If your pepper crop is coming in strong, you’ll be looking for ways to preserve the precious harvest. In this article, we cover how to dry chili peppers for the best results.

Dehydrating peppers is my go-to preservation method. Knowing how to dry chili peppers at home will give you even more options for chili preservation, even if you don’t have any canning jars or freezer space to spare.

Here are some of the best methods for how to dry chili peppers:

• Air-dry on a string
• Dry in the oven
• Dehydrate in a food dehydrator

How to Dry Chili Peppers on a String

Are you curious about how to dry chili peppers by hanging? This is one of my all-time favorite drying methods because it’s so fun to set up and makes for a beautiful addition to your kitchen. It’s certainly the longest option, but it acts as a natural decoration for your home in the meantime.

To hang dry chili peppers on a string, you’ll need quilting thread, a needle, and a dry place to hang your peppers. You can use any string or thread that you like, but I have always used quilting thread because it is strong and always on hand. Even though one pepper is lightweight, several dozen are surprisingly heavy. You can also use unflavored dental floss, nylon thread, or even a light-duty cotton thread that’s doubled up for added strength.

How to Double Thread a Needle to String Dry Chili Peppers

Cut a long piece of string or thread that is at least twice as long as you will need for your peppers.

Thread the needle and pull your string through. Only half of the length of the string should be threaded through the eye of the needle. Take the two ends, which should be the same length, and tie them together. Now your thread can hold more weight without as much of a risk of it snapping.

How To String Up Peppers

1. Rinse the peppers in cool water. You can also pour a bit of vinegar over them for additional cleansing. Use utmost caution during this step because the capsaicin, a spicy active component of the pepper, spreads easily in water and will really hurt if it comes in contact with your eyes.
2. Allow the water to dry off of the peppers on a towel or drying rack. This should take less than an hour. You don’t want water on the peppers when you pierce them with a needle because it can lead to internal molding or mildew.
3. Insert the needle through the pepper in the stem, or slightly below it. If you have difficulty with this, lay the pepper on a dry folded bath towel and push the needle down through it. This will make sure you don’t pierce yourself or bend the needle.
4. Run the pepper down the string to the bottom. Tie a knot at the bottom of the string to make sure the pepper doesn’t fall off. You only need to do this if you didn’t double thread the needle.
5. Tie another knot about a half inch above the top of the pepper. This will space the chilies out so that they get the proper airflow to dry thoroughly.
6. Continue adding chili peppers and knots to the thread until you either run out of chilies or space on the string. I like alternating between sizes and colors because I think that’s fun and a bit chaotic to look at, but you can also string the peppers any way you like.
7. Cut the thread right by the needle, and tie it off into a loop.
8. Hang the peppers in a warm, dry location. A northern exposure window is good, but a south, east, or west-facing window is even better. Try to avoid the most humid areas of your home. Bathrooms and stovetops can be steamy, so keep that in mind.
9. If you don’t have a place to hang the loop, insert a thumbtack into the top side of the window’s woodwork (so it won’t be seen) or install a non-damaging command hook on the side of the window.
10. Leave the peppers to dry for one to two weeks. The drier your home, the faster this process will go. They should shrivel up some and have leather-like skin. It’s normal for them to be half their original size (or even smaller).
11. After the chilies are dry, you can leave them up for decoration or take them down and store them in an airtight container. Peppers will retain their heat for a long time when dried this way. Use them within a year for the best quality and flavor.

No string or needle? No problem.

The Duct Tape Chile Pepper Drying Method

This method is another viable option that some gardeners prefer because it’s fast (which is convenient if you have a bunch of peppers to dry) and it’s more accessible for people with limited hand dexterity.

1. Take a piece of duct tape and cut it lengthwise in half. Place the tape upright on a table.
2. Lay the pepper stems on the sticky side of the tape, leaving about a half inch between each pepper. Do not lay the fleshy part of the pepper on the tape.
3. Take the other half of the tape and lay it sticky-side-down onto the pepper stems. Gently push down to ensure it holds.
4. Hang this up the same as you would strung-up peppers. Allow them to dry for about two weeks, then cut the stem from the tape.

How to Dry Chili Peppers in the Oven

Drying peppers in the oven is the fastest method, but it will require a little bit of work from you during the process. You will need to move and turn the peppers, and it can be beneficial to check on them every thirty minutes or so. You’ll also have to leave the door ajar or open it frequently to ensure the moisture escapes.

Oven Dried Peppers

1. Lay whole or chopped chili peppers on a baking sheet. Larger peppers should probably be cut at least in half (if not smaller) to shorten the drying time. The peppers can be placed close to one another but shouldn’t touch.
2. Heat on the warm setting of your oven (between 150°-200°F / 66°C-93°C). Stay at the lower end of this range if possible, reducing your chances of cooking your peppers rather than drying them.
3. Place your sheet or sheets of peppers in the oven. You can dry multiple baking sheets of chilies at once, but allow at least two to three inches of space between the racks vertically. You need ample air circulation for this to work.
4. Leave the oven door ajar (two to six inches) for the entire time to allow moisture to escape. If you’re uncomfortable with this, just fully open the door every fifteen minutes for thirty seconds at a time.
5. Set a timer for thirty minutes to check and turn the peppers until done. Small peppers with thinner skins, such as jalapenos, will dry in one to two hours. Bell peppers, or peppers with thick skins and high moisture content, can take up to twelve or fourteen hours. Turning isn’t required but can reduce drying time and provide even more drying. Your peppers should finish in ninety minutes or less. They will shrink and shrivel a lot; that is to be expected. For this method, you don’t want a leathery texture; instead, you want crispy and dry.

How to Dry Chili Peppers with a Dehydrator

The dehydrator will take more time than an oven, but with the convenience of needing less supervision from you. The reason why dehydrators take longer is that they dry at a much lower temperature than ovens can. You will not need to worry about letting trapped moisture escape, and you don’t need to turn peppers in the dehydrator. This is probably the easiest method of the three.

1. Decide if you want to cut up your peppers, or leave them whole. Sliced peppers dry faster.
2. Make sure all of the peppers are similar in size so they dry uniformly. You may need to slice some and not others, and you may need to dry in batches to accommodate the ranges.
3. Place the peppers on the dehydrator’s trays evenly, not letting them touch one another.
4. Set the dehydrator to 125 degrees Fahrenheit (51.66 degrees Celsius), and allow it to dry for about ten hours for sliced peppers or twenty-four to forty-eight hours for whole peppers. You’ll know that they are done when they are brittle and easily break. If you leave the peppers whole, you’ll hear the seeds rattling inside when shaken.

How Long Do Peppers Take to Dry?

Pepper drying time varies wildly depending on pepper size, skin thickness, water content, temperature, altitude, and overall humidity for your area, but here’s a general time estimate:

• SUN DRIED – Drying peppers in the sunshine on a string or screens can take 1-2 weeks.
• OVEN DRIED – Peppers dried in the oven will take anywhere from 1-14 hours.
• DEHYDRATOR – A dehydrator will take 6-24 hours.

Sun drying is an ideal traditional method for drying foods like peppers, raisins and tomatoes. It saves energy and imbues a quality to the process, however it has challenges, such as humidity and rain.

What To Do With Dried Peppers and Jalapenos

After drying fresh chilies, you can crush them to make pepper flakes, grind them into chili powder, or keep them whole and to use as you would use sun dried tomatoes (for the adventurous palate). They rehydrate well and hold their flavor exceptionally well. I even eat them dry with Mexican dishes when I’m craving something spicy.

If You Like Hot Peppers

If you prefer a hot and spicy pepper, keep the seeds inside. If not, cut the pepper open once dry and simply shake the seeds out. It’s easier to shake the seeds out when the pepper is fully dry; it’s not as easy once you rehydrate them.

How to Use Dried Peppers?

You can use dried chilies for most recipes that call for fresh peppers by simply rehydrating them. Or, you can substitute 1/2 teaspoon of dried pepper, crushed or powdered, for one medium fresh chili.

• Toss dried peppers into chili, stews, and soups
• Top salads with pepper flakes, (or add to salad dressing)
• Make salsa
• Create mole sauce
• Hot pepper pesto
• Add it to fish, poultry, or other meat marinades (they bake and rehydrate wonderfully in the oven with juicy roasts).
• Incorporate it into Mexican-style chocolates
• Grind them into a powder so they can be added to any other dish that needs a kick of flavor and heat.

Contributions from the Community

Diced and Dried

I usually dice mine to make it go faster, and dry it in the dehydrator on the lowest setting. It usually takes 12-24 hours in my zone 8a humid southern climate.
~Shannon Schofield, homesteader, beekeeper Shannon’s Sweet Tooth Farm, author, b.1977

See Shannon’s articles on Pollinator flowers for Bees here and Lessons from the Garden here.

Smoked, Dried, Ground Peppers

I like to smoke them and dry them. Then, I can put them through the spice grinder. They’re amazing in all kinds of stuff. Particularly, mayonnaise!
~April Reeves Tower