Turkish Pepper Paste Substitutes (and When Nothing Substitutes)

If a recipe calls for Turkish pepper paste and your pantry doesn’t have it, here’s what actually gets you close — and where a substitute quietly changes the dish.

Biber salçası is peppers, salt, and time — nothing else. That simplicity is exactly why it’s hard to fake: most substitutes bring along a flavor or texture that pepper paste doesn’t have. None of the options below is a perfect match. Each one gets closer for a different reason, so pick based on what the dish needs most.

Tomato Paste + Paprika or Aleppo Pepper

The most reliable stand-in for everyday cooking. For every tablespoon of pepper paste a recipe calls for, use a tablespoon of tomato paste mixed with half a teaspoon of sweet paprika and a pinch of Aleppo pepper (or a pinch of cayenne, if that’s what’s on hand). Cook the blend in the fat for a minute before adding anything else, the same way you would the real thing.

What’s lost: the concentrated, slightly sweet pepper flavor that comes from reducing actual peppers, not tomatoes. The color runs more orange-red than the deep brick-red of true salça, and the dish will taste a shade more acidic. Fine for stews, soups, and marinades; noticeably different in anything where pepper paste is the star, like a breakfast spread.

Harissa

Harissa can work in stews and marinades, but it isn’t a quiet substitute — it brings garlic, cumin, and caraway, spices pepper paste never has. Use about half the amount the recipe calls for, taste, and build up from there, since harissa runs hotter and more aromatic.

What’s lost: the clean, single-ingredient pepper flavor. What you gain instead is a North African spice profile that can work well in a braise but will read as out of place in something like menemen or kısır, where the paste’s plainness is part of the dish.

Gochujang

Gochujang is fermented and sweet-savory in a way pepper paste isn’t — it brings real umami depth along with its heat. In a marinade or a glaze for grilled meat, a small amount (start with half the called-for quantity) can add a good flavor of its own. It is not a substitute in the sense of tasting similar; it’s a different ingredient that happens to be red and thick.

What’s lost: any resemblance to Turkish flavor. Use gochujang when you’re fine with the dish shifting toward Korean-inspired instead of staying Turkish — not when the goal is to approximate the original.

Roasted Red Pepper Purée

The closest substitute in spirit, since it’s also just peppers. Blend roasted, peeled red peppers until smooth, then simmer the purée in a dry pan until it thickens and reduces by about half — this concentrates the flavor the way slow-cooking does for real salça. Because roasted peppers carry more water than a jarred paste, expect to reduce longer than feels necessary; a thin purée won’t behave the same way in a marinade or a spread.

What’s lost: the deep, almost dried-fruit sweetness that comes from the extended reduction pepper paste undergoes. Roasted pepper purée tastes brighter and fresher — good in some contexts, a giveaway in others.

Quick Comparison

When Nothing Substitutes

In a handful of dishes, pepper paste isn’t a background note — it’s the main flavor, and no blend fully replaces it. Kısır is the clearest example: the bulgur salad is built directly on pepper paste and tomato paste together, and swapping either one changes the dish’s identity, not just its flavor at the margins. Walnut-pepper dips in the muhammara direction lean the same way — the paste is doing real work, not just adding color.

If a recipe reads like that — pepper paste named early, in a real quantity, doing more than seasoning a pot — it’s worth keeping a jar of pepper paste on hand rather than reaching for a workaround. It keeps for months once opened, refrigerated, with a thin layer of oil over the top. For everything else — the soups, the stews, the marinades — the substitutes above will get a weeknight dinner where it needs to go.

FAQ

What is the best substitute for Turkish pepper paste?

For most everyday cooking, tomato paste blended with sweet paprika and a pinch of Aleppo pepper is the most reliable substitute — closer in texture and behavior than harissa or gochujang, even though the flavor isn’t identical.

Can I use harissa instead of Turkish pepper paste?

Yes, in stews and marinades, but use about half the quantity called for and expect a spiced, garlicky flavor that pepper paste doesn’t have. It works as its own ingredient more than as a stand-in.

Is gochujang a good substitute for biber salçası?

Not a close one. Gochujang is fermented and brings sweetness and umami that pepper paste lacks. It can taste good in a marinade, but the dish will read as Korean-inspired rather than Turkish.

Can I make Turkish pepper paste at home?

Yes — roasting and reducing red peppers with salt over low heat gets close, though it takes patience to reach the thick, deep-red concentration that comes from the slow, traditional process. See the roasted red pepper purée method above as a starting point.

Read First

How to use Turkish pepper paste — what biber salçası is and eight ways to cook with it.