Paprika substitutes
Paprika substitutes — 6 options, ranked, with the exact amount
Also called sweet paprika, paprika powder, Hungarian paprika, pimentón, Spanish paprika, ground paprika
Use Ancho chile powder
1 tsp for every 1 tsp paprika
Paprika is mostly colour and a mild fruity sweetness, not heat. The best swaps are ancho chile powder teaspoon for teaspoon, smoked paprika at ¾ tsp per 1 tsp if you can live with smoke, or Kashmiri chilli powder teaspoon for teaspoon. Do not swap in cayenne at the same amount: cayenne is 30,000 to 50,000 SHU against paprika's near zero, so 2 tbsp of it in a goulash makes the pot inedible rather than red.
- Verdict —
- Tweak it
- The tweak —
- Stir it into hot fat for about 30 seconds before the liquid goes in, so the colour bleeds into the oil
- Best for —
- goulash, stews and anything needing a tablespoon of red
Checked 23 Jul 2026 · no sponsored swaps
But first: what’s the paprika doing?
Pick your caseIs the paprika there for colour by the tablespoon, or for a light dusting of flavour by the teaspoon?
You are buying colour and body at this volume, so the swap has to be mild. Ancho chile powder or Kashmiri chilli powder, teaspoon for teaspoon, will do it. Nothing hotter than about 2,000 SHU works at these amounts. Two tablespoons of cayenne is not a seasoning, it is a chemical burn in a bowl.
Notes on ancho chile powder or Kashmiri chilli powder
1 tsp per tsp
At this amount you have room to use something with a bit more character. Smoked paprika at ¾ tsp per 1 tsp is the closest thing on the shelf, and US chili powder at half the amount works if you accept the cumin and oregano that come with it. Details by dish at for specific dishes.
Notes on smoked paprika (pimentón) or chili powder (US-style blend)
¾ tsp per tsp
This is pure decoration and mild flavour. Any mild red powder works: ancho, Kashmiri, or smoked paprika used sparingly. Never dust cayenne over a finished dish; nobody eating it expects heat and there is no cooking left to soften it.
These are different products, not grades of the same one: Hungarian sweet is bright and fruity, Spanish pimentón dulce is rounder, and smoked paprika tastes of oak smoke and will make anything read as barbecue or chorizo. Swapping plain paprika into a smoked-paprika recipe loses the smoke — add ¼ tsp of chipotle powder per 1 tsp to get some of it back. See smoked paprika substitute and Hungarian paprika.
Start with how much paprika the recipe uses. A tablespoon or more means you are buying colour in bulk, so the swap must be mild: ancho chile powder or Kashmiri chilli powder, teaspoon for teaspoon, or fried tomato paste if you want no chilli at all. A teaspoon or less means you have room for character, so smoked paprika at three quarters of the amount or US chili powder at half will work. Whatever you choose, keep it under about 2,000 SHU, and add any real heat separately in eighths of a teaspoon.
Paprika is colour first: its red pigment dissolves into fat and dyes the whole dish. Its flavour is mild dried-pepper sweetness, and sweet paprika has essentially no heat at all.
Heat (pungency)secondary
Sweet paprika contributes no measurable burn, which is precisely why recipes use tablespoons of it. Hot paprika carries roughly 500 to 1,000 SHU, still a fraction of cayenne, so the two are not interchangeable by volume.
Aroma & flavor identityprimary
A mild, faintly sweet dried-pepper smell that gives chicken rubs, deviled eggs and paella their savoury background without adding any burn to fight against.
Browning & colorprimary
The red comes from fat-soluble carotenoid pigments, so paprika stirred into hot oil or butter colours the entire sauce, while paprika added to water sits on top as red specks and the goulash stays grey-brown.
Every option, one card
Ranked · per 1 tsp paprika| # | Substitute | Instead of 1 tsp paprika | Verdict |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Ancho chile powdergoulash, stews and anything needing a tablespoon of red | 1 tspTweak it | Tweak it |
| 2 | Smoked paprika (pimentón)beans, lentils, chorizo-style dishes, barbecue rubs | ¾ tspTweak it | Tweak it |
| 3 | Kashmiri chilli powdercurries, tandoori marinades and rice dishes | 1 tspTweak it | Tweak it |
| 4 | Chili powder (US-style blend)chili, beans, taco fillings and barbecue rubs | ½ tspYou'll taste it | You'll taste it |
| 5 | Tomato paste + a pinch of sugargoulash, braises and any long-simmered red stew | 1 tbsp plus ¼ tsp sugarper 1 tbsp paprikaYou'll taste it | You'll taste it |
| 6 | Aleppo pepperroast vegetables, eggs, yoghurt and grain salads | ½ tsp Aleppo pepper flakesYou'll taste it | You'll taste it |
| Not a swap | Cayenne pepper | not at 1:1 — 1/8 tsp cayenne at most, plus ¾ tsp of a mild red powder for the colourNot for this | Not for this |
Ancho chile powder
fruitier and slightly raisiny, with a faint warmth at the back
Ground dried poblano: deep red, mild at roughly 1,000 to 2,000 SHU, and the base of most US chili powder, so it behaves like a slightly fruitier paprika.
- Covers
- Aroma & flavor identity
- Browning & color
- Amount
- 1 tsp ancho chile powder for 1 tsp paprika
- Then
- stir it into hot fat for about 30 seconds before the liquid goes in, so the colour bleeds into the oil
- Best for
- goulash, stews and anything needing a tablespoon of red, when you want colour with a hint of warmth but no real burn, Mexican and Tex-Mex dishes
- Texture
- identical, both are fine powders
- Look
- a deeper, browner red than sweet paprika's bright orange-red, so the stew looks darker and richer
- Suits
- vegan, gluten-free, dairy-free
- Match it teaspoon for teaspoon. Ancho is mild enough that you do not need to scale down.
- If the dish is for children or anyone heat-sensitive, start at ¾ tsp per 1 tsp — ancho has a faint warmth paprika does not.
- Do not also add the recipe's cayenne; ancho already brings a little heat.
Ancho powder and 'ancho chili powder' on a US label mean the same single-pepper spice. Check the jar is not a blend with salt and cumin in it, which would be chili powder under a different name.
Fine at any amount you would use paprika. If a dish is meant to look bright orange-red, ancho will make it look brown-red instead.
Smoked paprika (pimentón)
clearly smoky, like bacon or chorizo
The same peppers, dried over oak smoke instead of in the sun, which makes it the closest thing in colour and the loudest thing in flavour.
- Covers
- Aroma & flavor identity
- Browning & color
- Amount
- ¾ tsp smoked paprika for 1 tsp paprika
- Then
- add it with the fat, not at the end — smoke sitting raw on top of a dish tastes like an ashtray
- Best for
- beans, lentils, chorizo-style dishes, barbecue rubs, when a smoky dish is welcome, anything with tomato or pork in it
- Taste
- clearly smoky, like bacon or chorizo; the mild sweetness is still there underneath
- Texture
- identical, both are fine powders
- Look
- very slightly darker and browner than sweet paprika
- Suits
- vegan, gluten-free, dairy-free
- Use three quarters of the amount. Smoke reads as strength, so a full spoon can push a mild dish into barbecue territory.
- If the recipe is Hungarian — goulash, paprikash — use half and make the rest up with ancho or Kashmiri, or it will taste Spanish.
If your jar says smoked, pimentón, or de la Vera, this is what you have — and it is not the neutral 'paprika' a US recipe means. Sweet, hot and smoked are three different products, and the label is the only way to tell them apart before you taste.
Not in delicate cream sauces or over deviled eggs, where the smoke is the only thing anyone tastes.
Kashmiri chilli powder
slightly sharper and less sweet than paprika, with a mild warmth
A mild Indian chilli, roughly 1,000 to 2,000 SHU, grown and sold for exactly the job paprika does: a lot of red for very little heat.
- Covers
- Aroma & flavor identity
- Browning & color
- Amount
- 1 tsp Kashmiri chilli powder for 1 tsp paprika
- Then
- bloom it in hot oil for 20 to 30 seconds until the oil turns red
- Best for
- curries, tandoori marinades and rice dishes, when you want the brightest possible red, dishes where turmeric or garam masala are already present
- Texture
- identical, both are fine powders
- Look
- a brighter, more scarlet red than paprika — this is the spice that makes tandoori chicken that colour
- Pantry
- Special trip
- Suits
- vegan, gluten-free, dairy-free
- Match it teaspoon for teaspoon. Kashmiri is deliberately mild.
- This is the one jar in an Indian shop labelled 'chilli powder' that is safe at paprika volumes. Any other jar with that label is not.
Do not confuse Kashmiri chilli powder with plain Indian or UK chilli powder sold in the same aisle. Kashmiri is named on the jar; if the jar just says chilli powder, it is likely 30,000 SHU or more.
Mild but not heat-free. In a dish for small children, start with half.
Chili powder (US-style blend)
unmistakably of cumin and oregano
Mild ground chile plus cumin, oregano and garlic, so it covers the colour and repaints the flavour of the dish as Tex-Mex.
- Covers
- Browning & color
- Misses
- Aroma & flavor identity — not covered
- Amount
- ½ tsp US-style chili powder for 1 tsp paprika
- Then
- cook it in fat for a minute and taste before adding any more
- Best for
- chili, beans, taco fillings and barbecue rubs, when the dish is already savoury and garlicky, when it is the only red powder in the cupboard
- Taste
- unmistakably of cumin and oregano. A Hungarian or Spanish dish will taste Mexican
- Texture
- identical, both are fine powders
- Look
- similar red, slightly duller and browner, with visible flecks of oregano in a pale sauce
- Pantry
- Likely in your cupboard
- Suits
- vegan, gluten-free
- Use half a teaspoon per teaspoon of paprika, because the blend carries cumin and garlic you did not ask for.
- Leave out the recipe's cumin, oregano and garlic powder if it lists them; chili powder has all three.
- US-style only. A UK or Indian jar labelled 'chilli powder' is pure hot chilli and belongs nowhere near this measurement.
This is the most likely jar for someone to already own and the biggest flavour detour on the list, which is why it is ranked below three spices that are only a colour change.
Not in paprikash, paella, romesco or anything where the cumin would be out of place. Half the amount, and taste before adding more.
Tomato paste + a pinch of sugar
tomato rather than dried pepper
Not a spice, but it does paprika's main job in a stew: it turns the pot red and adds sweet body, without adding any heat at all.
- Covers
- Browning & color
- Misses
- Aroma & flavor identity — not covered
- Amount
- 1 tbsp tomato paste plus ¼ tsp sugar for 1 tbsp paprika
- Then
- fry the paste in the oil for 2 to 3 minutes until it darkens from bright red to brick and smells sweet rather than tinny
- Best for
- goulash, braises and any long-simmered red stew, when the only thing you actually need is colour, cooking for children or anyone who cannot have chilli
- Taste
- tomato rather than dried pepper — sweet and slightly acidic instead of mildly fruity
- Texture
- the sauce thickens noticeably, since you have added a paste rather than a powder
- Look
- a rich brick red, close to a paprika stew, but glossier
- Pantry
- Likely in your cupboard
- Suits
- vegan, gluten-free, dairy-free, nut-free
- Fry the paste before adding liquid. Raw tomato paste tastes metallic and stays that way.
- Add ¼ tsp sugar per tablespoon to stand in for the pepper sweetness.
- Cut the recipe's other tomato by the same amount, or the dish will taste like tomato sauce.
Worth knowing about because it is the one answer on this page that involves no chilli at all, which matters if you are cooking for someone who cannot eat any.
Only in wet dishes. It cannot work in a dry rub, on deviled eggs, or anywhere paprika is dusted on. Never add it to a tested canning recipe.
Aleppo pepper
fruity and raisin-like with a slow, mild warmth that builds
Coarse, deep red Middle Eastern flakes with real but moderate heat, around 10,000 SHU, so they go in at half the volume and stay visible.
- Covers
- Aroma & flavor identity
- Browning & color
- Amount
- ½ tsp Aleppo pepper flakes for 1 tsp paprika
- Then
- warm it in oil for 30 seconds, or scatter it on at the end where you want the flecks to show
- Best for
- roast vegetables, eggs, yoghurt and grain salads, when you want the red to sit on top rather than dissolve, when a gentle heat is welcome
- Texture
- coarse flakes rather than powder, so they never fully dissolve
- Look
- visible red flecks rather than an even red colour through the dish
- Pantry
- Special trip
- Suits
- vegan, gluten-free, dairy-free
- Use half the amount. Aleppo is roughly a fifth as hot as cayenne but far hotter than paprika.
- If you need the paprika to dissolve into a sauce, grind the flakes finer first.
Aleppo's texture is the point of it, so treat this as a swap that changes how the dish looks as much as how it tastes.
Half the amount, and not where 2 tbsp of paprika was the source of the whole dish's colour.
Cayenne pepper
hot, and only hot
The same colour family and about two hundred times the heat, which makes it a chilli rather than a paprika substitute.
- Misses
- Aroma & flavor identity — not covered
- Browning & color — not covered
- Amount
- 1/8 tsp cayenne at most, plus ¾ tsp of a mild red powder for the colour for 1 tsp paprika
- Then
- add the cayenne last, off the heat, and taste before adding a second pinch
- Best for
- adding heat to a dish that has its colour from somewhere else, listed only because it is the swap people reach for most often
- Taste
- hot, and only hot. Every mild sweet note paprika contributed is gone and replaced with burn
- Texture
- identical as a powder
- Look
- at the tiny amount that is safe to use, almost no colour change at all
- Pantry
- Likely in your cupboard
- Suits
- vegan, gluten-free, dairy-free
- If a recipe calls for 1 tbsp of paprika, that is 3 tsp. The equivalent cayenne is a pinch — around 1/8 tsp for a dish serving four — and it does nothing for the colour.
- Get the red from ancho, Kashmiri or tomato paste, and use cayenne only if you also want the dish hot.
Paprika sits at roughly 0 SHU and cayenne at 30,000 to 50,000. An earlier version of this page recommended cayenne at 1:1 as the top swap; a goulash made that way with 2 tbsp of paprika would be inedible and there is no way to take the heat back out.
Never match cayenne to paprika spoon for spoon. 1/8 tsp per teaspoon of paprika is the ceiling, and only when you want heat.
Don’t swap it here
4 cases- Any recipe that uses a tablespoon or more of paprika — goulash, chicken paprikash, romesco, chorizo-style sausage.Use ancho chile powder or Kashmiri chilli powder teaspoon for teaspoon, or 1 tbsp of fried tomato paste plus ¼ tsp sugar per tablespoon of paprika.
- Substituting cayenne, red pepper flakes, or a UK or Indian jar labelled 'chilli powder' at the same amount as the paprika.Use a mild red powder for the colour, and add heat separately in eighths of a teaspoon, tasting as you go.
- Dusting the finished dish — deviled eggs, hummus, potato salad, garnished soup.Use ancho, Kashmiri or a light hand with smoked paprika, and keep cayenne off the table entirely.
- SafetyAdding tomato paste, oil or extra vegetables to a tested canned salsa or pickled pepper recipe because you are out of paprika.Change only the dry spices, keep every other quantity exactly as the tested recipe states, and check NCHFP if you are unsure.
Safety
1 note- Canning
Dry spices may be varied in a tested canning or pickling recipe, but do not replace paprika with tomato paste, oil or extra vegetables in one. Those change the acidity and density of the jar, which is what makes it safe. Follow a tested recipe.
Source — National Center for Home Food Preservation (opens in a new tab)
If it went wrong
3 fixes- The dish is far too hot to eat after you swapped in cayenne or chilli powder.Capsaicin went in at paprika volume. Paprika is about 0 SHU; cayenne is 30,000 to 50,000.You cannot remove capsaicin, only dilute it. Double the batch with unspiced potato, beans, rice or tinned tomato, and serve with yoghurt, sour cream or cheese — capsaicin dissolves in fat, not water. Sugar and acid help a little; more stock does not.
- The sauce tastes bitter and slightly burnt.Paprika went into a dry or very hot pan. Its sugars scorch almost immediately.Bitterness will not cook out. Add ½ tsp sugar and a squeeze of lemon to mask it, and next time take the pan off the heat before the paprika goes in. If it is badly burnt, start the onions again and move the meat across.
- The stew is grey-brown when it should be red.The paprika went in with the liquid, so its fat-soluble pigment never dissolved.Push the solids aside, put 1 tbsp of oil into the bare pan, take it off the heat, stir 1 tsp of paprika into the oil until it turns deep red, then stir that back through the stew.
Measure it
6 measures- Heat ladder in Scovillessweet paprika ~0, hot paprika ~500-1,000, ancho ~1,000-2,000, Kashmiri ~1,000-2,000, chipotle ~5,000-10,000, Aleppo ~10,000, cayenne ~30,000-50,000This one line is why swapping paprika by volume is the most consequential decision on the page.
- 1 tsp paprikaabout 2.3 gSo 1 tbsp is about 7 g. A Hungarian goulash for four can use 2 tbsp — around 14 g of a spice with no heat in it.
- Sweet, hot and smokedthree different productsSweet paprika, or edelsüss, is the default when a recipe just says paprika. Hot paprika carries mild chilli heat. Smoked paprika, pimentón or de la Vera, tastes of oak smoke and changes the dish.
- Where the colour livesfat-soluble carotenoid pigmentsStir paprika into hot oil or butter and the whole sauce goes red. Add it to water and it floats as specks.
- Scorch pointburns fast over medium heatPaprika turns bitter within seconds in a hot dry pan. The classic instruction is to pull the pan off the heat, stir the paprika into the fat, then add the liquid.
- Chipotle for smoke¼ tsp chipotle per 1 tsp paprikaThe nearest thing to smoked paprika if you only have sweet, though chipotle is around 5,000-10,000 SHU so it also brings heat.
Questions
6 questionsCan I use cayenne pepper instead of paprika?
Not at the same amount, and this is the most damaging swap in the spice rack. Sweet paprika measures roughly 0 on the Scoville scale; cayenne measures 30,000 to 50,000. A goulash that calls for 2 tbsp of paprika would take 2 tbsp of cayenne under a 1:1 rule, which produces something nobody can eat, and capsaicin cannot be removed once it is in the pot. If cayenne is all you have, use up to 1/8 tsp per 1 tsp of paprika for heat, and get the colour from ancho powder, Kashmiri chilli powder or 1 tbsp of fried tomato paste.
What is the closest substitute for paprika?
Ancho chile powder, teaspoon for teaspoon: it is mild at roughly 1,000 to 2,000 SHU, deep red, and the base of most US chili powder. Kashmiri chilli powder is equally mild and gives an even brighter red. Smoked paprika at ¾ tsp per 1 tsp is closest in colour but adds unmistakable smoke.
What is the difference between paprika, sweet paprika and smoked paprika?
Plain paprika on a US or UK label is sweet paprika: mild, fruity, no real heat. Hot paprika is the same pepper dried with hotter varieties blended in, around 500 to 1,000 SHU. Smoked paprika, sold as pimentón or pimentón de la Vera, is dried over oak smoke and tastes strongly of it. Spanish and Hungarian paprika differ too — Hungarian sweet is brighter and fruitier. If a recipe just says paprika, use sweet.
Can I use chili powder instead of paprika?
US-style chili powder yes, at about half the amount, but it will make the dish taste of cumin, oregano and garlic, which is fine in beans and wrong in paprikash or paella. A jar labelled 'chilli powder' from a UK, Indian or Australian shop is a different product — pure ground hot chilli, often 30,000 SHU or more — and must not be used at paprika amounts.
Is there a paprika substitute with no chilli in it at all?
Yes: 1 tbsp of tomato paste fried in oil for two to three minutes until it darkens, plus ¼ tsp of sugar, per 1 tbsp of paprika. It supplies the red colour and sweet body with no capsaicin whatsoever, which matters when you are cooking for children or anyone who cannot tolerate chilli. It only works in wet dishes, not in rubs or as a dusting.
Why did my paprika turn the dish bitter?
It burnt. Paprika contains natural sugars that scorch within seconds in a hot dry pan, and the resulting bitterness cannot be cooked out. Take the pan off the heat, stir the paprika into the oil or butter, then add the liquid.
Tips for substituting paprika
6 tips- Take the pan off the heat before the paprika goes in. Its sugars scorch in seconds in a hot dry pan, and burnt paprika is bitter in a way you cannot cook out or cover up.
- Stir paprika into fat, never straight into water. The red pigment is fat-soluble, which is why a paprikash made properly is red all the way through and one made carelessly is beige with red specks on top.
- Read the label before you measure: sweet, hot and smoked paprika are three different products. A recipe that just says paprika means the sweet one.
- Paprika fades faster than most spices because the pigment is light-sensitive. A jar that has gone brick-brown in a clear container on a sunny shelf will not colour your food.
- Hungarian and Spanish paprika are not the same: Hungarian sweet is bright and fruity and used by the tablespoon, while Spanish pimentón dulce is rounder and often smoked. Either works in the other's dishes, and the dish will taste of the one you used.
- If you want the smoke of smoked paprika but only have sweet, add ¼ tsp of chipotle powder per 1 tsp of paprika — and remember chipotle brings 5,000 to 10,000 SHU of heat with it.
Source — National Center for Home Food Preservation (opens in a new tab)