The Fresno is a medium-hot Capsicum annuum chilli bred in California in the 1950s. It resembles a jalapeño but has thinner walls and is usually sold ripe and red, bright and fruity.
What it is¶
The Fresno is a Capsicum annuum chilli about 5–8 cm long, conical and blunt-tipped, with smooth, glossy skin. It ripens from green to a vivid scarlet, and unlike the jalapeño, which it closely resembles, it is mostly sold red. Side by side, a Fresno is a little more tapered, has broader shoulders near the stem and thinner walls.
Heat is medium, around 2,500–10,000 SHU: on average a little hotter than a jalapeño, and hotter again when fully ripe. Its appeal is the combination of that manageable heat with the colour and fruitiness of a ripe red chilli, which is why it turns up sliced raw on so many restaurant plates in North America.
Origins and history¶
The Fresno is a young chilli. It is usually credited to Clarence Brown Hamlin, who released it in 1952 and named it after Fresno County in California's San Joaquin Valley, then as now one of the most productive farming regions in the United States. It was bred as a commercial variety: compact, upright plants that crop heavily and hold their pods clear of the ground.
For decades it was a regional chilli, used mainly in California and the Southwest and often sold simply as "red jalapeño". From the 2000s it became fashionable with American chefs, pickled in rings or shaved raw over crudo, salads and tacos, and it is now widely available in North America and increasingly seen in British shops and restaurants.
Flavour and aroma¶
A red Fresno tastes bright and fruity, with a sweet, slightly smoky note and a clean heat that arrives quickly and fades fairly fast. It is juicier and less vegetal than a green jalapeño. Green Fresnos, less often sold, taste grassier and are a little milder. The thin walls give a crisp texture raw and let the chilli soften quickly when cooked.
In the kitchen¶
Use the Fresno wherever a red jalapeño would work, and where colour matters.
- Raw: sliced into thin rings over ceviche, crudo, tacos, noodle salads and grain bowls; the red rings look as good as they taste.
- Salsas: chopped into fresh tomato or fruit salsas (mango, pineapple, peach), where its fruitiness suits.
- Quick pickles: rings of Fresno in rice vinegar or cider vinegar with sugar and salt, ready in an hour, keep for weeks in the fridge.
- Hot sauce: blended with garlic, vinegar and salt, or fermented, for a bright red, medium sauce in the style of sriracha. See hot sauce and fermenting chillies.
- Cooked: in stir-fries, glazes and chilli jams, or roasted with vegetables.
💡 Quick-pickled Fresno rings
Slice 4 Fresnos into thin rings. Heat 120 ml rice or cider vinegar with 1 tbsp sugar and 1 tsp salt until dissolved, pour over the chillies in a jar and leave for at least 30 minutes. Keep in the fridge for up to three weeks.
As a guide, one Fresno, deseeded, brings gentle warmth to a salsa for four; with seeds and ribs, a lively heat.
Buying and storing¶
Choose firm, glossy, evenly red chillies with green stems and no soft patches. Keep unwashed in the fridge for one to two weeks. Because they are thin-walled, they soften more quickly than jalapeños. They freeze well whole or sliced for cooking. Fresnos can be dried, but the walls are a little too fleshy for easy air-drying; a low oven or dehydrator works better.
Substitutes¶
- Red jalapeño: the closest match, a touch milder and thicker-walled.
- Red serrano: similar colour and brightness, hotter; use less.
- A mild red finger chilli from the supermarket, tasted first for heat.
- For heat and colour in cooking only, a pinch of chilli flakes with a little roasted red pepper.
Pairs well with¶
Lime, rice vinegar, garlic, ginger, coriander leaf, mint, mango, pineapple, avocado, raw fish, prawns, pork, corn and sesame.
Growing your own¶
Fresnos were bred for reliability and are among the easier chillies to grow. Sow indoors in February–March at 20–25°C, pot on and plant out after the last frost or grow under cover. Plants are compact and upright, 50–75 cm tall, and suit large pots on a sunny patio. Feed with tomato fertiliser once flowering. Pods ripen from green to red in late summer; pick them fully red for the best flavour. See growing chillies.