Recipe Adventure: 8 Fiery Foods To Spice Up Your Life

If you love to feel the heat when you eat, this collection of recipes should set your culinary world on fire.

These dishes are more than a treat for your taste buds, too. Spicy food can help you better burn calories, improve heart health and reduce inflammation. There’s even evidence that fiery fare can aid your digestion system.

So, let’s raise the temperature at your table with these eight recipes.

Fiery BBQ

Walk away from the condiment aisle at the grocery store if you’re looking for a finger-licking barbecue sauce. Instead, set your sights on the land of spices. The zingy homemade sauce for this BBQ chicken recipe uses cayenne pepper, black pepper, ginger, garlic and onion powder.

Not-so-gentle lamb

A dash of cayenne helps raise the temperature for this lamb-and-veggie shepherd’s pie, while paprika, cumin, coriander and cinnamon add extra layers of spicy goodness. (Not a fan of lamb? No problem! The recipe works with beef or bison, too.)

Flaming fries

Nobody can resist a hot plate of regular ol’ French fries, right? Well, just wait until you see the reaction when you level up those fries with some hot pepper flakes, white pepper, garlic powder and onion powder. (Spoiler alert: Those fries will disappear fast!)

Sweet heat

Add some zing to the natural sweetness of butternut squash with a coating of cayenne, chili powder and paprika before roasting. (And if you’re curious about more ways to prepare squash, check out these ideas.)

A different ‘hot cake’

The red pepper flakes in these spicy black bean cakes can definitely light up your taste buds. Want to add a little more fire? Then dial up the heat on whatever salsa you spread over the cakes.

Kickin’ veggies

You know those bumpy florets atop cauliflower? Consider them flavor holders. See for yourself with this tantalizing cauliflower dish spiced with garam masala, plus chili powder, cayenne, cumin and turmeric.

High-heat soup

“Heating up” your soup takes on a whole new meaning when you’re talking about a bowl of this spicy lentil and kale concoction. The spice comes from an ingredient list that includes hot sauce, plus cumin, black pepper and fresh garlic.

A spicy add-on

Ever feel like your salad needs a little more pop? Then roast up some spicy chickpeas and add them to your pile of greens. Use a packet of taco seasoning or try a DIY seasoning using red pepper flakes, cumin, paprika or whatever else makes your taste buds happy.