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NM Chile & Chile Ristras
We pride ourselves on having the best New Mexico chile, whether it is from the Hatch Valley, San Antonio, Chimayo, or somewhere else in New Mexico. Our ristras and dried chile products come exclusively from Hatch farmers we have built decades long relationships with. We get fresh green chile from Hatch in the early season, and moves up north as the Hatch crop turns red. Our products and service is guaranteed, see for yourself at 2010 Eubank Blvd NE, Albuquerque, NM, 87112 every August to October for the chile season. We continue selling frozen and dried chile products through Christmas every year. If you have any questions about our roasted chile or something else, feel free to give us a call at 505-362-3058 or message our Facebook page.
Albuquerque’s Original Chile Roaster
We started roasting chile in 1977, but our family has been selling produce in Albuquerque since the 1950’s. Farmers Market was an Albuquerque landmark for decades, well known for great prices on produce, fruit baskets, roasted green chile, red chile ristras, and much more. We closed our last brick and mortar location in 2017. The long droughts in California made it difficult to compete with grocery stores on most produce. Although we sold a lot of New Mexican produce and continue to do so, there isn’t enough variety to run a store year round. Because of that, we had to change our business model. Although we closed the store and changed from operating 363 days a year to just 5 months a year, we have never missed a chile season, and continue to be your green chile store in Albuquerque!
Farmers Chile Market
We know chile, and have been working with local farmers for years, so we can get ripe produce at its peak freshness. We also can get the best ristras and other dried chile products due to our long time being in the game. Anyone can go to Hatch and buy wholesale chile products, but not everyone can tell if they are good. We know the difference between good producers and bad ones. If we sell something, you can be sure I have sampled it first to check the flavor and heat. Chile is no joke to me, I take it very seriously. It goes without saying that our roasted chile has great flavor along with our red chile pods, powders, ristras, and other local produce. We do our best to be the best store to buy green chile in Albuquerque!
Roasted New Mexico Green Chile
Where to buy green chile in Albuquerque
During the 2024 chile season, we will be roasting chile every day from early August, to sometime in late October at 2010 Eubank Blvd NE, every day from 9 am to 5 pm. At the start of August, we will get medium and hot green varieties first, with mild and extra hot coming later. Lumbre, our xxx-hot typically comes in towards the end of August.
We don’t recommend any chile that comes before August, as it is very likely not ready for harvest. Every year, some growers pick too early because they want to be the first. If you see Hatch green chile sold in July, it is likely not mature enough. Immature chile has not had time to develop the structure of the walls in the fruit, which makes it roast badly and makes the peel hard to separate. During the chile season, we roast fresh Hatch chile over open flames on giant barrel roasters every day. The efficiency of these machines are a big reason why we can roast thousands of sacks of chile every season.
When to buy green chile in Albuquerque
Chile is good in August, and even better in September. October still has plenty of good chile, but different varieties become harder to get later in the season. Every chile season is different, and the 2024 season is no exception. If you are looking where to get roasted chile, dried chile pods and powder, or a chile ristra, you can be sure we will get the best we can during the 2024 Hatch chile season! I take many trips to the different chile growing areas in New Mexico whether it is Hatch, Socorro, Lemitar, San Antonio, or elsewhere. I keep my eyes and ears open for good product and good prices the whole chile season.
Why New Mexicans spell it chile and not chili
We have a lot of shared heritage in New Mexico. In fact plenty of older businesses in New Mexico spell chile as chili, such as Burger Boy, a place I have been going to since I was 5 years old. That being said, the majority of chile oriented places here won’t call their products Hatch chili or talk about chili in New Mexico. The word chile is a means to differentiate between our special varieties of chile peppers in relation to others. It’s even been entered into Congressional Record by former Senator Pete Domenici!
Many varieties of New Mexico chile
We carry many different varieties of chile from New Mexico, including super large chile like Big Jim, as well as Sandia, Miss Junie, Barker, Lumbre, NuMex 6-4, and more. In terms of flavors, we have mild, medium, hot, x-hot, and xxx hot. X-hot and XXX hot are typically available later in the chile season, but almost always available by the start of September. Whether green or red chile, we definitely have something for you. If you are ever interested in learning more about different chile varieties, feel free to ask about them. We have spent years learning and perfecting our trade, and are always happy to share.
New Mexico Chile is Special
New Mexican chile is a very special kind of chile pepper. There are a lot of different types, and we would love to share with you the differences between different kinds of chile. The terroir of different regions such as the Hatch valley or Socorro valley also plays a role, but good farmers grow good chile in New Mexico. What makes each chile different is mainly due to whatever seed variety is used. Good chile comes from good genes, good nutrition and watering, and that good Southwestern sunshine. Our growers use good seeds and good nutrition, and it’s always sunny in New Mexico, with over 300 sunny days a year. Because of that, you can be sure that any variety of chile you get will be good quality.
on the shoulders of giants
A large reason why our chile is so special is due to the work of New Mexico State University. The work done by chile visionaries like Dr. Fabian Garcia, Dr. Roy Harper, and Dr. Roy Nakayama at NMSU in collaboration with southern New Mexico farmers has truly made our chile something great. A visit to the NMSU Chile Pepper Institute in Las Cruces is an amazing idea to get more of an idea of how much work has gone into developing and perfecting Hatch, and New Mexican chile as a whole. They have plenty of research articles available, as well as seeds, hats, clothes, and books.
Hatch, New Mexico red chile ristras
Although the majority of ristras we sell in Albuquerque are of the Sandia chile variety, we also sell other varieties as well. Pequin Ristras have short, woody stems, which make them perfect for arranging into special shapes. During the 2024 NM chile season, we will be selling special shapes such as wreaths, hearts, crosses, and much more. We will also have plenty of multicolored chile ristras that really add a kick of vibrancy to anywhere you choose to decorate. These ristras make awesome gifts for people who like color. Finally, we have plenty of sizes available every year. Our ristras range from 6 inches to over 5 feet long. We can be a perfect source for chile ristras to decorate any southwestern space you have in mind.
Delicious chile ristras
Keep checking back on our blog for different recipes you can use dried red chile pods for. All our ristras are untreated and edible. Hatch chile ristras are so delicious, that it would be a shame to only use it for decorations. The red chile pods will taste great for years and years as long as they stay cool and dry. New Mexico chile Ristras are really a versatile decoration to have in your kitchen. Check out our chile ristra faq if you have any more questions about ristras. We will begin shipping ristras in late September 2024, once they have a little time to dry. Click to check out what ristras we have for sale.
Superhot Chili Peppers in Albuquerque
In case you want some of the hottest peppers in the world, we also typically have a good selection of both fresh and dried superhot peppers. We sell Carolina Reapers, Ghost Peppers, 7 pots, Scotch Bonnets, and even Aji Charapita, the world’s most expensive chile pepper. Although dried superhots are easy to get in many places, it is quite hard to find the fresh stuff in Albuquerque. Come on down to 2010 Eubank Blvd NE to get your fix of the hot stuff. These peppers are great for making your own fermented hot sauce, or just challenging yourself and seeing what your spice tolerance really is.
If you want to try these peppers, I highly recommend using scissors to cut off little slices, then wash the scissors with soap. At this level of heat, the amount of capsaicin in the chile will easily burn your hands for hours if you aren’t careful. Use scissors to cut them, or just use gloves, but protect yourself no matter what. Superhot fire is hellfire, trust me.
We support local New Mexican farms
Selling local produce allows us to get it at peak freshness, and also gives the farmers more time to let the fruit naturally ripen. Unlike grocery stores, our product doesn’t have to go through multiple warehouses before finally arriving at the store. Farmers pick product to our order, which means it arrives and is on our shelves the day after it is picked. Our green and red chile is the same. When the supply chain is short, quality and freshness can be guaranteed. Produce that is “good enough” is not good enough for us. We do our very best to sell the best food that you can buy.
We also carry different specialty produce, whether it is Palisade, Colorado peaches, local vine ripened cantaloupe, honeydew, and watermelons, local apples, tomatoes, or posole, pinto beans, and chicos. Almost everything we sell is from New Mexico. If it isn’t, it probably comes from a state close by.
Learn About New Mexican Food
We have a wealth of information available on our blog and pages. I write content for this website almost every day outside of the chile season, when I’m busy roasting hundreds of 40 lb sacks of Hatch chile every day! Be sure to check out our various Hatch chile recipes to get ideas about how to use our red and green chile! In case you are looking for chile related events, we also have an article about the Hatch Chile Festival, which is a big part about why Hatch has become the Chile Capital of the World!
New Mexico pumpkins too
Near the end of the season, we also sell a wide variety of pumpkins. They come in right around the time chile season is nearly over. Even if we are out of fresh chile to roast, you can be sure that we will have plenty of frozen or dried chile available. Make sure to keep Farmers Chile Market in mind if you are looking for pumpkins or chile in October. We carry all sizes of pumpkin, from ones that fit in your hand, to pie pumpkins, all the way to jumbo pumpkins fatter than a sack of chile. If you want to find something to carve a jack-o-lantern out of, you can be sure that we will have it in October.
When Green Chile Season Ends
Once Halloween comes, it is about the end of the chile roasting season for us. Every year, we are open from the first weekend in August to Christmas, but run out of fresh chile to roast around the end of October, sometimes roasting into early November. Although we don’t have fresh green chile to roast at that time, we will continue to have plenty of dried and frozen chile available to buy through Christmas. I still keep blogging year round, so check in from time to time if you want to read about New Mexico chile.
Online shop for Green Chile & more!
Beginning in the 2024 Hatch chile season, we will start shipping around the United States. Although we have been a shop selling green chile in Albuquerque since 1962 and roasting since 1977, we haven’t really done shipping before. When we analyze the prices many of our competitors are selling at, we believe we can offer a better value and quality than other people selling online. Whether it is fresh New Mexico chile, dried chile, or chile ristras, we will have it up on our webstore this year!
Chile Roasting
From August to late October, we roast fresh New Mexico green chile. We have it available in large sacks, half sacks, and 2 lb bags pre-roasted, as well as raw. Whether you spell it chili or chile, we have plenty for you.
Local Produce
We started out as a grocery store, and have relationships with many local farmers. Every year, we will have lots of local and specialty produce. Buying local not only supports the community, but also allows for peak ripeness and freshness.
Chile Products
We have fresh chile, dried chile pods and powders, chile ristras, red and green chile powders and more. Our farmers are some of the best in the Land of Enchantment, we guarantee it. I personally visit the farms every year to ensure our high standards of quality are met.