What heat level of Hatch chile should I order?

We grow four heat levels — Mild, Medium, Hot, and X-Hot — and the right one depends on your spice tolerance and what you're cooking.

Want gentle? Mild. Want classic New Mexican heat? Medium. Want a real punch? Hot. Want a kick that'll wake up a salsa? X-Hot.

Are Hatch chiles hot?

Yes — but the heat depends entirely on the variety. Hatch chiles span the full range from barely-spicy (Mild varieties around 900 SHU — tamer than a typical jalapeño) to genuinely hot (X-Hot Lumbre at 12,000+ SHU per NMSU CR706 — well above most jalapeños). The Hatch Valley grows the full heat spectrum across multiple cultivars, and the variety you order is what determines what you taste.

For reference: most grocery-store jalapeños run 2,500–8,000 SHU. Our Medium tier (Big Jim, ~6,500 SHU) lands right in the middle of that range. Our Hot tier (Sandia Select, ~9,500 SHU) goes a step beyond. Our X-Hot (Lumbre) approaches serrano-pepper heat. Mild varieties (Joe Parker, NuMex 6-4, 1904) sit below most jalapeños — meaty, gently warm, and the right pick if you want classic Hatch flavor without the burn.

Our four heat levels map to specific varieties

Here's the quick-pick guide we hand customers on the phone every day:

The Scoville range column below is in Scoville Heat Units (SHU) — the standard scale for measuring chile heat. Higher number, hotter pepper.

What you're looking at: these are the varieties available in our boxed Hatch Chile Store products this season — Mild (1904, Joe Parker, Machete, NuMex 6-4), Medium (Big Jim, Charger), Hot (Sandia Select), and X-Hot (Lumbre). For the full roster of what our family farms grow (130+ varieties), see about us. For which New Mexico cultivars qualify as Hatch chile when grown in this region, see what are Hatch chiles.

Heat varies year to year — we never promise consistency

Chile is a crop, not a recipe. Hot, dry summers produce hotter chile; cool, wet summers produce milder chile, even from the same variety in the same field. We label by variety honestly, but nature has the final say. If a previous order ran milder than you wanted, order one level up next time. If it ran hotter, drop one level.

If last year ran mild for you and you're hoping for more heat this year, we hear that question every harvest. The honest answer is we don't know until we're roasting — a hot, dry summer leans the whole crop hotter, a cool, wet one leans it milder. Same variety, same field, different year, different bite.

The heat is in the veins, not the seeds

This is the most common chile myth. Capsaicin — the compound that makes chile hot — lives in the lengthwise veins inside the pod, not the seeds. The darker yellow the vein, the hotter the chile. Most New Mexicans remove seeds when prepping, but they do it for cleaner texture, not heat reduction.

Removing the skin (peeling) doesn't change heat either — the skin is just a tough outer layer with no capsaicin. We peel before freezing because peelings stick to your teeth and ruin texture, not to tame heat. For more, see our chile anatomy and varieties deep-dive.

We don't mix heat levels in one box

Every box ships at a single heat level. If you want Mild and Hot, place separate orders — one for each level. The good news: our Buy More Save More frozen discount still applies across multiple boxes, so two boxes at different heat levels get the same volume break (20% at 2, 25% at 3, 30% at 4+) as two boxes of the same heat level.

Heat availability differs by product type

Not every product comes in every heat level:

• Fresh chile (in season, early July through late October most years): Mild, Medium, Hot, X-Hot.
• Frozen roasted chile (year-round): Mild, Medium, Hot. No X-Hot frozen — Lumbre is fresh-only.
• Frozen prepared foods (tamales, rellenos, chimichangas, posole, stew): Medium only — no customization.
• Jarred salsas, sauces, diced chile: Heat level is listed on each product page.
• Powders: Mild, Medium, and Hot New Mexico chile powder.

If you specifically want X-Hot in a roasted form, the path is to order fresh Lumbre during harvest and roast it yourself.

A note on our dried decoratives

Two products on the site use varieties that sit outside the boxed-chile heat lineup above. Our Traditional Sandia ristras are made from sun-dried original heirloom Sandia chile (approximately 6,500 SHU per NMSU CR706) — top of our Medium tier, a step hotter than typical Big Jim in lived experience. Our chile pequin wreaths use chile pequin, which is its own species entirely and runs far hotter than anything in the table above (roughly 30,000–60,000 SHU). If you snip pequin pods off a wreath to cook with, treat one pod as a lot of heat.

When to contact us

Not sure which level fits your dish or your tolerance? Call us at 575-267-2067 (9 am–5 pm Mountain, Mon–Fri) or use our contact form. We grew up on this chile and we'll talk it through with you.

Frequently asked questions

Are Hatch chiles hot?

Yes. Hatch chiles range from Mild (~900 SHU — gentle warmth, tamer than a typical jalapeño) to X-Hot (12,000+ SHU per NMSU CR706 — well past jalapeño territory, approaching serrano heat). The Hatch Valley grows the full heat spectrum across multiple varieties: Mild NuMex 6-4 / Joe Parker / 1904; Medium Big Jim / Charger; Hot Sandia Select; X-Hot Lumbre. Pick the heat level based on what you're cooking and your spice tolerance — see the variety→heat table above.

Do you sell extra hot or X-hot chiles?

Yes — our X-Hot variety is Lumbre (12,000+ SHU; varies year to year), available fresh during the August–October harvest only. We don't carry X-Hot frozen roasted. If you want roasted Lumbre, the path is to order fresh and roast it yourself.

How hot are the chiles this year?

Heat varies year to year with rainfall and temperature. Hot, dry summers produce hotter crops; cool, wet summers produce milder ones. We post current-season notes on our Hatch chile season page when the harvest is running.

What variety are your hot or medium chiles?

Hot is Sandia Select (approximately 9,500 SHU per NMSU CR706). Medium is Big Jim or Charger — Big Jim measures around 6,500 SHU per NMSU; our pods often run a touch milder than the cultivar mean. Big Jim is Medium — not Hot — despite being our largest pod. Sandia Select is the classic chile-head choice.

Can I mix heat levels in my order?

Each box ships at a single heat level. To get two heat levels, place two orders. Our Buy More Save More frozen discount still applies across multiple boxes, so you don't lose the volume break.

Are your tamales hot or mild?

All our prepared frozen foods — tamales, rellenos, chimichangas, posole, and stew — are made with Medium heat chile. We don't offer them in other heat levels.

Are your chiles hot this year? Last year was mild.

Heat shifts year to year with the weather — last year ran milder for some folks because of a cooler, wetter summer. We won't know how this year tastes until we're roasting it. If last year was milder than you wanted, order one heat level up and you should land closer.

What variety is your medium chile?

Our medium chiles are Big Jim and Charger — both thick-walled, all-purpose pods. Big Jim measures approximately 6,500 SHU per NMSU CR706; our pods often run a touch milder than the cultivar mean. Big Jim is our largest pod but it's a true Medium, not a Hot, despite its size.

What's the Scoville range for each heat level?

Mild is 0–2,000 SHU, Medium is 2,000–7,000 SHU, Hot is 7,000–11,000 SHU, and X-Hot is 11,000+ SHU (Sandia Select runs ~9,500 in our Hot tier; Lumbre 12,000+, varies year to year). For reference, a jalapeño typically falls between 2,500–8,000 SHU, so our Medium overlaps jalapeño heat and our X-Hot is meaningfully hotter.

Do you have anything really hot — extra hot beyond X-Hot?

X-Hot Lumbre (12,000+ SHU, varies year to year) is the hottest chile we grow in our four-level boxed range. It's significantly hotter than a jalapeño but well short of habanero territory — the strongest heat we sell in the boxes. (Our chile pequin wreaths are a different species and run far hotter — closer to chile de árbol and beyond — but they're sold for snipping/decoration, not in our heat-level boxes.) If you want more punch, use Lumbre sparingly in a sauce or salsa rather than as the main pepper.

Can I get mild chiles year-round?

Yes. Mild is available fresh during harvest (early July through late October most years) and frozen roasted year-round. Our mild varieties are 1904, Joe Parker, and Machete — barely warmer than a bell pepper.