wash your hands after handling.

Substitutes and comparisons

• Pasilla powder substitutes. PepperScale names ancho as the usual first choice.²
• Other Mexican chile powders: ancho powder (and ancho substitutes), guajillo powder, chipotle powder
• Related: chili powder, paprika