Guajillo Chile - Which kind are used for Mole?

Question about the guajillo pepper seeds: The site says these are one of the most common dried peppers in Mexico, but I was reading the Peppers of America book by Maricel Presilla from one of your earlier posts and she refers to the guajillo as the dried form of the mirasol chile. I noticed your mirasol pepper description doesn't mention anything about this. What are y'all's thoughts on this nomenclature discrepancy? Two different plants...which one is truly the guajillo used for sauces and moles? Seems like the guajillo pepper plant is different from the dried guajillo chile that comes from the mirasol. So now I'm confused! 😁🤔

Both! There are Guajillo chile, but the term Guajillo is also used to refer to dried Mirasols, so both are correct! The Guajillo, Ancho (dried Poblano), and Pasilla are referred to as the "Holy Trinity of Chiles". They are all used together to make authentic Mexican mole sauces.

Here's the official Guajillo chile used for Mole:

 

However, dried Mirasols are often referred to as Guajillo chile:

Here are some more examples of dried chile names:

Dried Jalapeños = Chipotle
Dried Poblanos = Ancho
Dried Anaheim Chile = Colorado
Dried Mirasol = Guajillo
Dried Serrano = Chile Seco
Dired Chilaca = Pasilla

Learn more about dried chile names »

Happy growing!