RawSpiceBar provides a range of quality paprika, chili powder, and cayenne for those looking to explore these spices. We offer various grades and flavors to suit any culinary need, from mild to fiery hot.

Where to find it?

To recreate the spice of hot paprika, the best substitute is another dried chilli, like ground cayenne, aleppo pepper powder, crushed red pepper flakes, red chilli powder, or even a dash of hot sauce. If your recipe calls for smokiness and sweetness, try chipotle chilli powder or ancho pepper powder. Chipotle powder has a smoky taste, but is hotter than paprika with a more earthy flavour, lending itself to barbecue sauces, rubs and chillis. Due to the difference in heat, use a ¼ teaspoon of chipotle powder for every teaspoon of paprika and adjust depending on your taste buds.

If you’re looking to replicate the flavour of sweet paprika add a pinch of sugar or some honey. Adding mild chilli powder or tomato powder works too. Bell peppers are another great substitute for sweet paprika and they come from the same Capsicum annuum family. Mild, sweet and aromatic, bell peppers give the same delicious taste and aroma, while adding a splash of colour too. When buying your bell peppers, make sure they’re nice and ripe.

One of the best substitutes for paprika is cayenne pepper. It’s a spicy chilli pepper, used to flavour many different cuisines and quite similar in colour. It’s a lot stronger and hotter than paprika, so if you’re using it as a substitute in your cooking, make sure you use a lesser quantity. If you have a lower tolerance to spicy food, you can add salt, cream, chopped tomatoes or more liquid (water or broth) to try and dial down the heat.

Like paprika, chilli powder packs a lot of flavour and is another worthy substitute. It’s also not as spicy as cayenne pepper, so you can use the same quantities.  The same goes for cajun spices. A combination of black and white pepper, plus other herbs and spices, it can work as a good substitute for smoked or sweet paprika, offering a similar flavour. But you won’t get the same beautiful red colour – more of an orange, warm hue.

You can also use cumin instead of paprika. But it’s a lot hotter, so go easy on the quantities. Like cajun spices, you won’t achieve the gorgeous red colour of paprika, as cumin has more of a yellowy-brown colouring, but you’ll still get an earthy flavour with hints of bitterness and sweetness.

Bell peppers belong to the same nightshade (or Solanaceae) plant family as tomatoes, eggplants, potatoes, and chili peppers. The peppers in this nightshade plant family are scientifically classified as Capsicum annuum, and this is applied to both the sweet (like bell peppers) and hot peppers (like jalapeños and cayenne) varieties in this particular plant family. There are many different cultivars of Capsicum, or peppers, which are classified under different species names. For example, the habanero chile is categorized under the Capsicum chinense.

Chinese crushed red pepper, also known as Chinese chili flakes, brings a bold, spicy flavor to dishes. These flakes are made from dried chili peppers and are widely used in Chinese cuisine to add heat and aroma to stir-fries, noodle dishes, and sauces. Chinese crushed red pepper varies in heat level, with some varieties offering a mild warmth suitable for enhancing flavors without overwhelming dishes, while others provide a fiery kick that intensifies the heat.

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