What’s A Good Paprika Substitute?

Do you have a recipe calling for paprika, and there’s none in your spice rack? Or are you simply looking for something hotter to spice things up even more? A paprika substitute, in either case, is easy to find, and you’ll typically need to look no further than other spices in your spice rack.

Note: The substitutes below are for generic paprika which is typically mild and sweet. As paprika comes in many heat levels (it has its own scale), consider your options carefully against what your recipe needs. For smoked paprika substitutes, read our companion article here.

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Every swap on this page costs you something — smoke from the ancho, cumin and garlic from the chili powder, a whole lot more heat from the cayenne. Paprika turns up in rubs, goulash, deviled eggs, roast potatoes, and just about anything that wants a dusting of red on top, and a jar of it is cheap. It holds its color and flavor a good year in a dark cupboard. Keep a spare and you never have to make the trade.

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Paprika Substitute — Paprika swaps are many, but some are better than other.

Your best bet: Ancho powder (or another mild 100% chili powder)

Since the typical paprika you use is mild, it’s best to substitute in a powder that keeps the heat only at a simmer. Ancho powder, while not a spice rack staple, is an excellent paprika alternative. It has a mild heat (made from dried poblano peppers) that’s only a tiny bit hotter than the pimento pepper which is the typical chili in mild paprikas. There is a slight smokiness to ancho which can affect the dish, but overall it’s a top choice as a paprika substitute.

Closest on color: Kashmiri chili

If your spice cupboard runs to South Asian ingredients, Kashmiri chili is the one substitute here doing paprika’s actual job. Our guide puts it at 1,000 to 2,000 SHU, so the heat stays where paprika keeps it, and it is prized for a deep red color rather than for burn. That matters because a lot of recipes are using paprika to make the dish look like something — a dusting on deviled eggs, the color of a goulash — and most of the alternatives here get the heat roughly right while missing that entirely. Easier to find in a South Asian grocery than a supermarket spice aisle.

Your best spice rack staple solution: Chili powder

Know before making this substitution that you’re going from a single ingredient spice (paprika) to one with multiple ingredients (chili powder). Chili powder has a mild heat that works as a substitute for paprika, but it’s cut with earthy and savory spices like cumin and garlic powder. There’s a definite flavor difference (more pronounced than ancho powder) so consider the impact on your dish for adding in hints of cumin and other spices. For many recipes, where paprika is simply a dash or a pinch for color and a little simmering heat, you won’t be able to tell the difference.

Ratchet things up a notch (or three): Cayenne pepper

If you have a well-stocked spice rack and you’re simply looking for more heat than paprika, then cayenne pepper is the definite next step. And it’s a big jump in spiciness. Cayenne pepper ranges from 30,000 to 50,000 Scoville heat units (SHU) on the pepper scale, while mild paprika notches in typically between 500 and 1,500 SHU. Needless to say, only substitute in cayenne if you’re ready and willing for the heat upgrade.

If you want something not quite so hot, try cutting either ancho powder or chili powder with an equal part cayenne pepper powder. It will lessen the heat impact while still providing a bump to the typical paprika.

Harder to source, but a unique option: Aleppo pepper

Aleppo pepper powder carries a comparable heat to a top-level jalapeño or mild serrano, so it’s nowhere as hot as cayenne. And unlike cayenne and its subtle neutral flavor, there’s a lot of complexity to aleppo pepper. Earthy, a little smoky, and a hint of tomato-like tang. It’s, in fact, more complex than a mild paprika in terms of flavor, and it may work with your dish perfectly as a paprika substitute. But know, aleppo pepper can be hard to just “pick up”, so opt for the above solutions if you’re tight on time.

One to skip: chili flakes

Reaching for crushed red pepper feels reasonable and it is the wrong shape. Paprika is a fine powder — it disperses through a sauce, coats a rub evenly, and colors whatever it touches. Flakes do none of the three. You get heat in pieces rather than through the dish, no color to speak of, and visible red specks where a recipe wanted a smooth red tint. If flakes are what you have and heat is all you need, fine, but do not expect it to stand in. (Out of those instead? That is its own guide.)

Match the substitute to the dish

When paprika is there for color: Goulash, deviled eggs, a rub, rice. Ancho or Kashmiri — both mild, both properly red, both disperse.
When the dish is already savory and spiced: Chili, tacos, stews. Chili powder fits, because the cumin and garlic in it were heading there anyway.
When you actually want heat: Cayenne, at a fraction of the amount. Accept that you are changing the dish rather than patching it.
When you want it more interesting, not hotter: Aleppo, on roast vegetables, dips, eggs and flatbread.
When it is purely a garnish: A dusting over hummus or deviled eggs has nothing to hide behind. Stay mild here — a cayenne dusting is a mouthful nobody enjoys.

How much should you use?

Ancho powder: Straight 1:1. Expect a little smoke and earthiness to come along with it.
Kashmiri chili: Also 1:1, and the closest match on color of anything here.
Chili powder: 1:1 in a savory dish. Pull it back if the paprika was a garnish, since you are adding cumin and garlic to something that did not ask for it.
Cayenne pepper: Start at a quarter of what the recipe wants and taste from there. It is roughly twenty to a hundred times the heat of a mild paprika, so this is the one to creep up on.
Aleppo pepper: 1:1 works, but expect tang and a genuine step up in heat.

Under-spice first, whichever you pick. Adding more is easy. If cayenne got away from you, here is how to pull a dish back.

Pulling it all together

Ancho is the best all-round answer if you have it, and Kashmiri is the best on color. Chili powder is the one you almost certainly already own, and in most cooked dishes nobody will notice. Cayenne is a different decision — you are choosing heat over likeness. And Aleppo is worth the hunt if the dish is simple enough for its tang to show. Whichever way you go, remember what the paprika was doing in the recipe: color, warmth, or both. Match that, not just the spoonful.

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