The guajillo chile is made by drying the mirasol chile. It is one of the most popular dried chiles in Mexican cooking. Once dried, the guajillo chile becomes deep red and develops a tough, smooth skin. Guajillos are medium-sized chiles ranging from 2 to 4 inches in length.
It has medium to hot heat (5,000 to 15,000 on the Scoville scale), although if you are not used to hot chiles at all, you might even consider them hot. They have a slight fruitiness to their flavor and are excellent in salsas, chile sauces, and are great in adobo sauce and chile Colorado.