Kitchen Basics: How To Roast Red Peppers
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Instead of paying a premium for store-bought, learn how to roast red peppers yourself! It’s easy and there are SO many delicious ways to use your roasted peppers!
Jarred roasted red peppers are one of those things I often don’t have on hand when I need them. Can you relate? It’s the same story with several other things, which is why I developed the very best recipes for items like tahini paste, marzipan, teriyaki sauce, black bean sauce and hoisin sauce. Not only can I whip them up whenever I need them, they taste about a gazillion times better than the store-bought stuff!
But back to roasted peppers. Does anything beat the flavor of fresh peppers that have been charred and blackened in the oven? Roasted peppers are one of those things that make the culinary world go round. If you’ve added them here and there to spruce up your dishes you know exactly what I mean.
How To Use Roasted Red Peppers
Lots of ways! Add them to your pasta salads, potato salads, tossed salads. Add them to your sandwiches, place them on bruschetta or add them to a pasta dish.. Make a roasted red pepper aioli or add them to your next batch of hummus. Make a roasted red pepper pesto with the usual ingredients (pine nuts, basil, garlic, Parmesan, etc) and enjoy it on crackers or tossed in pasta. Puree them with some almonds and cream and chicken stock for a delicious pasta sauce. Or puree them with some cream cheese for a cracker and veggie spread. Add them to a tapenade, on pizza or flatbread. Fold them into omelets or frittatas. Add them to a potato hash or your favorite chicken casserole. The sky’s the limit!
Here are just a few recipe examples featuring roasted red peppers:
Portuguese Potato Hash with Linquica, Peppers & Olives
Roasting your own peppers is the perfect way to put a bumper crop of peppers to use or to take advantage of those grocery store sales.
This method for roasting bell peppers works for most kinds of peppers. All peppers vary in their thickness of skin and flesh and so roasting times will vary, you’ll need to check on them. But other peppers that work well for roasting are Poblanos, Anaheims, Hatch-style chiles, paprika chiles, jalapenos and pimientos.
How to Roast Red Bell Peppers
Let’s get started!
Preheat the oven to 450 degrees F.
Cut the peppers in half and remove the stems, seeds and membranes.
Lay the peppers on a foil-lined baking sheet, cut side down. Parchment paper is considered safe up to 400 degrees without the risk of scorching, but I often push the limits to 450 degrees. If you want to remove all risk, use foil.
Roast the red peppers for 15-20 minutes or until the skins are very dark and have collapsed.
There’s no need to rotate or turn the peppers.
Once the skins are blackened remove the peppers from the oven.
At this point most people recommend placing the roasted peppers in a paper bag to steam for about 10 minutes to help loosen the skin. I’ve never found that to be necessary, but I guess it depends on how stubborn your particular peppers are. Simply let the peppers cool for a few minutes until comfortable enough to handle and then peel the skins off and discard them. They’ll slip off easily.
You can slice or dice the peppers in advance or store them in halves. Stored in the fridge in an airtight container they’ll keep for up to about a week. If you store them covered in oil in the fridge they’ll keep for at least 2 weeks. For longer storage you can freeze them in ziplock bags.
Enjoy your freshly roasted red peppers!
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How To Roast Red Peppers
Ingredients
- Bell peppers or other peppers of your choice (see note in description box above)
- A foil-lined baking sheet
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 450 degrees F.
- Cut the peppers in half and remove the stems, seeds and membranes. Lay the peppers on a foil-lined baking sheet, cut side down. Roast the red peppers for 15-20 minutes or until the skins are very dark and have collapsed. (There is no need to rotate or turn the peppers.) Once the skins are blackened remove the peppers from the oven.
- At this point most people recommend placing the roasted peppers in a paper bag to steam for about 10 minutes to help loosen the skin. I've never found that to be necessary, but I guess it depends on how stubborn your particular peppers are! Simply let the peppers cool for a few minutes until comfortable enough to handle and then peel the skins off and discard them.
- You can slice or dice the peppers in advance or store them in halves. Stored in the fridge in an airtight container they'll keep for up to about a week. If you store them covered in oil in the fridge they'll keep for at least 2 weeks. For longer storage you can freeze them in ziplock bags.
Hi, I’m Kimberly Killebrew and welcome to Daring Gourmet where you'll find delicious originals, revitalized classics, and simply downright good eats from around the world! Originally from Germany, later raised in England, world-traveled, and now living in the U.S., from my globally-influenced kitchen I invite you to tour the world through your taste buds!
This is the very first time i have roasted peppers. They came out great. I ended up roasting them for about 20 mins but did not have them at the top of my oven. They were probably 8 inches under the broiler. Took them out and let sit for 10 mins and skin peeled right off. Not sure why the others are having a hard time…maybe it depends on the peppers. I did yellow, red and orange peppers.
I’m so glad they were a success, Julie, thanks for the feedback!
This is the first time I have roasted peppers. I am happy with the result but I had to roast them for almost twice the time. I followed your instructions to the letter.
What do you think took so long?
The method for roasting and peeling peppers was VERY misleading, both in its statement that it wasn’t necessary to turn the peppers while they’re roasting in the oven and in the statement that it wasn’t necessary to put the roasted peppers into a plastic bag for 12 minutes before peeling. This is the 4th time I’ve roasted peppers that needed peeling, and it never has taken more than 20 minutes to peel 8. This time, based on the writer’s “recommendations” it took 2 of us almost an hour to peel the peppers, and the skin on many of them wouldn’t peel off!
I think you need to check your oven temp, if this recipe AND other recipes require 12-20 minutes of peeling every time. I commented a year or so ago, below, and have been using this method for a couple of years now. I don’t use plastic or paper, I just throw a bowl over the top of them for 5-10 minutes, whether they need it or not; I could usually peel them right away, but this way I don’t have to think about it. They are always easy to peel, regardless of the age of the peppers. And it doesn’t take anywhere near 20 minutes to peel, it takes less than 3 minutes for 8 of them. And there’s only one of me. lol.
The only thing I would say, per my comment a year or so ago, is that sometimes my peppers aren’t blackened enough for my liking, and so I put them under the broiler for 2-3 minutes. Definitely check your oven temp?
I just tried this for the first time ever. So easy!! I have a gas stove, so I ended up having to broil for 3 minutes after baking for 15 cuz they weren’t charred. But I peeled all 6 within about 10 minutes. Easy-peasy!
My gas oven has the heating element at the bottom of the oven only. Unless I turn on broiler. Broiler is on top. Do I still put the peppers on the top position, 4″ from broiler. That instruction confused me as I’m not broiling them right?
Hi Denise, yes, you can put it on the top position and use the broil function – just keep a very close watch on the peppers.
i had this same question–i’ve never seen an oven that heats from the top, that’s called broiling!
Thank you! I have always let the peppers steam in a bag before removing the skin. BUT, I did it your way and it was SOOOOOOO much easier!!! The skin just pealed right off. I roasted mine in my airfryer – 400 degrees for 15 minutes. Came out perfect!!!
Fantastic, Anita, thanks so much for the feedback!
Oh my, I just tried this with 10 beautiful peppers & they look nothing like yours. They are so flat & like nothing worth saving? What could have gone wrong?
Dawn, I have had a fear of roasting red peppers. They have turned out like yours with the flesh being very thin. I determined it was a fear of high temp. Today I made sure the temp was 450F (actually over, had to turn it down). I sat on the floor & didn’t leave them. I flattened them quite a bit. They ‘burned’ fairly quick. My husband distracted me so I don’t know how long they took. They ‘burned’ up extensively & beautifully, leaving the thick flesh underneath. Let them cool & peeled them quite easily. Even tho there weren’t any burnt bits left they were very tasty & difficult not to gobble up right away. So, crank up the heat & don’t leave them! ( :
just a tip when your peppers are done put them in balsamic vineger and olive oil in the fridge for a couple og hours enjoy mike
This has become my go-to method for roasting red peppers. It’s so much simpler than the broiling recipes where you have to watch every second. (Thank god for the ability to search Chrome’s history. lol.) A couple of things to add:
1. Sometimes my peppers are stubborn, and even after 20 minutes, they only have a couple of black spots. In that case, I just blast them with the broiler for 2-3 minutes, and carry on.
2. Stubborn peppers again: for peeling, I just taken them out of the oven, put ’em in a pile on the baking sheet and put a pyrex bowl over the top for about 10 minutes. (Gave up on brown paper bags long ago.) It doesn’t hurt them, if they don’t need that extra help to make them easy to peel, but it’s a lot more dependable and less of a PIA than the paper bag method, for times when steaming is necessary.
Fantastic, Julie, thanks so much for the tips and feedback!