How to Make Paprika

Give your favorite recipes a pop of flavor with homemade, healthy, and all-natural Paprika!

What is paprika and why should it be part of your recipes? Paprika has a powerful, rich, sweet flavor that makes every recipe irresistible. You can easily make it at home with just one ingredient – sweet peppers.

Whether you’re cooking beef, chicken, fish, or pasta, the paprika powder can make the best difference. Aside from adding flavor, the paprika powder also infuses dishes with an incredible aroma and even color.

I love using it for Mexican recipes, but I also use it to cook other cuisines or any other recipe. Just imagine the quality you can get from organic and all-natural paprika powder!

How to Make Paprika

How easy is it to make paprika? Well, it’s actually effortless, simple, and practical. You’re going to love the natural flavors you can get from fresh sweet peppers. With a little bit of drying and grinding, you can make your own version of paprika!

No preservatives are needed! You just need our only ingredient: sweet peppers!

Ingredients

Look no further because all you need to make paprika are sweet peppers!

Sweet peppers

What makes sweet peppers the best option for making paprika?

Sweet peppers are not just sweet, but they also have a hint of spicy, fruity, and citrusy flavors. When making paprika, be sure to go for ripe and mature sweet peppers to experience how fantastic it tastes.

Surprisingly, the sweet pepper is not a single kind of pepper but a group of different peppers. There are bell peppers, pimentos, and even banana peppers – most of which have a good balance of spicy and sweet flavors.

Aside from the color and flavor you can get from sweet peppers, they are also known to be excellent sources of nutrients. With the health benefits you can get from sweet peppers, you can expect that the paprika will be good for you too.

Red peppers can go well with almost any food. You can make it more exciting by stuffing it with any filling. I always have sweet red peppers in stock for Jollof Rice, One-Pot Spaghetti, and Breakfast Wraps!

Directions

Now, let’s make the paprika powder!

1. Rinse the sweet red peppers.
2. Use a knife to chop off the stalks and slice the red peppers as thinly as possible.  
3. Place a grill mesh mat on top of an oven rack.
4. Then, arrange the peppers on the grill mesh mat. 
5. Preheat the oven to 85° C or 185° F for 15 minutes. 
6. Dehydrate the peppers for three to eight hours.
7. Once cooled at room temperature, put them in the blender or spice grinder to powderize. 
8. Store the paprika in a jar to use anytime!

Once it is in powder form, you can pour the contents into an airtight container and have a distinct, rich, and sweet paprika powder for everyday cooking! 

Tips

Buying red peppers

• My Food and Family suggests buying red peppers that are bright red.
• The skin should also be slightly firm to the touch.
• The stems or stalks should also be a vibrant green to indicate a healthy red pepper. 
• Red peppers with bruised skin or soft spots may be vulnerable to wilting or rotting. 

Storing red peppers

• If you’re planning on not using it for a couple of days, then you can put the unwashed red peppers in a resealable bag in the fridge.
• Do not place the red peppers in the fruit drawer of your fridge.
• Keep them dry to prevent them from rotting.
• Red peppers can last up to a week. 
• On the other hand, if you want to pre-cut your red peppers, you can wrap them in kitchen towels and place them in a container.
• Place them on the top shelf of your fridge.
• Use chopped red peppers within three days. 

How to Dehydrate Red Pepper Without an Oven

If you don’t have a dehydrator or an oven, then you can use your oven toaster to dehydrate the red peppers. Use the grill mesh mat to prevent the red peppers from falling into the toaster oven. 

Alternatively, you can sun dry the red peppers! Place the red peppers on a baking sheet. Leave them under direct sunlight with mesh material. It may take a few days or weeks until the red peppers become crisp.

Paprika Variations

There’s more than one way to make paprika.

The one-ingredient paprika powder is already delicious and flavorful, but it won’t hurt to add more flavor to it! You can add onion powder for a bit more sweetness, garlic powder to balance the sweetness, or chili powder for a slight kick of spice. 

Add other seasonings or spices in moderate amounts to avoid overpowering the flavor of the red peppers. 

There are plenty of homemade condiments you can do. If you love apples, then I suggest making Dried Apple Slices. Meanwhile, fresh grapes can also make excellent raisins, and cocoa can be yummy dark chocolate!

Paprika Powder Without a Blender or a Miller

While blenders and millers are great for grinding red peppers, you can also try other methods. You can use a mortar and pestle to pound the red peppers into your desired texture.

You may also opt to use a knife to chop the red peppers until they become powder-like manually. Alternatively, put the red peppers in a resealable bag and use a meat tenderizer or rolling pin to pound the red peppers. 

Recommended Tools

• Knife: Use this to chop the red peppers. 
• Grill mesh mat: Arrange the peppers on a grill mesh mat.
• Blender or spice grinder: Transform the dried peppers into a powder with a blender or spice grinder.
• Jar: Store the paprika powder in a jar.
• Oven: Dehydrate the red peppers in the oven.

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How to Use Paprika

Are you excited to put your paprika to good use?

Paprika can be used in almost any dish that you can think of! It is usually used as seasoning along with other herbs and spices. You can also use it for frying, rubs, marinades, sauces, and more. 

Not only does it add flavor to food, but it also makes the colors more vibrant and the fragrance more aromatic. Moreover, the paprika powder can be used to cook:

• Turkey Pie
• Fish Seasoning
• Grilled Tilapia
• Crispy Chicken Wings
• Fried Fish Fillet
• Jollof Rice
• High-Protein Beans
• Grilled Croaker Fish

You can always use it to make food savory, especially eggs, stew, vegetables, and rice. Oftentimes, this is also used to add color and flavor to the chicken batter. 

Storage Tips

• At room temperature: Put the paprika powder in an container and place it in a dry and cool area of your kitchen for three years!

Frequently Asked Questions

Is paprika a spice or pepper?

It is both. Paprika is a spice that you can make from pepper, specifically sweet pepper. Use it to give the right level of spicy, sweet, and rich flavors to meat, fish, vegetables, and so much more.

Is paprika the same as chilli powder?

No, paprika powder and chili powder are distinct spices. Paprika powder provides more sweetness than spice, while chili powder can be a mixture of chilis and other herbs that contribute to a hot and spicy taste.  

Sometimes, chili powder is used as a substitute for paprika powder or vice versa.

What is paprika made out of?

Paprika powder is a spice made of sweet red peppers. These have bright red color and a rich flavor once you add them to your dishes. It also adds a fragrant aroma to your favorite recipes.

What is the paprika used for?

Paprika can be used for almost any dish, but I especially love adding them to beef, chicken, pasta, fish, turkey, and seasoning rubs.