Guajillo Chili Powder

Guajillo is the backbone of a real Mexican sauce: deep burgundy color, a mild-to-medium warmth, and a flavor that runs sweet and fruity with notes of dried berry and a whisper of wood smoke. This is one of the foundational chilies of the Mexican kitchen, the base of countless moles, adobos, salsas, and marinades, where its job is less about heat and more about body and color.

The guajillo starts as the mirasol pepper, named for the way its pods grow pointing up toward the sun. Once ripened and sun-dried, the pods turn deep, glassy red and leathery, and that slow drying is what concentrates the sweet, tart, faintly smoky character cooks prize. Ground, it dissolves smoothly into a sauce base or a paste.

Its heat sits in mild-to-medium territory, roughly on par with a mild jalapeno, which makes it approachable and easy to build on. Toast it briefly or steep it into a sauce and the fruit and smoke open up. Pair it with ancho for sweetness or chile de arbol for more kick when you want to layer chilies.

We stone-grind in small batches in Portland so the color stays vivid and the aroma fresh. No salt, no sugar, no preservatives. Naturally gluten-free and vegan.