Anyone hearing about National Totally Chipotle Day might be tempted to think that it’s a holiday observed to honor the American chain of casual restaurants in the U.S. that specialize in tacos and Mission burritos, but that assumption would not be correct. This holiday was created to pay tribute to the chipotle pepper—a smoke-dried jalapeño chili pepper that’s used in Mexican and Mexican-inspired cuisines but is versatile enough to be used in any cuisine.

It’s a pepper that has a score of 2,500 to 8,000 SHU on the Scoville scale, which makes it hotter than a Poblano pepper but not as hot as a Serrano pepper. Anyone looking to celebrate this holiday will want to make sure they stock up on chipotle peppers on May 5th.

Interesting Facts About Chipotle Peppers

Let’s take a quick look at some chipotle pepper facts that people celebrating this holiday might find interesting.

• Chipotle peppers are jalapeños that are plucked off the vine when they turn red and are smoke-dried.
• It takes 10 pounds of jalapeño peppers to make just 1 pound of chipotle peppers.
• There are many different varieties of chipotle peppers.
• Chipotles can be purchased ground, in adobo, or in whole pods.

Observing National Totally Chipotle Day

Although the term “National” is used in the title of this holiday, it isn’t a public holiday of any sort, so schools and businesses remain open on this day. People looking to observe this holiday can do so by buying some chipotle peppers and using them in their favorite recipes.

They can make a nice chili using these peppers, make a tomato chipotle salsa, or use them to make enchiladas. Regardless of what’s made, however, people should make sure to take a photo of their creation and post it to the internet for the world to see using the hashtag #NationalTotallyChipotleDay.