Best Peppers for SalsaIf you love salsa like us, growing hot peppers from seed is a great way to step up your salsa game! Best Peppers in Salsa: With tons of different peppers to choose from in different heat levels, flavors and colors, don't limit yourself to just Jalapenos and Serranos – which are the most popular choices – be sure to try all sorts of hot peppers in your salsa to taste the rainbow of flavors! Roasted Anaheim chile, green chile and poblano peppers offer a milder, smoky flavor. Or for a wi...
Hottest Peppers ScaleHottest Peppers Scale Sandia Seed's list of their 101 peppers of the world, in order of their heat Scoville scale ratings: Bell Chocolate Sweet - 0 ScovillesBell Golden Cal Wonder - 0Bell Green Cal Wonder - 0Bell Orange Mini Snacker 0Bell Purple Beauty - 0Cubanelle - 0Fushimi - 0Jimmy Nardello - 0Marconi Red - 0Pimiento - 0Shishito - 0Sweet Cherry - 0Trick or Treat NuMex Habanero - 0Gypsy Pepper - 0Padron 0-100Paprika 0-100Alma Paprika 0-500Piquillo 0-500Pimento Sheepnose 0-500Sweet Ba...
NEW SEEDS FOR 2025WE HAVE NEW SEEDS ARRIVING! We are excited to announce the addition of new seeds to our mid-season lineup.New seeds now available: Gypsy Sweet Pepper This super fast growing sweet pepper has a fantastic sweet flavor and is never bitter like a bell pepper can be. The plants produce an unbelievable amount of fruit all season that you can enjoy early at the yellow-green stage or wait until they fully ripen to orange-red. Sun Gold F1 TomatoThese bright golden orange tomatoes have a sweet, juicy,...
Growing Peppers in ColoradoThere are many different growing zones in Colorado, and you can grow peppers in any areas that you can grow tomatoes and other veggies! For Colorado gardeners, starting peppers indoors is a must with short season gardening, we recommend starting your pepper seeds at least 6-8 weeks before mid-to-late May when you will transplant them into the garden. Use a seedling heat mat to keep the pepper seeds warm during germination, they like to germinate around 80˚F! Choose short season peppers for...
Best Peppers for Hot SauceWe've picked out our favorite peppers for hot sauce (and some of your favorites) that you can grow in your garden to make hot sauce! Find our favorite hot sauce recipes and make them your own with any of these hot peppers. You can use any hot pepper or combination of peppers to make hot sauce, so don't feel limited, experiment! The sky's the limit. You'll find that some you love some peppers even more than others, but it's fun to try them all. Hot sauce captures the essenc...
Ten great peppers for pots in small spaces!Peppers are a great vegetable to grow on a patio, deck or sunny balcony. So if you don't have a lot of space, you can still grow some peppers! Some people even grow them under lights indoors, year-round! Above are Fire and Ice peppers growing in a glorious blue ceramic pot – this variety is perfect for patio containers as it really looks like fire at the end of the season with colorful yellow to orange to red peppers growing upwards. Most peppers grow great in pots and containers – and ca...
What peppers would you consider a must grow?While there are hundreds of peppers of the world you can grow (see just some of them above), we have a (fairly long & evergrowing) list of our favorite peppers that we grow each and every season. Many of these varieties are hard to find at the store, so they are great to grow – plus, all homegrown peppers (like tomatoes) taste better than store-bought! You can also let them fully ripen to get the maximum flavor that you'll want to taste and grow again and again. Here's our top pi...
Tomatillo & Chile de Arbol Salsa RecipeSomething red and something green... makes a rich amber-colored salsa. A friend said they had a delicious "Brown Salsa" at a Mexican restaurant that they absolutely loved, and they asked what it could be made from. It was likely Tomatillos (or even purple tomatillos) and red chile de arbol, or some variation of it. See a recipe below. This combination of green and red ingredients creates a rich, thick, smoky brown or amber-toned salsa with a complex flavor profile. A Thicker Salsa: To...
Hot Sauce Ingredient IdeasHot Sauces are made from lots of ingredients beyond just hot peppers! Many recipes include fruit, juice (lime, lemon), different types of vinegar, ginger, mustard seeds, carrots, garlic, onions and other ingredients to add more flavor and thicken or extend sauces. It's fun to grow many of your own hot sauce ingredients in your garden for the freshest flavors. Hot sauce is a great way to preserve your harvest for year-round use. Grow your own Hot Sauce Garden and make your own hot sauce t...
Hot Sauce GardenGrow your own Hot Sauce Garden One of the reasons many gardeners grow hot peppers is to make their own hot sauces and salsas. Once you start growing peppers, you'll discover the full range of complex flavor and different kinds of heat peppers of the world provide for your tastebuds. It's addictive, too, the more varieties of peppers you taste, the more you want to try! And the more heat you try, the more heat you crave! But you don't need to grow extra hot peppers to make hot sa...
Beginner‑Friendly Hot PeppersAt Sandia Seed we LOVE peppers, and we enjoy helping people grow their own peppers from seed! We think some of the best peppers for beginners to grow are the fastest growing peppers, including Jalapeños, Green Chiles, and Serranos. Why? Because they germinate fast, grow quickly, and produce a lot of peppers for a longer season so beginners are more likely to have success! And who doesn't like MORE peppers? Beginner's and experts alike will like all of these peppers we mention below. ...
Tabasco Pepper Salsa RecipeSandia Seed's Tabasco Pepper Salsa Recipe Make this delicious salsa with fresh or dried Tabasco peppers. They have great flavor and make a killer salsa, so don't just think of them for hot sauce. They also dry easily and are delicious when crushed and used as hot pepper flakes and seasoning for all sorts of dishes. RECIPE INGREDIENTS: 2-6+ Tabasco PeppersAdd as many fresh or dried Tabasco peppers as desired, of course more equals more heat. Note: You can also use ANY fresh or dried...
Best Vinegar for Hot SauceMaking your own hot sauce recipes from homegrown hot peppers? Some people like to make fermented hot sauce recipes (and SOMETIMES they add vinegar at the end after it's fermented), some like to cook hot peppers down in a sauce pan and add vinegar for a quick hot sauce, and some people like to pickle whole hot peppers in vinegar for a spicy vinegar treat. You can even add lime or lemon juice to hot sauces for a tropical burst of flavor and acidity. There is no wrong way to make hot sauce, ...
Types of Peppers to GrowAt Sandia Seed we have seeds for over 101 peppers of the world to grow in your garden! There are many types of peppers to grow, ranging from sweet to super hot, so there is a pepper for everyone. What is the Best Pepper to Grow? Golly, it's really hard to choose just one pepper considering the huge range of flavors, heat levels and colors they provide. Sorry, but it's just too hard to narrow down to just one pepper, so here are a few of our top favorites for the best peppers to ...
How to Dry PeppersHere are our top ways you can dry peppers: 1. Make Chile Ristras!Chile Ristras can be made from lots of different kinds of peppers, not just the common New Mexico and Hatch chile varieties. This is a great way to store your peppers for the winter. You want to string up the peppers so that they get maximum airflow and hang them in a dry sunny place to dry out. Then you can use them in your kitchen for recipes and making red chile sauces. Growing chile that have thin flesh and are suited to d...
Canned Hot Pepper Salsa RecipeCanned Hot Pepper Salsa Recipe • 6 Cups Tomatoes; cored, chopped and peeled • 2 Cups Chopped Onion • 6 Cups Jalapeño & Hot Peppers*; chopped • Cider vinegar (2 tablespoons per pint, 4 tablespoons per quart jar) • 3 Teaspoons Salt • 3 teaspoons Oregano • 1 Teaspoon Ground cumin • 12+ Garlic cloves – minced • 4+ tablespoons fresh Cilantro, minced • Optional: You can also add peeled & cored Apples to this recipe to give it a bit of sweetness. (See bottom of this post)You...
8 Reasons That Chiles Are Good For Your HealthHere are Eight Reasons that Chiles are Good for You*: Assists prevention of diabetes (of course, eating lots of veggies is good for you!) Good for Heart Health (yes, veggies are good for you!) Assists with Weight Loss (eating more veggies and less junk food will do that!) Anti-inflammatory (unless you eat a Carolina Reaper, then your mouth will be inflamed!) Clears congestion (have you ever ate something spicy to de-congest? It works!) Boosts immunity Pain Reliever (or pain inducer, ...
Purple Pepper SeedsAre you looking for Purple Peppers? Or Purple Tomatoes? Purple peppers and tomatoes are nutrient-dense. Purple colored peppers are rich in vitamins A and C, and eating just one cup of purple peppers a day can provide 100% of your daily needs of these two vitamins! Purple peppers also have a whole range of Vitamin B, and minerals like zinc, folate, potassium, manganese and others important nutrients. Our new Purple Jalapeno delights the eyes and the palate! The Purple Jalapeno plant is gorgeou...
Egg Salad with Green Chile RecipeHAPPY EASTER! If you're like us, you eat green chile everyday. Here's a great way to use up your dyed Easter eggs in these two delicious green chile recipes: EGG SALAD WITH GREEN CHILE RECIPE: 1/2 cup Diced green chiles 4-6 large hard-cooked eggs, mashed1⁄4 cup mayonnaise2 tablespoons green onions, sliced1⁄4 teaspoon hot pepper sauce1/3 cup of Diced Celery (optional for crunch!) Mix together and spread on bread or bagels for a spicy twist on an egg salad sandwich! ALTERNATIVE N...
How to Make Red Pepper FlakesHow to Make Red Pepper Flakes One of our favorite ways to preserve our peppers is to make red pepper flakes. In this simple recipe, you simply dry or dehydrate your peppers and then grind them in a food processor or coffee grinder to create chile flakes (or chile powder if you grind them fine enough). It's super easy and is perfect for all varieties of pepper such as Aleppo Peppers, Chimayo Chile, Guajillo chile, Paprika peppers, Cayenne peppers, Goat Horn Peppers, Thai Dragon peppers, Pa...
Best Peppers for Salsa
If you love salsa like us, growing hot peppers from seed is a great way to step up your salsa game! Best Peppers in Salsa: With tons of different peppers to choose from in different heat levels, flavors and colors, don't limit yourself to just Jalapenos and Serranos – which are the most popular choices – be sure to try all sorts of hot peppers in your salsa to taste the rainbow of flavors! Roasted Anaheim chile, green chile and poblano peppers offer a milder, smoky flavor. Or for a wi...
Hottest Peppers Scale
Hottest Peppers Scale Sandia Seed's list of their 101 peppers of the world, in order of their heat Scoville scale ratings: Bell Chocolate Sweet - 0 ScovillesBell Golden Cal Wonder - 0Bell Green Cal Wonder - 0Bell Orange Mini Snacker 0Bell Purple Beauty - 0Cubanelle - 0Fushimi - 0Jimmy Nardello - 0Marconi Red - 0Pimiento - 0Shishito - 0Sweet Cherry - 0Trick or Treat NuMex Habanero - 0Gypsy Pepper - 0Padron 0-100Paprika 0-100Alma Paprika 0-500Piquillo 0-500Pimento Sheepnose 0-500Sweet Ba...
NEW SEEDS FOR 2025
WE HAVE NEW SEEDS ARRIVING! We are excited to announce the addition of new seeds to our mid-season lineup.New seeds now available: Gypsy Sweet Pepper This super fast growing sweet pepper has a fantastic sweet flavor and is never bitter like a bell pepper can be. The plants produce an unbelievable amount of fruit all season that you can enjoy early at the yellow-green stage or wait until they fully ripen to orange-red. Sun Gold F1 TomatoThese bright golden orange tomatoes have a sweet, juicy,...
Growing Peppers in Colorado
There are many different growing zones in Colorado, and you can grow peppers in any areas that you can grow tomatoes and other veggies! For Colorado gardeners, starting peppers indoors is a must with short season gardening, we recommend starting your pepper seeds at least 6-8 weeks before mid-to-late May when you will transplant them into the garden. Use a seedling heat mat to keep the pepper seeds warm during germination, they like to germinate around 80˚F! Choose short season peppers for...
Best Peppers for Hot Sauce
We've picked out our favorite peppers for hot sauce (and some of your favorites) that you can grow in your garden to make hot sauce! Find our favorite hot sauce recipes and make them your own with any of these hot peppers. You can use any hot pepper or combination of peppers to make hot sauce, so don't feel limited, experiment! The sky's the limit. You'll find that some you love some peppers even more than others, but it's fun to try them all. Hot sauce captures the essenc...
Ten great peppers for pots in small spaces!
Peppers are a great vegetable to grow on a patio, deck or sunny balcony. So if you don't have a lot of space, you can still grow some peppers! Some people even grow them under lights indoors, year-round! Above are Fire and Ice peppers growing in a glorious blue ceramic pot – this variety is perfect for patio containers as it really looks like fire at the end of the season with colorful yellow to orange to red peppers growing upwards. Most peppers grow great in pots and containers – and ca...
What peppers would you consider a must grow?
While there are hundreds of peppers of the world you can grow (see just some of them above), we have a (fairly long & evergrowing) list of our favorite peppers that we grow each and every season. Many of these varieties are hard to find at the store, so they are great to grow – plus, all homegrown peppers (like tomatoes) taste better than store-bought! You can also let them fully ripen to get the maximum flavor that you'll want to taste and grow again and again. Here's our top pi...
Tomatillo & Chile de Arbol Salsa Recipe
Something red and something green... makes a rich amber-colored salsa. A friend said they had a delicious "Brown Salsa" at a Mexican restaurant that they absolutely loved, and they asked what it could be made from. It was likely Tomatillos (or even purple tomatillos) and red chile de arbol, or some variation of it. See a recipe below. This combination of green and red ingredients creates a rich, thick, smoky brown or amber-toned salsa with a complex flavor profile. A Thicker Salsa: To...
Hot Sauce Ingredient Ideas
Hot Sauces are made from lots of ingredients beyond just hot peppers! Many recipes include fruit, juice (lime, lemon), different types of vinegar, ginger, mustard seeds, carrots, garlic, onions and other ingredients to add more flavor and thicken or extend sauces. It's fun to grow many of your own hot sauce ingredients in your garden for the freshest flavors. Hot sauce is a great way to preserve your harvest for year-round use. Grow your own Hot Sauce Garden and make your own hot sauce t...
Hot Sauce Garden
Grow your own Hot Sauce Garden One of the reasons many gardeners grow hot peppers is to make their own hot sauces and salsas. Once you start growing peppers, you'll discover the full range of complex flavor and different kinds of heat peppers of the world provide for your tastebuds. It's addictive, too, the more varieties of peppers you taste, the more you want to try! And the more heat you try, the more heat you crave! But you don't need to grow extra hot peppers to make hot sa...
Beginner‑Friendly Hot Peppers
At Sandia Seed we LOVE peppers, and we enjoy helping people grow their own peppers from seed! We think some of the best peppers for beginners to grow are the fastest growing peppers, including Jalapeños, Green Chiles, and Serranos. Why? Because they germinate fast, grow quickly, and produce a lot of peppers for a longer season so beginners are more likely to have success! And who doesn't like MORE peppers? Beginner's and experts alike will like all of these peppers we mention below. ...
Tabasco Pepper Salsa Recipe
Sandia Seed's Tabasco Pepper Salsa Recipe Make this delicious salsa with fresh or dried Tabasco peppers. They have great flavor and make a killer salsa, so don't just think of them for hot sauce. They also dry easily and are delicious when crushed and used as hot pepper flakes and seasoning for all sorts of dishes. RECIPE INGREDIENTS: 2-6+ Tabasco PeppersAdd as many fresh or dried Tabasco peppers as desired, of course more equals more heat. Note: You can also use ANY fresh or dried...
Best Vinegar for Hot Sauce
Making your own hot sauce recipes from homegrown hot peppers? Some people like to make fermented hot sauce recipes (and SOMETIMES they add vinegar at the end after it's fermented), some like to cook hot peppers down in a sauce pan and add vinegar for a quick hot sauce, and some people like to pickle whole hot peppers in vinegar for a spicy vinegar treat. You can even add lime or lemon juice to hot sauces for a tropical burst of flavor and acidity. There is no wrong way to make hot sauce, ...
Types of Peppers to Grow
At Sandia Seed we have seeds for over 101 peppers of the world to grow in your garden! There are many types of peppers to grow, ranging from sweet to super hot, so there is a pepper for everyone. What is the Best Pepper to Grow? Golly, it's really hard to choose just one pepper considering the huge range of flavors, heat levels and colors they provide. Sorry, but it's just too hard to narrow down to just one pepper, so here are a few of our top favorites for the best peppers to ...
How to Dry Peppers
Here are our top ways you can dry peppers: 1. Make Chile Ristras!Chile Ristras can be made from lots of different kinds of peppers, not just the common New Mexico and Hatch chile varieties. This is a great way to store your peppers for the winter. You want to string up the peppers so that they get maximum airflow and hang them in a dry sunny place to dry out. Then you can use them in your kitchen for recipes and making red chile sauces. Growing chile that have thin flesh and are suited to d...
Canned Hot Pepper Salsa Recipe
Canned Hot Pepper Salsa Recipe • 6 Cups Tomatoes; cored, chopped and peeled • 2 Cups Chopped Onion • 6 Cups Jalapeño & Hot Peppers*; chopped • Cider vinegar (2 tablespoons per pint, 4 tablespoons per quart jar) • 3 Teaspoons Salt • 3 teaspoons Oregano • 1 Teaspoon Ground cumin • 12+ Garlic cloves – minced • 4+ tablespoons fresh Cilantro, minced • Optional: You can also add peeled & cored Apples to this recipe to give it a bit of sweetness. (See bottom of this post)You...
8 Reasons That Chiles Are Good For Your Health
Here are Eight Reasons that Chiles are Good for You*: Assists prevention of diabetes (of course, eating lots of veggies is good for you!) Good for Heart Health (yes, veggies are good for you!) Assists with Weight Loss (eating more veggies and less junk food will do that!) Anti-inflammatory (unless you eat a Carolina Reaper, then your mouth will be inflamed!) Clears congestion (have you ever ate something spicy to de-congest? It works!) Boosts immunity Pain Reliever (or pain inducer, ...
Purple Pepper Seeds
Are you looking for Purple Peppers? Or Purple Tomatoes? Purple peppers and tomatoes are nutrient-dense. Purple colored peppers are rich in vitamins A and C, and eating just one cup of purple peppers a day can provide 100% of your daily needs of these two vitamins! Purple peppers also have a whole range of Vitamin B, and minerals like zinc, folate, potassium, manganese and others important nutrients. Our new Purple Jalapeno delights the eyes and the palate! The Purple Jalapeno plant is gorgeou...
Egg Salad with Green Chile Recipe
HAPPY EASTER! If you're like us, you eat green chile everyday. Here's a great way to use up your dyed Easter eggs in these two delicious green chile recipes: EGG SALAD WITH GREEN CHILE RECIPE: 1/2 cup Diced green chiles 4-6 large hard-cooked eggs, mashed1⁄4 cup mayonnaise2 tablespoons green onions, sliced1⁄4 teaspoon hot pepper sauce1/3 cup of Diced Celery (optional for crunch!) Mix together and spread on bread or bagels for a spicy twist on an egg salad sandwich! ALTERNATIVE N...
How to Make Red Pepper Flakes
How to Make Red Pepper Flakes One of our favorite ways to preserve our peppers is to make red pepper flakes. In this simple recipe, you simply dry or dehydrate your peppers and then grind them in a food processor or coffee grinder to create chile flakes (or chile powder if you grind them fine enough). It's super easy and is perfect for all varieties of pepper such as Aleppo Peppers, Chimayo Chile, Guajillo chile, Paprika peppers, Cayenne peppers, Goat Horn Peppers, Thai Dragon peppers, Pa...
