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Cookbook | Recipes | Ingredients | Spices and herbs


Paprika is a sweet-to-mildly hot cultivar of the chilli pepper (Capsicum annuum, of the family Solanaceae). Paprika peppers are a bright red elongated or round fruit.

Hungary is probably the world's leading producer of paprika; in the United States, California and Texas are the main producers.

Paprika is often eaten ground as a powder and sometimes as a fresh vegetable. It is commonly used in Hungarian, Balkan, Middle Eastern, and Central Asian cuisines. The round type can be stuffed with cottage cheese or salad to make a portable lunch.

Some specialty varieties of paprika are hot but the generally available ground preparation is quite mild.

Smoked paprika has an extra strong smoky flavour. It is very strong and needs to be used in moderation, but it adds a distinctive touch to dishes such as Chicken Paprikash and Paprika Chicken.