Anaheim is the easier everyday mild roaster for eggs, sauces, soups, and grocery-store green chile use. NuMex Big Jim is the better choice when pod size matters, especially for chiles rellenos, big roasted strips, and New Mexico-style green chile sauce.
Anaheim Pepper measures 500–3K SHU while NuMex Big Jim registers 500–3K SHU. That makes NuMex Big Jim about 1.2x hotter by upper SHU range. Anaheim Pepper is known for its mild, grassy-sweet, lightly earthy when roasted flavor (C. annuum), while NuMex Big Jim offers mild and sweet notes (C. annuum).
Do not choose between these two by heat alone. Anaheim sits around 500-2,500 SHU, while NuMex Big Jim sits around 500-3,000 SHU. On a plate, most batches taste almost equally mild.
Size matters more. Anaheim is a general mild green chile. NuMex Big Jim was bred at New Mexico State University for very large pods, so each pepper gives more roasted flesh.
If the recipe needs mild chile flavor, either pepper can work. If it needs a large cavity, wide strips, or a roast-and-peel batch, Big Jim gives you the better shape.
Only make heat the deciding factor when you are cooking for people who need almost no burn.
Anaheim pepper is a mild green chile built for roasting, peeling, and stuffing.
The story of NuMex Big Jim starts in a university greenhouse, not a home garden.
Roasting gives both peppers their value. Raw Anaheim can taste grassy and thin; roasted Anaheim becomes sweeter, softer, and more useful in sauces.
Start by roasting the peppers. Char, steam, and peel them, then decide what job the chile needs to do.
Anaheim works well in breakfast burritos, casseroles, eggs, green salsa, enchilada sauce, or soup. It adds mild chile flavor without turning the meal into a stuffed-pepper dish.
NuMex Big Jim works better when surface area matters. The larger pod gives cleaner roasted strips, easier stuffing, and a better pepper for chiles rellenos or chopped green chile by the pound.
Choose Anaheim for flexible mild green chile flavor. Choose NuMex Big Jim when you care about size, roasting yield, and stuffed peppers.
If a recipe says Anaheim and you only have Big Jim, use it unless the pod is too large for the dish. If a recipe says Big Jim and you use Anaheim, expect to roast more peppers and make smaller stuffed portions.
For broader regional naming, compare Anaheim vs New Mexico chile. For fresh roasted pod size, this comparison is the better fit.
Start near 1:1 by amount. The heat ranges are close enough that flavor, form, and recipe role matter more than a strict Scoville conversion.
Growing notes
Grow Anaheim as a warm-season C. annuum pepper with enough time for long green pods and optional red ripening. It does not need superhot-level patience, but it still dislikes cold soil and stalled transplants.
Use the pepper seed-starting workflow for trays, heat, light, hardening off, and transplant timing. University of Minnesota Extension recommends starting pepper seed about eight weeks before planting outside and transplanting after cold nights have passed.
Plant in full sun with warm, well-drained soil and consistent moisture. Long green pods can be heavy enough to bend branches, so staking helps if the plant sets a strong crop.
Growing notes
Big Jim thrives in full sun with 6–8 hours of direct light daily. It was bred for New Mexico conditions - hot days, cool nights, low humidity - but performs well across most of the American Southwest and in any climate with a long growing season of 75–80 days from transplant.
Start seeds indoors 8–10 weeks before last frost. Soil temperature for germination should be at least 70°F, ideally 80–85°F.
For those without ground space, Big Jim adapts reasonably well to large containers - check the practical guidance on container peppers for pot sizing and soil mix recommendations. It needs at least a 5-gallon container to support its root system.
Anaheim's name is Californian, but the seed story points back to New Mexico. New Mexico State University notes that New Mexico No.
NMSU Circular 706 adds the important Anaheim detail: Anaheim seed originated in New Mexico and was taken to Anaheim, California, where it developed site-specific traits over time. That is a cleaner claim than treating Anaheim as purely Californian or purely New Mexican.
New Mexico State University's Chile Pepper Breeding Program has shaped American chile culture more than any other single institution, and NuMex Big Jim is one of its most celebrated outputs.
Dr. Roy Nakayama released the variety in 1975 after crossing existing New Mexico green chile lines to maximize pod size and yield.
Whether you’re shopping for Anaheim Pepper or NuMex Big Jim, the same quality indicators apply. Fresh peppers should feel firm and heavy for their size, with taut, glossy skin and no soft or wet spots. Minor stem cracks known as “corking” are perfectly normal and often indicate a mature, flavorful pod.
Selection
Storage
Common misses
Common misses
Anaheim Pepper and NuMex Big Jim sit in the same heat tier but serve different roles. NuMex Big Jim delivers about 1.2× more upper-range heat with its distinctive mild and sweet character. Anaheim Pepper, with its mild, grassy-sweet, lightly earthy when roasted profile, excels in everyday cooking.
At a grocery store, Anaheim labels are more common. Big Jim is easier to find at farmers markets, chile roasters, seed sellers, and New Mexico-focused vendors.
Buy by weight and wall condition, not just length. Long pods with soft spots lose roasting yield. Firm pods with taut skin peel better after steaming.
For freezer batches, Big Jim saves work because fewer pods make more roasted chile. Anaheim makes sense when you need a smaller amount for one meal or a milder green-chile background.
