Spicy Recipes: The Heat is On

Set your mouth on fire with flavorful recipes containing chile peppers, cayenne pepper, chipotle flavor and more.

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Photo By: Emmer Schmidt

Chiles Rellenos With Cherry Tomato Salsa

Though milder ancho chiles are made even milder by being boiled in this recipe, the goat cheese-stuffed peppers regain heat from a jalapeño-laced salsa topping.

Get the Recipe: Chiles Rellenos with Cherry Tomato Salsa

Sriracha-Style Hot Sauce

Here's your new weekend project: make your own Sriracha. All you need is chile peppers, garlic, vinegar, salt, sugar and a little time.

Get the Recipe: Sriracha-Style Hot Sauce

Rachael's Chipotle Chicken Thighs With Chunky Guacamole

Infuse bone-in chicken thighs with the smoky, spicy flavor of chipotle peppers in adobo sauce, and enjoy a poultry dish that has some kick. The perfect accompaniment? Cool, creamy guacamole with diced chiles.

Get the Recipe: Chipotle Chicken Thighs with Chunky Guacamole

Luke's Beef Tossed With Wild Betel Leaf and Lemongrass

Aromatic betel leaves and lemongrass add their distinct flavors to this recipe, which you might find being served by street carts in Saigon. Seed-in chopped chiles add fire when the beef is wok-fried, and this surprisingly simple dish is ready in just 15 minutes.

Get the Recipe: Beef Tossed with Wild Betel Leaf and Lemongrass: Bo Xao La Lot

Roger's Cucumber Lychee Salad

Though sweet, juicy lychees and watery cucumbers hardly evoke thoughts of throats on fire, a sprinkling of diced red Thai chiles gives this summery dish some serious heat.

Get the Recipe: Cucumber Lychee Salad

Kelsey's Sweet and Spicy Shredded Pork

Kelsey's signature dry rub — with cayenne pepper, salt, cumin and brown sugar — infuses fatty pork shoulder with sweet and spicy flavors. After just a few minutes of prep, this dish cooks within 4 to 6 hours in the oven.

Get the Recipe: Sweet and Spicy Shredded Pork

Red Pork Posole With Pickled Onions and Queso Fresco

This ritualistic Mexican stew gains heat and smoky flavor from ancho chile peppers and chile powder. But it's the pickled onion and pepper topping that will make you sweat.

Get the Recipe: Red Pork Posole with Pickled Onions and Queso Fresco

Jalapeño-Mango Salsa

Don't be fooled by this innocent-looking salsa, made with mango and pineapple chunks in lieu of standard tomatoes. A minced jalapeño pepper balances out all that sweetness with its raw heat.

Get the Recipe: Jalapeno-Mango Salsa

Panhandle Chili

The secret ingredient in this hamburger and turkey sausage-based chili is a bottle of stout beer, which gives the piping hot dish incredible depth of flavor. Thanks to a tablespoon of crushed red pepper flakes, it's seriously spicy, too.

Get the Recipe: Panhandle Chili

Beef Tacos: Tacos de Carne Asada

Salsa de arbol, made with the bright red, potent chiles de arbol, gives these beef tacos so much kick, they need little more accompaniment than pickled jalapeños and some onions.

Get the Recipe: Beef Tacos: Tacos de Carne Asada

Char Grilled Sapa Black Chicken in Galangal: Ga Den Nuong Rieng

Black chicken is beloved throughout Vietnam thanks to its substantial texture. In this recipe, a quick marinade of shallots, lemongrass, sesame seeds, chile powder, fish sauce, honey and galangal — a hot, ginger-peppery seasoning — renders the chicken dark, flavorful and super spicy.

Get the Recipe: Char Grilled Sapa Black Chicken in Galangal: Ga Den Nuong Rieng

Latin Burgers With Caramelized Onion and Jalapeño Relish

What makes an all-American burger Latin fare? The addition of spicy chorizo and adobo seasoning to the beef patties, and an onion and jalapeño relish topping.

Get the Recipe: Latin Burgers with Caramelized Onion and Jalapeno Relish and Red Pepper Mayonnaise

Chuck's Flank Steak Salad with Jalapeño Poppers

The unusual combination of flank steak and jalapeño poppers is one of the most popular dishes at Chuck's restaurant in Montreal. Care for a little more heat? Sprinkle this salad with some hot sauce.

Get the Recipe: Flank Steak Salad with Jalapeno Poppers

Migas Tepitana

Served at the popular Dos Caminos restaurant, this classic Mexican breakfast is known as a hangover cure thanks to its ability to make you seriously sweat. The cause? One whole habanero chile — a pepper that earns a nine on the Scoville chile heat scale.

Get the Recipe: Migas Tepitana: Tepita-Style Migas

Spicy Cajun Skewers with Spicy Buffalo Dipping Sauce

Cajun seasoning adds its characteristic spice to these shrimp, sausage, okra, potato and hush puppy skewers, a refreshing alternative to your typical grilling fare. The real heat's in the dipping hot sauce, which should be liberally applied.

Get the Recipe: Spicy Cajun Skewers with Spicy Buffalo Dipping Sauce