Kitchen Pepper
Grow Habanada for fruity, floral habanero aroma without the burn. Use ripe orange pods in fresh salsa, charred dishes and sauces.
CASA VERDE · HEAT PROFILE
Sweet
- Sweet — this variety
- Mild
- Medium
- Hot
- Super hot
Understanding the heat
A diamond marks the midpoint of a listed range, or the listed value when only one number is given. An arrow marks a stated limit. These are variety guides, not measurements of our seed lot. This guide uses unequal numerical bands: sweet 0; mild up to 10,000; medium 10,000–50,000; hot 50,000–800,000; super hot from 800,000 SHU (display capped at 3 million). Heat varies between fruits and with growing conditions.
Shop all pepper seeds in Canada
- Packet
- 10+ seeds per packet
- Maturity
- Orange for fuller flavour; green pods can be picked earlier
- Heat
- 0–0 SHU
- Plant habit
- Support fruiting plants with stakes or a trellis
- Origin
- Variety developed at Cornell University, USA
FROM GARDEN TO KITCHEN
Habanero aroma, without the burn.
Use ripe orange Habanada peppers fresh, charred or blended. Their fruity, floral flavour gives each preparation a different character.
01 / CHOP FRESH
Bring colour to a fresh salsa.
Chop ripe Habanada with tomato, onion and lime. Serve with tacos or spoon over a bowl of rice for fruity pepper flavour without the hot-pepper kick.
02 / CHAR
Let the skillet bring out the sweetness.
Halve the pods, remove the stems and seeds, then char in a hot skillet. Serve as a small side dish or fold into a warm grain salad.
03 / BLEND
An aromatic sauce for the table.
Blend roasted, destemmed Habanada with a little oil and acidity to taste. Spoon over roasted vegetables, grains or grilled food.
AI-generated culinary illustrations. Serving inspiration, not photographs of our harvest. Select a photo to enlarge.
CASA VERDE · GROWER’S NOTES
Get to know your pepper.
From seed to kitchen
Habanada pepper seeds
Grow Habanada for fruity, floral habanero aroma without the burn. Use ripe orange pods in fresh salsa, charred dishes and sauces.
At a glance
Kitchen use
Fresh salsa, roasting, sauces
Heat
Heatless variety
Ripe colour
Orange
Packet
10+ seeds
Why grow it?
Choose Habanada when the aroma of a habanero suits the dish but its heat would dominate it.
In the kitchen
- Chop into a fresh salsa or salad.
- Char or roast for an aromatic sauce.
- Blend into marinades for vegetables, fish or meat.
Growing and harvesting
- Start indoors: Allow 8–10 weeks before your planned outdoor transplant date, with warmth and bright light.
- Plant out: Harden plants off gradually. Wait until frost risk has passed and soil is warm; Row 7 recommends soil around 21°C for this variety.
- Support: Provide stakes or a trellis as the plants develop.
- Harvest stage: Green pods are usable earlier. Let them turn orange for fuller fruity flavour; an orange harvest takes longer.
Explore the seed collection
Pepper seeds CanadaExplore heatless pepper seedsGrowing peppers from seedPepper germination checklistNo-Heat Pepper PackWhen to start pepper seedsQuestions about Habanada
Is Habanada a hot habanero?
No. It is a heatless variety selected for habanero-like aroma.
When should I pick it?
Pick orange pods for their fuller flavour, or use green pods earlier.
Can I sow it straight into a Canadian garden?
An indoor start is the practical choice. Plan around your local season and allow enough warm growing time for ripe orange fruit.
Harvest timing, flavour and heat vary with growing conditions.
Cook your harvest
Use your harvest in these recipes. Check the variety notes and substitutions in each recipe.
Start indoors 8–10 weeks before last frost. Germinate at 26–30 °C on a heat mat; peppers stall below 22 °C. Pot up to 10–15 cm before hardening off outside after nights stay above 12 °C.
Feed balanced through bloom, then bump potassium for fruiting. Stake taller varieties. More detail in our full Canadian growing guide.
Match the pepper to the technique: thin-walled varieties blister fast in a hot pan; thick-walled ones roast or stuff beautifully; fruit-forward ones make balanced sauces and pickles. The variety's flavour profile is your shortcut — see Choosing the right pepper for a use-case guide.
