bell pepper
Also known as: red bell pepper
A sweet, non-spicy pepper eaten raw or cooked; green peppers are picked less ripe and taste more vegetal and slightly bitter, while red, orange, and yellow peppers stay on the plant longer and turn sweeter -- and pricier -- as a result. All colors come from the same plant at different stages of ripeness, not different varieties.
Buying guidance
Choose peppers that feel firm and heavy for their size with taut, glossy skin -- wrinkled skin or soft spots mean moisture loss and a mealy texture. Walls should feel thick when pressed; thin-walled peppers collapse faster when cooked and give less crunch raw. For roasting or stuffing, a squarer shape with fewer lobes sits flatter and is easier to core.
Substitutions
- A different color bell pepper -- interchangeable in texture; expect a milder, more vegetal flavor from green versus sweeter from red, orange, or yellow.
- Jarred roasted red peppers -- already soft and packed in brine, good in sauces and fillings but won't hold raw crunch.
- Poblano pepper -- similar size and wall thickness with a little more vegetal heat; fine when a slight kick is welcome.
Tips & common mistakes
Cutting around the stem and ribs before slicing keeps flesh from waste; if roasting for peeling, char the skin fully black before steaming it in a covered bowl, since a partial char makes the skin cling and tear the flesh underneath. Raw pepper cut ahead of time loses crispness and starts to weep within a few hours.
Storage
Refrigerate whole peppers unwashed in the crisper; they keep about 1 to 2 weeks, with thicker-walled red, orange, and yellow peppers holding slightly longer than green. Cut pepper dries out fast -- store pieces in a sealed container and use within 3 to 4 days. Peppers can be sliced and frozen raw for cooked dishes, but they turn limp on thawing and aren't suited to raw use afterward.