Prices checked by hand on 24–25 August 2026
Three dried chiles do most of the work in Mexican cooking: guajillo, ancho and pasilla. Together they’re the base of birria, mole, adobo and most red salsas. All three are available in the Philippines, and the good news is that one seller carries all of them at the same price.
The chili powder and chile flakes in local supermarkets are not a substitute. Those are almost always cayenne-type heat with none of the fruit or smoke. Whole dried chiles, toasted and soaked, are doing something completely different.
Short answer
Buy all three from Manila Bambi Foods. They stock guajillo, ancho and pasilla at ₱420 per 100 g each — the cheapest we found for every one of them. Ordering together means a single shipping charge instead of three.
If you only want one: guajillo. It’s the most versatile of the three and the one most recipes call for first.
Skip: the Olé Rico guajillo at roughly ₱813 per 100 g, and the Lazada ancho at ₱590. Both are close to double what the same chile costs elsewhere.
Guajillo
Mild, bright, slightly fruity, and the source of the deep red colour in birria and salsa roja. If you’re buying one chile, buy this one.
| Seller | Brand | Size & price | Per 100 g | Shipping | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Manila Bambi Foods | Don Zabor | 100 g — ₱420.00 | ₱420 | At checkout | Check price |
| Shopee | Chloe’s Kitchen | 100 g — ₱449.00 | ₱449 | Voucher-dependent | Check price |
| Lazada | Don Zabor / La Fiesta / De Silva | 100 g — ₱569.00 | ₱569 | Varies | Search Lazada |
| Lazada | Olé Rico | 454 g (16 oz) — ₱3,689.85 | ₱813 | Varies | Search Lazada |
| Shopee | Unbranded | Sold as “Authentic Large” — price varies | — | Voucher-dependent | Check price |
Ancho
A dried poblano. Sweeter and darker than guajillo, with a raisin-and-prune quality and a faint coffee note. It’s the backbone of mole and the usual partner to guajillo in adobo.
| Seller | Brand | Size & price | Per 100 g | Shipping | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Manila Bambi Foods | Don Zabor | 100 g — ₱420.00 | ₱420 | At checkout | Check price |
| Shopee | Unbranded | ₱365–799 depending on pack | Varies | Free shipping eligible | Check price |
| Lazada | Don Zabor | 100 g — ₱590.00 | ₱590 | ₱38 — Priority 48h | Check price |
Worth knowing: the same Don Zabor ancho costs ₱590 on Lazada but ₱420 direct from Manila Bambi — a 40% difference on identical stock.
Pasilla
Dried chilaca. Earthy, mildly bitter in a good way, with a cocoa note. Less essential than the other two, but it’s what gives a proper mole its depth.
| Seller | Brand | Size & price | Per 100 g | Shipping | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Manila Bambi Foods | Don Zabor | 100 g — ₱420.00 | ₱420 | At checkout | Check price |
| Lazada | Don Zabor | 100 g — ₱438.00 | ₱438 | ₱38 — Standard | Check price |
All listings above were in stock when checked. Prices are normalised to 100 g so you can compare across pack sizes. Lazada charges ₱38 shipping on top; Manila Bambi calculates at checkout, so ordering several chiles together works out cheaper per item.
A note on international resellers
Search for dried chiles in the Philippines and you’ll hit sites like Desertcart and Ubuy well before you find a local importer. They’re worth understanding before you order.
These are cross-border resellers, not Philippine stockists. They source from the US, UK, UAE and elsewhere, and their catalogues are largely mirrored from Amazon — so a listing appearing on a .ph domain doesn’t mean the item is in the country. The price you see includes international shipping and duties, and delivery typically runs a week or more.
Sometimes that’s the only way to get an ingredient, and it’s a legitimate option. For chiles specifically, though, a local importer will be cheaper and faster. Check the sellers above first.
How much do you actually need?
₱420 for 100 g looks steep next to a supermarket spice jar, but dried chiles are light. A guajillo weighs roughly 10 to 15 grams, so 100 g is somewhere around seven to ten chiles — about one generous batch of birria, or two or three batches of salsa. You’re paying a few hundred pesos for the defining ingredient of a meal that serves six.
If a seller offers a 25 g or 40 g pack and you’re trying a recipe for the first time, start there.
Check them when they arrive
Good dried chiles are pliable, not brittle. They should bend like thick leather and spring back. If one snaps and crumbles when you flex it, it’s old — it has lost most of its aroma and will taste dusty rather than fruity. This is the single most useful thing to check, and almost nobody mentions it.
They should also smell like something. Bring one close and you should get dried fruit and a faint tobacco note. No smell means no flavour.
Store them airtight and out of the light. In this climate they’ll pick up moisture and mould in an open bag. A sealed jar in a cupboard is fine; the freezer is better if you bought a large quantity.
What can you use instead?
Nothing local comes close. Siling labuyo and dried Thai chiles are far hotter and have none of the fruit — swapping them in gives you heat where you wanted depth, and it won’t taste like the dish you were aiming for.
The three above can substitute for each other, though. Ancho in place of guajillo makes a sweeter, darker sauce. Guajillo for ancho makes a brighter one. Pasilla and ancho are close enough that most people wouldn’t notice the swap in a mole. Paprika gives you colour and nothing else.
Know a seller stocking chipotle, morita or cascabel here? Tell us — we’re building this list out.