Spicy Beef Stew

Hearty comfort with a fiery side… We love the pairing of traditional comfort foods with a little extra spicy kick. It satisfies so many cravings all at once. Take, for instance, this spicy beef stew recipe: It provides the hearty comfort food eating you’d expect with …

Old Bay Sunflower Seeds

by Matt Bray

A perfect Chesapeake snack…

Sure, you can opt for the packaged options, but for us do-it-yourselfers in the kitchen, making it from scratch is so much fun. There’s a delicious simmering heat to Old Bay which we just love, so simple recipes like this homemade Old Bay sunflower seed recipe are right up our alley. It’s quick to make, and there’s that spicy seasoned Maryland crab seasoning flavor that makes you sit up and take notice. To us, it’s a perfect snack – simple, crunchy, a little heat, and a whole lot of spice. Oh, and let’s not forget healthier than most.

Spicy Chicken Curry

by Matt Bray

Spiced through and through… This spicy chicken curry is chock full of spices, from fiery cayenne pepper to flavorful garam masala. It’s a long list of ingredients, but don’t be fooled. This, like many curries, is surprisingly simple to pull together with minimal prep work to …

Baharat Spice Blend

by Matt Bray

Middle Eastern flair…

If you’re cooking spicy Middle Eastern food, you’re going to run into the need for Baharat. It’a popular spice blend made of some of the most aromatic spices in the world, including nutmeg, cinnamon, and cloves. Try it as a rub (it works well with chicken, beef, or lamb), or mix it into sauces and stews to provide an aromatic warmth to the dish. You can also simply use it as a condiment to add a little extra spice to vegetables, dipping sauces, or bland meats.

The heat in Baharat comes in two forms. First, chili pepper based paprika provides the true spiciness. Due to the dilution among the other spices, it’s a mellower warmth, so feel free to increase the amount to match your spiciness tolerance (or opt for a hot paprika instead of a generic or sweet variety).

Second is a good amount of black pepper that provides a pungent earthiness to the mix. It adds a subtle warmth along with that well known black pepper bite. Together with the paprika it’s a powerful combo that matches the flavor intensity of the more aromatic spices.

Fiery Sriracha Butter

by Matt Bray

So buttery good, and then there’s that kick…

Sriracha sauce can take the simplest of condiments and turn it into something so much more. For instance, when butter meets the Rooster sauce, your refrigerator may never be the same. This Sriracha butter recipe is delicious drizzled atop fried chicken, burgers, and even scrambled eggs. It’s also total spicy heaven as a French fry dip. Really many fried foods pair very well here.

We recommend a pinch of cayenne powder to top of the heat, but if “too spicy” is a concern (what?!), omit it, taste the butter post-blending, and add to taste.

Spicy Homemade Chili Powder

by Matt Bray

Some extra oomph…

Many don’t realize, but chili powder is, in fact, a seasoning mix made from many ingredients, including cumin, garlic powder, and oregano. It’s one of the reasons chili powder typically doesn’t pack too much punch in the spicy department. The other reason: Store bought chili powders often use lesser-heat peppers, like poblano pepper, as the hot pepper base. So store-bought chili powders are typically mild. But any true spicy food fan won’t settle with simmer, so why not make a batch of spicy homemade chili powder for yourself ?

This recipe includes ingredients you likely already have in your spice rack, so pulling together a fiery DIY chili powder is really simple. It’s balanced for that little extra oomph, mixing paprika with cayenne pepper powder to stoke the flames. You can raise the ante even more by opting for a hot paprika instead of a mild variety. To learn more about the different levels of paprika spiciness, take a look at our article Is Paprika Spicy?

Spicy Beef Tacos

by Matt Bray

Spice up your taco night…

Sure you can reach for a packet of taco seasoning to prepare your ground beef for taco night, but why not dive into that spice rack and turn things up a notch instead? We amp up the spicy beef with cayenne pepper kick. That delicious taco earthiness is still there, too, with both chili powder and cumin delivering the flavors you expect. Your taco building station won’t know what hit it!

Note: If you want more heat….first, we’re with you. Second, increase the cayenne by 1/2 teaspoon increments, Don’t increase the amount of chili powder used (or reduce it proportionately). Chili powder contains many ingredients beyond chilies that add to the taco flavor, like garlic powder, oregano, and cumin. As a heat source, it’s diluted compared to cayenne and adding too much can over-spice the meat.

Spicy Tomato Chutney

by Matt Bray

Big tomato flavor, fiery red chili heat. We love a fiery spicy tomato chutney for bruschetta or simply to use as a table dip for an evening of bread and cheese. But its uses can go much farther. Use it as a sandwich spread or dip …

Ghost Pepper Oil

by Matt Bray

Scorching hot… This is one simple, yet super-hot recipe. Ghost pepper oil can bring a layer of sun-like fire to your cooking. Whether you want to use it alone (or as a base) for a simple bread dip or as the fiery marinade for your next delicious …

Aji Panca Paste

by Matt Bray

Sweet berry-like flavor with a hint of smoke…

The Peruvian aji peppers are so unique, even among their closest relations. For instance – the aji amarillo tastes like fresh tropical sunshine, whereas the aji panca goes to a deeper, darker place. It features a berry-like sweetness with a smoky undertone, and so it is with this aji panca paste. It’s used in many authentic Peruvian dishes and sauces to provide that wonderful sweet-smoke taste. But there’s so much more you can do with this chili paste. Try it with breakfast eggs or as a taco or burrito sauce. It’s also very good as the base for a steak marinade or simply as a steak sauce.

We love it, too, as a much milder alternative to chipotle paste. It’s sweeter and not quite as smoky, and at minimum half the heat to chipotle. If chipotle’s medium heat is not for you, the mild simmer of aji panca provides a delicious alternative.