Types of Sweet Peppers

These long, thin peppers are a pale yellow-green when they first grow, but will turn red if left to fully ripen. Most are sold in their unripe state and used chopped as an aromatic for other dishes, or roasted and stuffed.

These are the peppers I, and so many others, grew up with. They are grassy in flavor and super-crunchy in texture. I like them best in this Spicy Bell Pepper Slaw.

Like their sunny brethren, the yellow bell peppers, orange bell peppers are a bit less flavorful than red bell peppers, but really just as sweet and just as pretty. Use them raw in salads or roast them up to add their bright orange sunshine to dishes.

Purple bell peppers are less sweet that red, orange, or yellow belle peppers, but definitely sweeter than green ones. They are perfect in salads or other raw dishes. Their brilliant shiny purple color turns muddy and even a bit gray when cooked.

Red bell peppers are, perhaps, the most popular sweet peppers because they are, actually, quite sweet. their bright color and sweet flavor make them perfect for tossing into salads (such as this Corn Avocado Pepper Salad or this Bell Pepper Salad. Red peppers have a less grassy flavor than most peppers and become silken and luscious when roasted. See How to Roast Peppers Under a Broiler and How to Roast Peppers Over a Flame before making this delicious Red Pepper Pasta.

Roasting pimentos are best for, as you may have guessed, roasting. They tend to have a higher sugar level, and roasting brings out their deep sweetness and makes it silky smooth. See How to Roast Peppers Under a Broiler and How to Roast Peppers Over a Flame to make the most of these lovelies. (Note: Others may use them in dishes, but I prefer to serve them roasted and drizzled with a bit of extra virgin olive oil, and call it a day.)

Sweet cherry peppers can be a bit spicy, but that's part of their fun. Mainly they are sweet little nuggets that taste like what they look like: condensed red peppers.

Yellow peppers can be used much like red or orange peppers. They are similarly sweet, but have a milder taste. They roast up beautifully, just like red peppers, and keep their lovely yellow hue when cooked.