Anaheim Pepper
Anaheim peppers are long, mild green chiles (roughly 500 to 2,500 Scoville units) central to Southwestern and Mexican cooking, especially for roasting, stuffing, and stewing.
How to buy
Choose peppers that are firm, glossy, and unwrinkled, bright green in color (they also ripen to red, which is sweeter and a touch hotter). Heat can vary noticeably even within the same bag, so one pepper can be milder or sharper than the next.
How to store
Store fresh in the fridge crisper in a loosely sealed bag for up to two weeks. Roasted and peeled peppers freeze well for months, which is the common way to preserve a large batch after roasting.
Culinary profile
- Flavor
- Mild, grassy, and slightly sweet with a gentle vegetal warmth rather than real burn. Roasting over an open flame adds a smoky depth that defines many New Mexican and Southwestern dishes.
- Texture
- Crisp and thick-walled raw, which makes it well suited to stuffing; roasting softens the flesh and loosens the skin for easy peeling.
- Aroma
- Fresh, green, slightly sweet pepper smell that turns smoky and charred once roasted.
How to prepare
- Roasted and peeled — Charred over open flame to soften the flesh and loosen the skin for peeling.
- Stuffed — Hollowed and filled with cheese or meat for chiles rellenos.
- Diced — Added raw or cooked to stews, salsas, and casseroles for mild heat.
- Rajas (strips) — Roasted and sliced into strips for tacos, quesadillas, and egg dishes.
Classic dishes
American
- Hatch green chile stew — A New Mexican stew built around roasted, peeled green chiles and pork or potatoes.
- Green chile cheeseburger — A Southwestern diner classic topped with roasted Hatch or Anaheim chiles.
- Green chile breakfast burrito — Eggs and potatoes wrapped with roasted green chile for a New Mexican breakfast staple.
- Green chile corn chowder — A creamy corn soup given Southwestern character with roasted green chile.
- New Mexican green chile pork stew — Braised pork and potatoes in a roasted green chile sauce, a regional comfort classic.
Mexican
- Chiles rellenos — A whole roasted Anaheim stuffed with cheese, battered, and fried.
- Chile verde — Pork simmered in a roasted green chile and tomatillo sauce.
- Green chile enchiladas — Corn tortillas rolled and smothered in a roasted green chile sauce.
- Rajas con crema — Roasted chile strips simmered in cream, often with onion and corn.
- Chile con queso — A melted cheese dip given mild heat and depth from diced roasted chile.
- Roasted chile and cheese quesadilla — Rajas folded into melted cheese between griddled tortillas.
- Calabacitas — A squash and corn sauté brightened with roasted green chile strips.
- Posole verde — A hominy and pork soup colored and flavored with roasted green chiles and tomatillo.
- Roasted chile salsa verde — Charred Anaheim blended with tomatillo and garlic into a mild green salsa.
- Stuffed chile with rice and cheese — A simpler, unbreaded take on chiles rellenos baked with a rice and cheese filling.