Bell pepper
Capsicum annuum · Solanaceae · also known as Sweet pepper, Capsicum, Paprika (Europe), Pimiento, Shimla mirch
The chilli that forgot to be hot — a genetic quirk switched off its capsaicin, leaving a sweet, crunchy berry that is one of the richest common sources of vitamin C on earth, well ahead of any orange.
At a glance
- Taste
- Green peppers are grassy, faintly bitter and firm; red, yellow and orange are the same fruit left to ripen, and turn markedly sweeter, fruitier and softer. All are crisp and juicy raw, and sweeten further with roasting.
- Origin
- Central and South America; domesticated thousands of years ago and spread worldwide after 1492
- Grown in
- China, Mexico, Turkey, Spain, United States, Netherlands
- Peak season
- Summer, Autumn
- Notable varieties
- Green (unripe), Red, Yellow, Orange, Purple/chocolate, Mini sweet
Sensory & practical profile
Taste fingerprint
- Sweetness
- Tartness
- Aroma
- Juiciness
- Firmness
Approximate, at peak ripeness · 0–5
- Ripe when
- Fully coloured red, yellow or orange, glossy and firm with thick walls — a green pepper is the same fruit picked unripe, which is why it is grassier and less sweet.
- How to eat
- Eat it raw for the full vitamin C, since the vitamin is heat-sensitive. To roast, blacken the skin whole over a flame or under a grill, steam it covered for ten minutes, then slip the skin off.
- Typical price
- Budget
A red bell pepper is not a different variety from a green one — it is the same fruit, left on the plant to ripen. That extra time roughly doubles its vitamin C and multiplies its provitamin A many times over.
When it's in season, by region
| Region | Peak months |
|---|---|
| Europe | Jul–Oct outdoors; year-round from Dutch and Spanish glasshouses |
| Latin America | Much of the year in warm regions |
How to select & store
Picking a ripe one
Look for taut, glossy skin, a firm green stem, and fruit that feels heavy for its size with thick walls. Wrinkling at the shoulders and a dry, shrivelled stem mean age. Thicker-walled fruit is sweeter and juicier.
Storing it
One to two weeks in the fridge crisper, unwashed and loosely bagged. Red and yellow peppers are riper and so keep less well than green. Roasted and peeled peppers keep for a week under oil.
Practical uses
🍽️ Culinary
- Roasted and peeled for salads, antipasti and romesco
- Sliced raw into salads and crudités, or stuffed and baked
- Dried and ground into paprika — the Hungarian and Spanish spice
- Sofrito, ratatouille, fajitas and countless braise bases
🌿 Health & traditional
- An outstanding dietary source of vitamin C, well ahead of citrus by weight
- The carotenoids that colour red and orange fruit are established provitamin A sources
🎎 Cultural
- Called capsicum in Australia, India and New Zealand, and paprika across much of Europe
- Spanish and Hungarian paprika traditions built entire cuisines on the dried fruit
Eating bell pepper: what to know
What regular consumption looks like
Bell pepper is a nutritious everyday fruit, best enjoyed as part of a varied diet. It is exceptionally rich in vitamin C — even a small portion far exceeds a day's needs — supporting immune function, collagen formation, and the absorption of iron from plant foods.
Sensible amounts
A typical fruit serving is roughly a handful, one medium fruit, or about 80 g, and two or more varied fruit servings a day is a sensible everyday pattern.
Evidence & conditions
As a whole fruit, Bell pepper contributes fibre, vitamins, and beneficial plant compounds, but it has not been shown to treat or prevent any specific condition — so it is best enjoyed as part of a healthy diet rather than as a remedy.
Bell pepper: frequently asked questions
What does bell pepper taste like?
Green peppers are grassy, faintly bitter and firm; red, yellow and orange are the same fruit left to ripen, and turn markedly sweeter, fruitier and softer. All are crisp and juicy raw, and sweeten further with roasting.
When is bell pepper in season?
Bell pepper is typically in season Europe (Jul–Oct outdoors; year-round from Dutch and Spanish glasshouses); Latin America (Much of the year in warm regions). Peak months shift between the northern and southern hemispheres.
How do you eat bell pepper?
Eat it raw for the full vitamin C, since the vitamin is heat-sensitive. To roast, blacken the skin whole over a flame or under a grill, steam it covered for ten minutes, then slip the skin off.
How do you know when bell pepper is ripe?
Fully coloured red, yellow or orange, glossy and firm with thick walls — a green pepper is the same fruit picked unripe, which is why it is grassier and less sweet.
Is bell pepper good for you?
Bell pepper is a nutritious everyday fruit, best enjoyed as part of a varied diet. It is exceptionally rich in vitamin C — even a small portion far exceeds a day's needs — supporting immune function, collagen formation, and the absorption of iron from plant foods.
How much bell pepper should you eat?
A typical fruit serving is roughly a handful, one medium fruit, or about 80 g, and two or more varied fruit servings a day is a sensible everyday pattern.
What is the difference between green and red bell peppers?
Time on the plant. They are the same fruit at different stages: green is unripe, and red, orange or yellow is fully ripened. Ripening roughly doubles the vitamin C, multiplies the provitamin A carotenoids several times over, and turns the flavour from grassy and slightly bitter to distinctly sweet. It also costs the grower weeks of field time, which is why coloured peppers are more expensive.
Do bell peppers really have more vitamin C than oranges?
Yes, and comfortably. A red bell pepper carries roughly 128 mg per 100 g against an orange's 53 mg — about two and a half times. Green peppers are lower but still ahead of an orange. Vitamin C is heat-sensitive, so raw or lightly cooked peppers deliver more of it than long-roasted ones.
Why aren't bell peppers spicy?
A recessive gene switches off capsaicin production. Bell peppers are the same species as cayenne and jalapeño — Capsicum annuum — but they carry a mutation in the gene controlling capsaicinoid synthesis, so they produce essentially none. Everything else about the fruit is intact; it simply has no heat.
A bell pepper is a chilli with the heat switched off. Same species as the jalapeño and the cayenne — Capsicum annuum — but carrying a recessive mutation that shuts down capsaicin production entirely. What remains is a large, sweet, thick-walled berry, and one of the most nutritionally impressive things in the vegetable aisle.
The vitamin C headline
A red bell pepper carries roughly 128 mg of vitamin C per 100 g. An orange has about 53. The pepper wins by a factor of two and a half, and almost nobody knows it, because citrus has held the vitamin C reputation since the age of sail.
It is worth eating them raw where you can. Vitamin C degrades with heat, so a raw pepper in a salad delivers considerably more than a long-roasted one.
Green is unripe
The most useful fact about buying peppers: green, red, yellow and orange are usually not different varieties. They are the same fruit at different stages of ripeness. Green is picked early; leave it on the plant and it will colour up, sweeten dramatically, and roughly double its vitamin C along the way.
That extra time is why coloured peppers cost more — the grower gives up weeks of field space for them.
Roasting, done properly
The skin of a pepper is thin but tough and does not soften with cooking. The classic method blackens it deliberately: char the whole fruit over a flame or under a hot grill until the skin is blistered black, then seal it in a covered bowl for ten minutes. The trapped steam lifts the skin away from the flesh, and it slips off in sheets.
Do not rinse the peeled fruit — you will wash away the smoky juices that were the point of the exercise.
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