High Quality Content by WIKIPEDIA articles A chipotle ( /tʃɨˈpoʊtleɪ/ chi-POHT-lay; Spanish: ), or chilpotle, which comes from the Nahuatl word chilpoktli meaning "smoked chili pepper" is a smoke-dried jalape o that tends to be brown and shriveled. It is a chili used primarily in Mexican and Mexican-inspired cuisines, such as Mexican-American and Tex-Mex.