Chipotle is the dried, smoked jalapeño pepper commonly used in adobo sauce and Tex-Mex cooking.
Jalapeños are often smoked and dried to preserve them, producing chipotles with a deeper, earthier flavor and noticeable heat. They are sold whole, powdered, or packed in a red adobo sauce made with ingredients such as tomatoes, vinegar, garlic, and spices. Canned chipotles in adobo became a convenient pantry ingredient for sauces, marinades, and fillings.
In Tex-Mex cooking, chipotle can add smoky chile flavor to meat, beans, queso-style sauces, soups, and salsas. The pepper is not a separate fresh chile variety; it is a processed form of the jalapeño. That distinction is a frequent source of confusion.
Chipotle also differs from ancho, which is the dried form of a ripe poblano pepper. Guajillo and pasilla are different dried chiles as well, with their own flavor and heat profiles. Recipes may combine several chiles, but chipotle is the one specifically defined by smoking.