Crushed red pepper or red pepper flakes is a condiment or spice consisting of dried and crushed (as opposed to ground) red chili peppers. This condiment is most often produced from cayenne-type peppers, although commercial producers may use a variety of different cultivars, usually within the 30,000–50,000 Scoville unit range. Often there is a high ratio of seeds, which are erroneously believed to contain the most heat. Crushed red pepper is used by food manufacturers in pickling blends, chowders, spaghetti sauce, pizza sauce, soups and sausage.
Crushed red pepper in Turkey, served as a common condiment with very few seeds, is known as pul biber. One specially prepared variety of it is the urfa pul biber (isot).
