Spicy Recipes

By Food & Wine
Updated October 04, 2016
From red chile chicken enchiladas to Yucatán pork stew with ancho chiles and lime juice, here are some fantastic spicy recipes.
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Shrimp Cocktail with Singapore Hot Sauce

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Susan Feniger likes to quickly simmer raw shrimp in broth or sauté them with garlic and ginger, but you can certainly use precooked shrimp to save time. This sweet-and-spicy sauce was inspired by the ones Feniger sampled at street stalls throughout Singapore.

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Spicy Stewed Sausages with Three Peppers

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"This is my take on the Little Italy classic," says Mario Batali of the sausage and peppers that's a mainstay of the iconic Manhattan neighborhood and its annual street festival. Stewing the bell peppers in red wine gives them richness; so does a generous garnish of grated pecorino cheese. The stewed sausages and peppers are also delicious tossed with pasta.

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Yucatán Pork Stew with Ancho Chiles and Lime Juice

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This Mexican-influenced dish gets its earthiness from ancho chiles, a flavor that pairs well with a dark-berried, spicy red wine.

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Spicy Chicken Cacciatore

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Although this Italian standard has suffered at the hands of lesser chefs, Barbara Lynch redeems it. She ably deconstructs what is often a heavy sauce into its vivid components: bright red strips of bell pepper, sweet slices of onion, hot pickled peppers and fresh chopped tomatoes.

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Spicy Tonnarelli with Clams

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This seafood pasta dish pairs well with Crisp Verdicchio.

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Spicy Grilled Shrimp with Yuzu Kosho Pesto

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Yuzu kosho is a hot, spicy and aromatic Japanese condiment made from hot chiles and ultra-citrusy yuzu zest. It's the key to this supersimple and utterly delicious recipe from chef Ricardo Zarate of Mo-Chica in Los Angeles.

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Thai Chicken with Basil

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An abundance of whole basil leaves joins chicken and fiery red chiles for a quick, delicious, and decidedly spicy stir-fry. Holy basil is the most authentic choice, but any variety will do.

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Spicy Sloppy Joes

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Make this easy weeknight dish using leftovers from Mom's Meat Loaf.

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Spicy Tomato Sauce

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This will coat 1 pound of pasta. Cooked tomatoes are a good source of lycopene, a compound that fights cancer.

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Potato Soup with Spicy Shrimp

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Influenced by his Turkish-American wife, Meltem, Scott Conant spices up his silky potato soup with Turkish red-pepper paste (biber salcasi), made from sweet and hot peppers. Look for the paste at Middle Eastern groceries, or use harissa instead.

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Old Bay Hot Wings

Raymond Hom
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Old Bay seasoning and Worcestershire sauce really bring this comfort food classic to the next level.

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Spicy Thai Steak

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Any leftover marinated steak is perfect for serving over a salad or in sandwiches.

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Fiery Moroccan Lamb Merguez

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Hank Shaw likens sausage-making to jazz: "You have all these standards, but there's room for improvisation." With this spicy merguez from North Africa, adjust the seasonings to vary the flavor intensity and heat.

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Spicy Roast Chicken

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Chickens raised on grass have such superior taste that Adam Perry Lang of NYC's Daisy May's BBQ USA wants to get into chicken farming.

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Sweet and Spicy Catfish Sandwiches

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These fantastic sandwiches are filled with moist, sweetly glazed catfish, a spicy sambal mayonnaise, crunchy cucumbers and fresh cilantro.

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Spicy Fried Okra with Crispy Shallots

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Okra is a common ingredient in Singaporean cooking; Chris Yeo was thrilled at how easy it is to find in Atlanta. He sautés the okra pods in hot oil until they're browned and crisp, then stir-fries them with chile sauce and pungent dried shrimp (widely available in Asian markets).

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Spicy Lobster-Noodle Salad

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This cellophane-noodle salad, with creamy avocados, crunchy peanuts and a chile-honey dressing, is an excellent showcase for Caribbean spiny lobsters. Also known as rock lobsters, they are sweet but can be slightly dense. This recipe uses Maine lobsters; they're more tender than spiny lobsters—and just as delicious.

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Red Chile–Chicken Enchiladas

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Grace Parisi makes a slightly spicy red sauce for these enchiladas with smoky guajillo chiles and fruity ancho chiles.

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Spicy Pork Po'Boys

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In Louisiana, a po'boy is a soft baguette filled with either fried seafood or meat. Melissa Rubel makes her po'boys with juicy grilled pork patties, topped with lettuce, tomato and a crunchy-creamy pickle-and-shallot mayonnaise.

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Spicy Sriracha Chicken Wings

Maura McEvoy
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These crispy chicken wings get their heat from Sriracha, the Thai hot sauce that chef Michael Symon says is his favorite in the world. "We always have a couple of extra bottles at home, because my stepson blows right through the stuff."

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Spicy Chickpea Salad

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Rajat Parr was born in Kolkata in 1972 and didn't leave until he was 22, which explains why Indian flavors are such a big part of his cooking. This salad, for instance, is a twist on the classic Indian street food called chana chaat.

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Pan-Seared Chicken Breasts with Jamaican Curry

© Kana Okada
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This Jamaican curry gets its heat from Scotch bonnet chiles; Marcia Kiesel's stripped-down version relies on a Scotch bonnet hot sauce and curry powder.

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Spicy Shrimp and Cellophane-Noodle Salad

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This combination of zingy herbs, cool noodles, grilled shrimp and spicy dressing makes a fabulous, easy dish. Plus, it can largely be made ahead of time, then put together just before serving. Squid or chicken are delicious substitutes for the shrimp.

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Grilled Steaks with Sweet-Spicy Hoisin Sauce

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Wolfgang Puck's sweet-savory sauce makes these steaks a better match for a fruity red like a Zinfandel than a more structured Cabernet (most people's go-to wine for grilled steak).

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Pork Stew with Cockles and Spicy Red Pepper Sauce

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This combination of briny cockles and smoky pork is traditional in southern Portugal's Alentejo region, though the fresh red chiles in the sauce here add a distinctive twist (for a sweeter variation, use red bell peppers instead).

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Chili Shrimp

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Rajat Parr discovered Singaporean chili crabs while cooking at a hotel there and exploring the local street food. When crabs aren't available, he substitutes large shrimp and cooks them in sweet, sticky chile sauce.

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