Sichuan pepper or Szechuan pepper is a common spice used in Asian cuisine. The husk or hull (pericarp) around the seeds may be used whole, especially in Szechuan cuisine, and the finely ground powder is one of the blended ingredients for the five-spice powder. It is also used in traditional Chinese medicine.

The plant belongs to the rue or citrus family, and botanically not closely related to the black pepper or chili peppers, despite its naming. The pericarp (hull or husk) is the part that is most often used, but region-wise the leaves of various species are used as well.

Another cousin native to China is Z. schinifolium, called xiang-jiao-zi (香椒子, lit. "aromatic peppercorn") or qing-hua-jiao (青花椒, lit. "green Szechuan pepper"), used as spice in Hebei.

The Szechuan pepper should be distinguished from the Japanese pepper or sanshō (Z. piperitum), even though sansho and the hua jiao may sometimes be lumped into being the same species or commodity commercially, or in popular literature such as cookbooks, or for the intents and purposes of import regulations.

Related species are also used in Tibetan, Bhutanese, Nepalese, Konkani, and Toba Batak cuisines. It is also a close relative of the African spice uzazi.