McCormick predicts this flavor will dominate menus in 2025
The “swicy” trend is far from over. In fact, a spice that combines both the sweet and spicy trends is about to have a breakthrough year.
McCormick, the top-selling maker of seasonings and spices, has named ají amarillo as its 2025 “Flavor of the Year.” The 25th edition of the influential report identifies trending spices and seasonings about to hit restaurant menus or in cookbooks.
Ají amarillo is chili pepper native to South America and has vibrant fruit notes reminiscent of passion fruit or a mango, along with a moderate dash of heat similar to cayenne pepper.
“The balance of sweetness and heat that it brings makes it a very flavorful and balanced pepper that can be added to many different dishes,” according to Hadar Cohen Aviram, McCormick’s executive chef that is leading the report.
Ají amarillo also lives up to its “yellow chili pepper” translation in English, because the spice has a distinctive hue that gives dishes and drinks an “aesthetic appeal,” she added. The seasoning brings a “freshness and brightness” to a variety of foods, including charred vegetables or meats, dips, vinaigrettes and even distilled into a simple syrup for cocktails.
McCormick deploys a global team of about 50 people, such as chefs, marketers and food technologists with a “passion for food innovation” to identify a flavor that is “both innovative and reflective of global culinary movements,” Aviram told CNN.
Ají amarillo was a clear standout in the team’s research because it was an “interesting standalone ingredient on many menus and it made us look twice” at it, she said. Researchers spotted it on charred broccoli in London, drizzled in a tangy sauce on oysters in Australia and swirled in a tropical cocktail in Canada, so the spice “really is something global outside of its original context.”
Aviram admitted there’s a learning curve with ají amarillo, but that’s intentional because they “want it to be an inception” and the report is about “defining the future of flavor.” McCormick predicts that the spice will increase on menu appearances by 44% over the next few years.
McCormick is selling an ají amarillo seasoning on its website beginning February 3 for $9.99 and holding a food festival in Miami later that month serving dishes and drinks using the ingredient.
Part of the growth of the spice can be attribute to the increase in Peruvian restaurants, where ají amarillo is a staple in the cuisine. The number of Peruvian restaurants that opened across the United States in the past five years jumped 22%, according to Yelp.
One of those newly opened restaurants is Mita, a vegetarian restaurant in Washington, DC, which uses the yellow pepper. Chef and co-owner Miguel Guerra told CNN that its fruity heat level and vibrant color make it versatile, and people who try it, “definitely fall in love as it’s got the right amount of heat, flavor and beautiful color.”
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