Chili vs. Pepper — What's the Difference?

A spicy fruit pod from the Capsicum family, containing capsaicin.

A term that encompasses a wide range of both spicy and mild fruits from different plants.

Predominantly used to add heat in Latin American, Asian, and Indian dishes.

Used globally in various forms, from seasoning to main ingredient.

Available whole, dried, or as a powder.

Rich in vitamins, especially sweet peppers, which are high in vitamin C.

High in vitamins A and C, and capsaicin, which has health benefits.

Includes whole peppers, fresh or dried, and ground pepper.

Central to many cultural cuisines for its heat and flavor.

Used across many cuisines for flavoring, from peppercorns in European dishes to sweet peppers in Mediterranean cuisine.

The pungent fresh or dried fruit of any of several cultivated varieties of capsicum, used especially as a flavoring in cooking. Also called chili pepper.

A perennial climbing vine (Piper nigrum) native to India, widely cultivated for its long slender spikes of small fruit.

A stew made of meat or beans (or both) and usually tomatoes, spiced with chili peppers or chili powder.

A pungent black or white spice produced from the dried fruit of this plant, used as a condiment.

(countable) The pungent, spicy fresh or dried fruit of any of several cultivated varieties of capsicum peppers, used in cooking.

Any of several other plants of the genus Piper, such as cubeb, betel, and kava.

(uncountable) Powdered chili pepper, used as a spice or flavouring in cooking.

Any of several tropical American, cultivated varieties of capsicum, having podlike, many-seeded, fruit.

(Indian Chinese cuisine) A spicy stew of chicken or paneer, capsicum and onion, eaten as an appetizer.

The podlike fruit of any of these plants, varying in size, shape, color, and degree of pungency, with the milder types including the bell pepper and pimiento, and the more pungent types including the habanero.

A dish made with chili peppers and other ingredients, such as beans and beef.

Any of various condiments made from the more pungent varieties of capsicum, such as cayenne pepper, tabasco pepper, and chili. Also called hot pepper.

(Cincinnati) Cincinnati chili.

Any of various other plants producing pungent fruits, such as the Szechuan pepper.

A kind of red pepper. See Capsicum

(Baseball) A warm-up exercise in which players standing a short distance from a batter field the ball and toss it to the batter, who hits each toss back to the fielders. Also called pepper game.

Ground beef and chili peppers or chili powder often with tomatoes and kidney beans

To season or sprinkle with pepper.

Very hot and finely tapering pepper of special pungency

To sprinkle liberally; scatter

To strew something over

To strike with small missiles or gunfire.

A plant of the family Piperaceae.

(uncountable) A spice prepared from the fermented, dried, unripe berries of this plant.

A bell pepper, a fruit of the capsicum plant: red, green, yellow or white, hollow and containing seeds, and in very spicy and mild varieties.Surely "pepper" covers all varieties as in most of this definition, while "bell pepper" and "capsicum" only refer to the large roundish mild varieties specifically

(baseball) A game used by baseball players to warm up where fielders standing close to a batter rapidly return the batted ball to be hit again

(cryptography) A randomly-generated value that is added to another value (such as a password) prior to hashing. Unlike a salt, a new one is generated for each value and it is held separately from the value.

(transitive) To add pepper to.

(transitive) To strike with something made up of small particles.

(transitive) To cover with lots of (something made up of small things).

(transitive) To add (something) at frequent intervals.

To beat or thrash.

A well-known, pungently aromatic condiment, the dried berry, either whole or powdered, of the Piper nigrum.

The plant which yields pepper, an East Indian woody climber (Piper nigrum), with ovate leaves and apetalous flowers in spikes opposite the leaves. The berries are red when ripe. Also, by extension, any one of the several hundred species of the genus Piper, widely dispersed throughout the tropical and subtropical regions of the earth.

Any plant of the genus Capsicum (of the Solanaceae family, which are unrelated to Piper), and its fruit; red pepper; chili pepper; as, the bell pepper and the jalapeno pepper (both Capsicum annuum) and the habanero pepper (Capsicum chinense); . These contain varying levels of the substance capsaicin (C18H27O3N), which gives the peppers their hot taste. The habanero is about 25-50 times hotter than the jalapeno according to a scale developed by Wilbur Scoville in 1912. See also Capsicum and http://www.chili-pepper-plants.com/.

To sprinkle or season with pepper.

Figuratively: To shower shot or other missiles, or blows, upon; to pelt; to fill with shot, or cover with bruises or wounds; as, to pepper him with buckshot.

To fire numerous shots (at).

Climber having dark red berries (peppercorns) when fully ripe; southern India and Sri Lanka; naturalized in northern Burma and Assam

Any of various tropical plants of the genus Capsicum bearing peppers

Pungent seasoning from the berry of the common pepper plant of East India; use whole or ground

Sweet and hot varieties of fruits of plants of the genus Capsicum

Add pepper to;

Attack and bombard with or as if with missiles;

No, peppers range from very spicy, like habaneros, to sweet, like bell peppers.

It depends on the recipe and desired heat level; they can sometimes be substituted, but the flavor profile will change.

Black pepper comes from the Piper genus and is mild to moderately spicy, while chili peppers come from the Capsicum family and are usually hotter.

Chilies contain capsaicin, which gives them their characteristic heat.

Yes, they're high in vitamins and capsaicin, which has health benefits.

They are the same plant; the color differences are due to varying ripeness levels.

Paprika can be made from sweet or mild peppers, whereas chili powder is typically made from spicier peppers.

They were named by early European explorers who likened their flavor to that of black pepper from the Piper genus.

Yes, peppercorns are the dried fruit of Piper nigrum.

White and black pepper come from the same plant, but white pepper is the seed with the outer fruit removed.

Sweet peppers can add flavor to spicy dishes without adding heat.

In some cases, excessive consumption of very spicy food can lead to digestive issues.

The Carolina Reaper is currently recognized as the hottest chili.

Adding dairy products like yogurt or milk can help mitigate the heat.

It can be due to historical availability of spices, climate, and cultural preferences.