If you’re a fan of hot and spicy dishes, you’re probably familiar with Serrano peppers. Serrano peppers are hotter than a lot of peppers out there. In fact, they’re one of the spiciest varieties.
The fact that Serrano peppers are so hot means they’re not to everyone’s taste. This, in turn, means that you might struggle to find them at your local store, or even if you can find them, you might want to use a slightly less spicy substitute if you’re cooking for other people who don’t have the same heat tolerance.
In this guide, we’ll be recommending our top 6 favorite Serrano pepper substitutes to help you prepare delicious meals with a kick!
What Are Serrano Peppers?
If you’re not an avid spice fan, you may never have heard of Serrano peppers. These peppers, also known as Capsicum annuum, are part of the chili family, and they’re a common staple of Southwestern and Mexican cooking.
As we mentioned earlier, Serrano peppers are a particularly hot pepper variety. The best way to measure spice is using the Scoville scale, and on that scale, Serrano peppers score somewhere between 10,000 and 23,000. That’s more than most chili peppers.
You can identify Serrano peppers by their small size, bright green color, and slender shape. If you taste them, you’ll know pretty quickly that you’re dealing with a Serrano pepper because of the heat and sharpness of its flavor profile.
An interesting fact about Serrano peppers is that their name contains the Spanish word for ‘mountainous’, indicating the pepper’s place of origin.
Uses For Serrano Peppers (And Substitutes)
Mostly, Serrano peppers are used in Southwestern and Mexican cuisine. This means that you might encounter them in a variety of Mexican dishes, from enchiladas to salsa and even spicy guacamole.
Fresh Serrano peppers are absolutely delicious and release a huge amount of flavor, but you can also dry out these peppers and grind them into a powder. Pickled Serrano peppers also have a unique taste that we recommend trying if you love sharp and powerful flavors.
Regardless of how you’re planning to use Serrano peppers, if you’re buying whole peppers yourself, you should make sure that they are vibrant and firm to the touch. Any brown spots or limpness is an indication that the pepper is past its best.
Keep your Serrano peppers refrigerated until you need to use them (two weeks at most) to ensure freshness.
Habanero peppers are one of the best substitutes for Serrano peppers, mostly because they’re extremely spicy. If you’re a fan of Serrano peppers and want something to challenge your taste buds even more, habanero peppers are the way to go.
Habaneros have a massive Scoville rating of 100,000 = 350,000. If you think Jalapeños are spicy, you should probably steer clear of these peppers because they’re literally 100 times spicier.
That said, if you can’t get enough of eye-watering spice, you could use habanero peppers instead of Serrano peppers to bump up the heat of your dish.
Just remember to wear gloves when handling these peppers to avoid irritating your skin, and above all, do not touch your eyes!
If you’re on the opposite end of the heat-tolerance spectrum from those who would dare to try habanero peppers, and you really can’t handle spice at all, you’ll want to swap Serrano peppers for something much milder.
The safest choice, in this case, is the bell pepper. Bell peppers are not even slightly spicy, so you can safely include bell peppers in your cooking without pain.
These fruits come in a variety of vibrant colors, from yellow to bright green. If you want to replicate the look of Serrano peppers without the fiery taste, just use green bell peppers. The green peppers have a slight bitterness to them, but they’re ultimately mild-flavored and versatile.
Whether you’re making food with a Mexican origin, such as guacamole or fajitas, or just looking for something to add to your pizza, the bell pepper is an excellent choice.
Jalapeño peppers are not quite as spicy as Serrano peppers, but they still add a spicy kick to your cooking. If you enjoy spice, but find Serrano peppers to be too much, Jalapeño peppers are the ideal substitute.
Found in Mexican, Southwestern, and Tex-Mex dishes, Jalapeño peppers originate from Mexico and are known for their savory spiciness.
When cooked, Jalapeños become a little less spicy, so if you want to town down the heat even further, just cook them a little longer.
You can find yellow and red Jalapeño peppers, but if you want to replicate Serrano peppers as closely as possible, we recommend choosing the green ones. You can use these as a seamless substitute to make chili, guacamole, or salsa.
Fresno peppers might look like Jalapeño peppers, but beware – their spice levels are closer to those of Serrano peppers.
This means that, if you’re someone who loves spice, they make a great substitute for Serranos, but if you’re looking for something less intense, you should probably look at some of our other substitutes.
Fresno peppers are not easy to find, so you might actually have more luck finding Serrano peppers at your local store.
However, if you do happen to come across these while grocery shopping, you can rest assured that they will work perfectly as a Serrano pepper substitute.
Banana peppers are a good middle-ground substitute if you enjoy some spice in your cooking, but don’t want to go quite as far as Serrano peppers.
They can range from mild to medium, and while they’re usually a banana-like yellow color, they can also be orange, green, red, or even brown.
You can add banana peppers to just about any dish that you want to make spicier. They work well on pizzas, but they’re equally delicious in sandwiches and salads. Pickled banana peppers have a particularly interesting flavor.
Finally, if you’re really struggling to find Serrano peppers and our other substitutes don’t work for you, cayenne pepper is one of the easiest substitutes for Serrano peppers.
You should be able to find Cayenne pepper easily in the spice section of your grocery store. Its primary ingredient is capsaicin, which is a very spicy compound.
Not only does capsaicin contribute a lot of spice in small quantities, it also has various nutritional benefits, including high quantities of vitamin C and vitamin A. It even has some medicinal properties, such as boosting immunity, enhancing circulation, and reducing pain symptoms.
Just be careful not to add too much Cayenne pepper, especially if you’re sensitive to spice. Even the smallest amount is enough to add plenty of heat.
Final Thoughts
Serrano peppers might not be the easiest peppers to find at the store, and they may be much too spicy for some people, but luckily, there are plenty of great substitutes for this particular pepper.
You can replace Serrano peppers with milder options like bell peppers, banana peppers, and jalapeños. Alternatively, you can turn up the heat with Cayenne pepper, habanero peppers, or Fresno peppers, depending on your spice tolerance. Always add hot peppers to taste.
Hi, I’m Aubrey, and I have been a chef for close to 8 years. Cooking has always been a passion of mine, as long as I can remember. I loved my play kitchen when I was a kid, and would offer my parents my own (albeit gross) cookie recipes to taste!
Here at ButterandSaltGatherings, I want to offer a wide range of ingredients, flavors, meals and recipes so that you can start living each day to the fullest, and enjoy only the best food.
