Morita Pepper "Little Blackberry" (Capsicum annuum) Seeds – Mexican Chile for Drying & Smoking, Fruity Flavor, Mild-to-Medium Heat

Minimum: 10+ Seeds

The "Little Blackberry" Chile for Drying and Smoking

Morita means "little blackberry" in Spanish, and when this chile is dried and smoked, the name makes sense. The ripe red fruit shrinks into dark, wrinkled, purple-red pods that look like berries and smell deeply smoky, with a fruity sweetness underneath. Morita is the chile behind one of Mexico's most loved flavors, the smoky depth of chipotle, and it grows into a productive plant that rewards patient gardeners with a harvest of peppers made for the smoker and the dehydrator. Heat is mild to medium, making it a flavorful, easy chile to cook with every day.

Who Grows Morita Pepper?
The smoker and griller wanting to make homemade smoked, dried chipotle-style chiles.
The Mexican cook wanting an authentic chile for adobo, salsas, and slow-cooked dishes.
The pepper enthusiast wanting a fruity, mild-to-medium chile with real depth.
The gardener wanting a productive, thick-walled pepper for drying and preserving.

What This Mexican Smoking Chile Actually Is
Capsicum annuum 'Morita' is a Mexican chile grown for drying and smoking, in the jalapeño family. Plants bear thick-walled fruit that ripen from green to deep red, and it is the fully ripe red fruit that is smoked and dried to make the dark, wrinkled pods known as chipotle morita, named for their resemblance to blackberries. The flavor is smoky, fruity, and slightly sweet, with heat in the mild-to-medium range. Fruit can also be used fresh, either green or red. Plants need a long, warm season to ripen fully, so an early start matters. Grown as a warm-season annual, tender perennial in the warmest climates.

In the Garden & Kitchen

• Smoking and drying: Smoke ripe red peppers at low heat until dark, dry, and wrinkled.
• Adobo and salsas: Rehydrate dried peppers and blend into adobo sauce, salsas, and marinades.
• Soups and stews: Add dried or rehydrated peppers to soups, stews, and beans for smoky depth.
• Fresh cooking: Use fresh green or red fruit in salsas, stuffing, and grilling.
• Powder and flakes: Grind dried, smoked peppers into smoky chile powder.
• Container growing: Grow in a large pot on a patio for a compact, productive plant.

Growing Morita Pepper Seeds

• Start method: Start indoors 8 to 10 weeks before last frost; peppers need a long, warm season.
• Germination: Sprouts in 7 to 21 days in warm soil.
• Soil temperature: Germinates best between 75 and 85°F.
• Transplanting: Move outdoors after all frost danger has passed and soil is consistently warm.
• Spacing: Space plants 18 to 24 inches apart to allow full, bushy growth.
• Sunlight: Full sun; heat and sun ripen the fruit and build flavor.
• Soil: Rich, well-drained soil with good fertility supports the heaviest fruit set.
• Watering: Consistent, even moisture; avoid letting plants dry out during fruiting.
• Days to maturity: Typically ready for ripe red fruit in roughly 80 to 100 days from transplant.
• Harvest: Leave fruit on the plant until fully red before picking for smoking and drying.
• Smoking: Smoke at low temperatures, around 150 to 200°F, until fully dry and leathery.
• Handling: Wear gloves when cutting and processing peppers, and avoid touching your eyes.

Before You Close This Page
This is the chile with a berry's name and a smoker's soul, a mild-to-medium pepper that ripens red and turns into dark, smoky, fruity pods you made yourself. Morita Pepper brings real Mexican flavor to adobo, salsas, and slow-cooked dishes, and it suits gardeners who like to grow, smoke, and cook what they harvest. Start it early, give it sun, let the fruit ripen fully red, and smoke it low and slow. Grow the little blackberry.