What can I make with chili powder?
Wondering what to make with chili powder? Below are recipes from our library that use it, followed by practical cooking, storage, and substitution notes for chili powder.
9 recipes with chili powder
Street Corn (Elote)
Grilled corn slathered in creamy chile-lime sauce and cotija.
Mexican15m4
Fish Tacos
Crispy or grilled fish in warm tortillas with cabbage slaw and crema.
Mexican-American20m4
Classic Beef Chili
Hearty American chili with beans and warm spices.
American60m6
Hainanese Chicken Rice
Poached chicken with fragrant rice cooked in the poaching broth.
Singaporean75m4Tacos Al Pastor
A flavorful and colorful Mexican dish inspired by shawarma, made with marinated pork, onions, cilantro, and pineapple, served in a warm tortilla.
Mexican75m4
Stuffed Bell Peppers with Quinoa and Black Beans
1.
Mexican4
Barramundi with Moroccan spices
step 1 Tip all the dressing ingredients into a food processor with a pinch of salt and blitz to a dressing.
Australian4
Chilli ginger lamb chops
step 1 Put the garlic in a bowl with the ginger, lemon juice, oil, spices and seasoning.
Turkish4
Smoky Lentil Chili with Squash
Begin by roasting the squash.
British4
How to cook with chili powder
- 1Start with aromatics - onion, garlic, or ginger softened in fat - then add the chili powder.
- 2Season early and taste as you go rather than salting only at the end.
- 3Give it enough heat and enough space; a crowded pan steams instead of browning.
- 4Finish with acid and fresh herbs, the two things that make a simple dish taste deliberate.
What goes well with chili powder
Chili Powder is at its best with onion, garlic, olive oil, lemon, herbs and black pepper. Any two or three of those, plus chili powder, is already a dinner rather than an ingredient list.
Storing chili powder
Store chili powder sealed and cool, and use the oldest stock first. If it is close to turning, cook it rather than throwing it out - roasting, soup, and a quick sauce all forgive slightly past-peak ingredients.
Substituting chili powder
If you are out of chili powder, look for something that behaves the same way in the pan rather than something that tastes the same. Match the moisture level, the cooking time, and the richness, and adjust the liquid slightly if your substitute releases more water. When in doubt, describe what you actually have in the chat and Mr. Chef will rewrite the recipe around it.
Chili Powder recipes: common questions
- What can I make with chili powder and not much else?
- Plenty. With chili powder plus an onion, garlic, oil, and salt you already have the base of a skillet dinner, a soup, or a simple sauce. Add a starch - rice, pasta, bread, or potatoes - and it becomes a full meal. The recipes above are ordered so the ones needing the fewest extra items come first.
- What is the quickest chili powder recipe?
- Look for the entries above marked 20 minutes or less. As a rule, anything cut small and cooked in a hot pan beats anything roasted whole, and one-pan recipes save more time in cleanup than in cooking.
- Can I substitute chili powder?
- In most recipes yes, as long as the replacement plays a similar role - similar moisture, similar cooking time, similar richness. Swapping across roles (a watery vegetable for a starchy one, for instance) usually needs a change in liquid or cooking time too.
- How do I use up leftover chili powder?
- Fried rice, a frittata, a grain bowl, a soup, or a quesadilla will absorb almost any leftover chili powder without a recipe. If you want something specific, tell Mr. Chef exactly what is in the fridge and it will build a recipe around it.