Some good New Mexico Chile substitutes include Anaheim Chile or Guajillo Chile, Chile de Arbol, which are related to New Mexico Chiles (in the same Capsicum annuum species) and can provide great flavor to your chile dishes.
The Anaheim Chile – also known as California chile or Magdalena, is a medium-sized mild chile used in Southwestern cuisines – is actually the granddaddy of all the current New Mexico green chile pod types! It was originally known as New Mexico No. 9, developed by Dr. Fabian Garcia in 1913 at New Mexico State University. He was seeking a chile pepper that was bigger, fleshier, and milder. Dr. Garcia later moved to California in the 1920s and started growing them in the Anaheim area, which is why it is known as Anaheims today.
Of course, if you garden, you can grow your own New Mexico Chile from seeds, and you can also grow Anaheims and Guajillos and lots of other New Mexico Chile varieties that will delight your tastebuds. We also have been known to add Jalapenos to our dishes, as they also provide great flavor, especially when fire-roasted and peeled/de-seeded like you'd do with chile.
The great thing about growing your own New Mexican Chile seeds is that you can choose the heat level you want, and grow a variety of plants so you can enjoy a variety of flavors and spice-levels. check out our Green Chile List by Heat - Mild to Hot to pick out the heat levels that are just right for you – or grow a few different varieties so that you can mix them together for just the right amount of heat depending on who you're feeding. :)
New Mexico's famous Hatch Chiles are known worldwide for their incredible flavor, and they are called Hatch because they are grown in the Hatch Valley area in southwestern New Mexico. What is special about Hatch chile? Hatch chile offer an ideal balance of heat and sweetness and they are considered by many to be the best tasting of all chile peppers - especially when roasted! The famous Hatch Chile flavor of these peppers is said to come from the special growing conditions in the Hatch region of New Mexico – including the soil and the climate. If you ever have a chance to try Hatch Green Chile from the Hatch region in New Mexico, you're in for a treat! The smoky, buttery deliciousness of roasted Hatch chile is hard to beat. But, don't worry, you don't have to garden in New Mexico to enjoy the flavor – these Hatch Chile varieties, wherever grown, still taste amazing.
Also don't miss out on growing the Pueblo Mosco Chile and the Pueblo Giadone Chile – these Pueblo, Colorado chile also taste great, albeit a little different than New Mexico chile varieties. These Pueblo chiles have a little more heat and tend to have thicker walls, making them very easy to roast. We love growing them alongside our New Mexico chile plants so we can enjoy all the amazing flavors that all of these chiles all have to offer.
Piquillo peppers from Spain are delicious, too!
We suggest when substituting New Mexico Chile with other peppers, don't limit yourself to just New Mexican Chile relatives like Anaheims or Guajillos, you can also grow all the peppers of the world in your garden so you can experience the amazing variety of international flavors in your cooking. Even common bell peppers have great flavor that really shine with roasted. Of course you could go more exotic and grow the delicously sweet Piquillo pepper which is heavenly topping when roasted, diced and drizzled with olive oil (make our homemade Marinated Piquillo Peppers Recipe). Roasting most peppers results in a more buttery, sweeter more rich flavored pepper, and we have a ton of peppers from beyond New Mexico that are guaranteed to thrill your tastebuds.
