A guajillo chili is a variety of chili pepper of the species capsicum annuum, which is widely used in Mexican cuisine. It is the most popular dried chili in Mexico after poblanos (ancho). The guajillo chili’s thin, deep-red flesh has a green tea flavor with berry overtones. Its fruits are large and mild in flavor. With only a small amount of heat, they are often used to make the salsa for tamales: the dried fruits are seeded, soaked, pulverized to a thin paste, then cooked with salt and several other ingredients to produce a thick, red, flavorful sauce.

Guajillo chilies are great in pastes, butters or rubs to flavor all kinds of meats – especially chicken. Alternatively, they can be added to salsas to create a sweet side dish with a surprisingly hot finish. A typical guajillo chili has an elongated shape, often with a slight curve. Individual peppers are usually between 10 to 15 cm with a reddish or brownish color when fully ripened. Green, immature guajillos may also be harvested and used in cooking.

When cooked, the mature peppers tend to give food a yellowish color. Those who cook with guajillo chili enjoy the slightly fruity, berrylike sweetness and medium spice of the peppers, along with some tannic and pine hints. Because of this pepper’s sweetness to spiciness ratio, guajillo chilies are often used in the Mexican sauce known as mole. This type of sauce often contains bitter chocolate, raisins, and several other ingredients. Ancho, pasilla and guajillo chilies are popularly categorized as the “holy trinity peppers”, and are considered among the best for making an authentic mole sauce.