Want to learn how to make chili powder? This simple guide will teach you how to dry chili peppers in either a food dehydrator or oven, and then turn the dried peppers into a versatile, spicy seasoning powder. Bright, complex and flavorful, homemade chili powder puts store-bought chili powder to shame! Our chili powder recipe is simple to make, includes tips for the best flavor and color retention possible, and is easily customized to your tastebuds using any kind of peppers you prefer. (You can even follow the same steps to make homemade paprika using sweet red peppers!) This is one of our go-to ways to preserve peppers from the garden, so we often blend several varieties. Disclosure: Homestead and Chill is reader-supported. When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission. Ingredients and Supplies Peppers of choice. I like to use a combination of both hot chilis and a few mild or sweet peppers to create a balanced, flavorful, not insanely-spicy finished chili powder. Keep in mind that the color of your peppers will influence color of the final powder too. (Since we used red, yellow and green in this example, it turned reddish-brown). Food dehydrator, or oven and baking trays Blender or food processor Large pot and bowl, for the optional blanch and ice bath step Gloves – optional but recommended! Caution! It may go without saying, but be careful when working with hot peppers. Capsaicin, the neuropeptide within chilis that makes them spicy, is a corrosive irritant. I recommend wearing gloves during prep (and still be cautious with what you touch). I also suggest drying hot peppers in a well-ventilated room with the windows open. RELATED: Looking for more ways to preserve peppers? Don’t miss our delicious cowboy candy recipe, easy refrigerator pickled peppers, sweet-n-spicy jalapeño honey, or our popular fermented hot sauce recipe. INSTRUCTIONS 1) Prepare Chilis Inspect your chili peppers of choice, and avoid using any with soft spots, disease, or other signs of rotting. Wash the peppers, cut off the top stem portion, and then slice the chilis in half lengthwise.  Unless you’re a heat-loving heathen, I suggest to scoop out and discard the seeds and inner white membrane (the hottest part). It’s fine if a few seeds or a little membrane is left behind, but overall we try to remove most of them. 2) Blanch Peppers (optional) This step is totally optional, but offers some benefit! Much like blanching veggies before freezing them, quickly blanching chilis in hot water destroys certain enzymes – which in turn slows how the peppers degrade over time. Quickly heating the peppers also enhances their complexity of flavor. Therefore, blanching chilis helps maintain the best flavor, color, and texture of the dried chili powder. Heat a pot of water on the stovetop, full enough to completely submerge your prepped chilis. While it is heating, set up an ice-bath (a bowl full of ice water) also large enough to hold the chili peppers. Once the water reaches a rolling boil, put the chilis in the hot water, return to a boil, and blanch for one minute. Take note of the time or set a timer. Don’t overcook them! After one minute, either carefully strain away the hot water or scoop the chilis out with a slotted spoon to get them into the ice bath as quickly as possible to stop the cooking process. Use caution; the steam from the pot will be extra spicy! Once the chilis are completely cool, strain away the ice bath water. 2) Dehydrate Peppers  Now it’s time to dry the peppers until they’re 100% crisp and dry. It’s key to completely dry them to prevent your homemade chili powder from spoiling or clumping! See instructions to do so in either a food dehydrator or the oven below. I prefer to use a dehydrator over the oven since both methods take several hours, and we can put the dehydrator in a separate room (or the garage) with the door closed and windows open. It’s also much easier to fully, properly dry things in a dehydrator without the risk of burning, achieving maximum color and nutrient retention with little-to-no oversight required. Using a food dehydrator  Spread the blanched (or raw) chili peppers on food dehydrator trays in a single layer, not overlapping. Set the dehydrator to 125°F (or the designated “vegetable setting” on your dehydrator), and dry until they’re completely crisp. Depending on your dehydrator, you may want to rotate the trays every few hours to promote even drying. (I don’t find the need to do so in our Excalibur since the fan is in the back, but previously had to with an older dehydrator where the fan was in the top lid.) The peppers are finished drying when they snap and crunch when bent, and don’t have any flexibility or moisture left to them. The time it takes for the chilis to fully dry will vary depending on your machine, and the thickness or type of peppers used. Ours usually take around 14 to 18 hours. Drying chili peppers in the oven  Preheat your oven to 150 to 175°F. The lower the temperature the better to avoid burning the peppers. The goal is to dry them, not cook them! Lay the chili pepper slices out on a baking sheet. Use a slotted baking rack if you have one to increase airflow around the peppers and reduce the need to turn them. To promote quicker drying, it may be worthwhile to cut larger peppers into slightly smaller slices than when using a dehydrator – no more than 1 inch wide. You can also try turning the oven up to 200F, but keep a close eye on them so they don’t burn! Place the trays of peppers in the oven, and allow to dry until they’re completely crisp. The time can vary from 4 to 8 hours or more, depending on the size and thickness of the chili peppers. Flip them over every hour or two. 4) Grind Into Chili Powder To transform the dried chili peppers into powder, we grind them in a powerful Vitamix blender until the desired consistency is reached. You can also use a food processor, large coffee grinder, or similar appliance. If you dehydrated a fairly small batch of chili peppers, you may end up grinding them all at once. However, a pepper-loving gardener friend once told us that dried chilis stay most fresh and flavorful when stored whole, and ground into powder in small batches as needed. So if you dry a large amount of peppers like we do, consider grinding just a portion – such as enough to fill one spice jar at a time. Storage and Shelf Life Finally, transfer your ground chili powder (or whole dried chili peppers) in a glass container with an air-tight lid. We often use half-pint mason jars, though you can also save and reuse old spice jars! Homemade chili powder will stay good for over a year when properly dried and stored in a fairly cool, dry, dark location (e.g. a pantry or cupboard). Whole dried peppers will also last at least a year. If you live in a humid climate, you may want to tuck one of these sustainable food desiccant packets inside the jar to help keep them crisp. A jar of powder for now, two big jars of whole dried chilis to grind later for refills. Enjoy! Well friends, I hope you enjoy this easy homemade chili powder recipe as much as we do. If so, please do us a solid and leave a review below once you give it a try! We love sprinkling chili powder over sautéed vegetables or eggs, added to soups, salsa, guacamole, hummus, tacos, vegetarian chili, and more! You can also mix chili powder with other seasonings (think salt, garlic powder or onion powder) to create your own homemade custom spice blend. Don’t miss these related posts: Best Cowboy Candy Recipe (Candied Jalapeños) Canning or Refrigerator  How to Grow Peppers and Chilis: Seed to Harvest Preserving Garlic: How to Make Homemade Garlic Powder Quick & Easy Refrigerator Pickled Peppers Recipe How to Make Homemade Onion Powder (Dehydrator or Oven) How to Make Tomato Powder (Fresh Tomatoes or Skins) Print Easy Homemade Chili Powder (Oven or Dehydrator) Make easy homemade chili powder by drying peppers in the oven or food dehydrator. Use just one chili pepper variety or mix several (e.g. spicy and sweet) to create a more complex, balanced, flavorful chili powder. Prep Time 30 minutes minutesDrying Time 16 hours hours EquipmentFood Dehydrator, or OvenBlender, food processor, coffee grinder, or other appliance for grinding IngredientsChili peppers of choice Optional: sweet and mild peppers InstructionsUse caution when working with hot peppers! I recommend wearing gloves, and opening windows (or dehydrate them in a separate room/garage with the door close and windows open.Wash chili peppers of choice. Select peppers in good condition, free of disease or damage.Cut off the top stem portion, then cut the peppers in half lengthwise. Remove excess seeds and membranes from inside the peppers (unless you want it extra spicy). Optional blanching for maximum color/flavor retention: bring a pot of water to a rolling boil. Add prepped chili peppers, and blanch for one minute.Remove peppers from hot water and immediately into an ice bath (ice water in bowl) to stop the cooking process. Once they're fully cool, strain peppers from water. Spread blanched (or raw) peppers in a single layer on dehydrator trays, or on baking sheets for the oven. Do not overlap. In the oven, dry the peppers on 150-175F until they're 100% crisp and dry. This will take several hours. Flip and turn the peppers once every hour or so (or use a slotted oven rack to increase airflow). You can try turning up the oven to 200F, but keep an eye on them so they don't burn! In a food dehydrator: dry chili peppers on 125F for until they are completely dry and crisp with no moisture left. They should crunch, crumble, or snap when bent. Time will vary depending on peppers and dehydrator use, but should be done within 12-24 hours. (You may want to to rotate your dehydrator trays every few hours if the fan is in the lid or bottom.) Once fully dry, either store whole dried peppers in a jar with a tight-fitting lid until needed, or grind into chili powder for immediate use. Grind dry peppers into a powder using a blender, food processor, coffee grinder, or mortar and pestle. The flavor is best if chilis are ground in smaller batches, one spice jar worth at a time, and store extra dried chilis whole until a refill is needed. Store in a glass container with an air-tight lid in a moderately cool, dark, dry location. It will be good for over a year stored in the pantry. Did you enjoy this article? Want to hear more? Stay in touch! Sign up below to receive weekly updates on new posts from Homestead and Chill. The post Homemade Chili Powder Recipe (How to Dry Peppers in a Dehydrator or Oven) appeared first on Homestead and Chill.