Poblano vs Anaheim Pepper, Up to 2× the Heat

Which is hotter, an Anaheim or a poblano?

The Anaheim can be, but a lot of the time they land in the same place. UF/IFAS lists the Anaheim at 1,000 to 5,000 SHU and the poblano at 1,000 to 2,000¹. Its extension guide adds that most Anaheims sit around 1,000 SHU and only some varieties reach 5,000².

Anaheim

Hotter

Poblano

• 1,000–5,000 SHU, usually about 1,000¹²Heat1,000–2,000 SHU¹²
• Long, skinny, slightly tapered, with a wrinkled or folded stem end; heirloom types up to 7 by 1.5 inches²PodThick-walled, about 4 inches long and 2 wide²
• Green, turning deep red or maroon¹²Ripe colorEaten green or ripened red¹²
• About 80 days to green, over 120 to red²DaysAbout 75–80 days²
• A cultivar of the New Mexican pod type³Pod typeThe fresh form of the ancho³
• Ground into powder²DriedRipened red and dried, it becomes ancho²

A mild Anaheim and a poblano taste about equally hot; only a hot Anaheim pulls ahead.

How many times hotter is an Anaheim?

We compare midpoints, the middle of each published range. The Anaheim's midpoint is 3,000 SHU and the poblano's is 1,500, so the Anaheim comes out about twice as hot. The full spread is wider, as the table shows.

That last row surprises people. A typical 1,000 SHU Anaheim next to a hot poblano is the milder pod of the two.

Are Anaheim and poblano the same pepper?

No. The Anaheim is a cultivar of the New Mexican pod type, a type Fabian Garcia developed at NMSU in the 1880s³, and its seed came from New Mexico before growers took it to Anaheim, California⁴. NMSU also points out that people often call any New Mexican chile "Anaheim" by mistake.

The poblano is the fresh, green form of the ancho, and in US produce markets it can also be a green mulato, a close relative that ripens brown instead of red³. Its name comes from the valley of Puebla, south of Mexico City². When you let it ripen red and dry it, you get the wrinkled, dark dried ancho sold in bags.

How do you tell them apart in the store?

Look at the shape first and the label second, because the labels overlap. NMSU's garden guide says the New Mexican pod type is also called "Anaheim" or "Hatch"⁵, so a crate of Hatch chiles holds the same kind of pod your recipe calls Anaheim.

• Length and width. An Anaheim is long and skinny, up to 7 inches by 1.5 in heirloom types; a poblano is about 4 inches long and 2 wide².
• Stem end. The Anaheim's stem end is often wrinkled or folded, and the pod tapers slightly toward the tip².
• Walls. Press the side: a poblano feels thick and firm, while an Anaheim gives a little more².
• The name on the sign. "Long green" also means the New Mexican type, with Big Jim, Joe E. Parker and Sandia among its cultivars³.

If the pod is longer than your hand and thin, you are holding an Anaheim type, whatever the sign says.

How do they taste and cook differently?

UF/IFAS describes the poblano as having a rich melon flavor and thick walls². That thick wall gives you more flesh per pod to roast or stuff.

The Anaheim is long and skinny², so you get more skin for the amount of flesh. NMSU breeders note that long New Mexican pods are a favorite for chile rellenos⁴, so a thin wall does not rule out stuffing.

How do you roast and peel them?

The same way, with one change in timing. NMSU's processing guide gives one method for green chile that suits both pods⁶:

Watch the Anaheim more closely under the broiler. Its thin wall and long, narrow body² blister fast at the tip and slower at the shoulders, so you turn it more often. The poblano's thick wall takes the full time and stays firm enough to stuff after peeling.

Can you freeze them before you peel them?

Yes, and you will find peeling easier that way. NMSU's freezing guide says the skin comes off more easily after freezing, so you can roast a whole case, cool it, bag the blistered pods unpeeled, and peel each pack as you thaw it⁷.

This helps you most with the Anaheim. Its long, skinny pod² gives you less flesh to hold a filling, so you want it whole and in its skin until the day you stuff it, while a thick-walled poblano forgives a little rough handling. For diced chile, peel first and pack with half an inch of headspace⁷.

Which Anaheim cultivar is closest to a poblano?

It depends on what you need from the poblano. The New Mexican type has several named cultivars, and NMSU's release report gives each one's heat and pod⁴:

So if you want poblano heat in a long pod, pick Joe E. Parker or Sandia. If you want a big thick-walled pod to stuff and can take more heat, Heritage Big Jim runs about four to six times a poblano's 1,500 SHU midpoint. Big Jim gives you the largest pod, but you taste each one, since NMSU says its heat changes from plant to plant.

Why are your poblanos hotter this year?

Because heat is part genes and part weather. NMSU's heat guide says temperature and water both change a pepper's heat, and that a hot cultivar grown in ideal conditions turns out only moderately hot⁸. A poblano from a hot, dry summer can land at the top of its 1,000 to 2,000 SHU range, while the same plant in a mild, well-watered year sits near the bottom.

You can use that in your own garden. Even watering helps keep your poblanos mild, and NMSU's garden guide lists water stress, too much or too little, among the things that raise or lower heat⁵.

How much of each do you need for a dish?

Count pods for stuffing and weigh them for everything else. For rellenos, one pod is one serving either way, but the pods differ: a heirloom Anaheim runs up to 7 by 1.5 inches and a poblano about 4 by 2², so you fill a long, narrow tube in one case and a short, wide pocket in the other. Plan a little more filling per Anaheim and a little less per poblano.

For diced green chile, weight is all that matters. If your stew calls for 450 g of roasted poblano, use 450 g of roasted Anaheim; at typical heat they land close, and only a hot Anaheim at 5,000 SHU would push the stew to two and a half times the heat of a hot poblano's 2,000 SHU¹. Taste one strip from the batch and you will know which case you have.

Which one should you buy?

If you need a stand-in because the store has neither, our Anaheim swaps rank the options with their heat worked out.

Which one ripens first in a short summer?

The poblano, by a little. It matures in about 75 to 80 days and keeps producing through most of the summer, while the Anaheim needs about 80 days to give you green pods and more than 120 days for red².

If your summer is short, plan to eat your Anaheims green. NMSU spaces garden transplants 8 to 14 inches apart in rows 24 to 30 inches wide⁵, and you can space both plants the same way. Where the season runs long enough for red pods, New Mexico gardeners string them into ristras to dry⁵.

Can you use an Anaheim instead of a poblano?

Going the other way works too. A poblano will never be hotter than 2,000 SHU¹, so the risk is only that the dish comes out a little tamer. If you want more kick than either, a jalapeño runs 2,000 to 8,000 SHU², and the jalapeño and poblano pair shows that step up, and the Anaheim against the jalapeño does the same from the long green side.

Why does a roasted batch peel badly or freeze mushy?

Most problems come from the roasting or the freezer, not the pepper you picked.

The last row is the one people blame on the poblano. A poblano never passes 2,000 SHU¹, so if your rellenos bite, the Anaheim side of the batch is the likely source.