Kitchen Basics: How To Roast Red Peppers
This post may contain affiliate links. See my disclosure policy.
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!
Save This Recipe
Enter your email address and we'll send it straight to your inbox!
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!
Very easy recipe. I did use the brown bag as some of the skin was severly charred and other parts barely blistered. Skin was easy to peel off.
I tried just one red pepper in a toaster oven and it took 20 minutes and the skin just came off easily. I don’t know if I would try more than 2 in a toaster oven. Some people who had problems with getting the skin off maybe did not bake it long enough. Make sure the skin is charred and where it isn’t charred it should be blistered.
Tastes great but took over 30 minutes at 450 to collapse. Also, they stuck to the foil really badly so there was some waste. Was I supposed to oil the foil?
I’ve found foil then sheet of parchment. No oil.
So I want to make baked red peppers for my sister but I want to jar them in oil. Do I use olive oil? Should I add salt to the mix.
I have hated peppers my whole life. Couldn’t even stand the smell, raw or cooked. I had a slice of veggie pizza a while ago which had roasted red peppers on it. I was surprised how sweet and tasty they were! I made them per your recipe and loved them. Researching them I found how healthy they are for you. The 2nd time I made them, I wanted to save all the chopping so I put them in my juicer. It liquified them immediately. Now I do this all the time and use it instead of ketchup on and in everything. I poached boneless skinless chicken breasts in it (which I never eat because they are so dry and tasteless). They were so juicy and flavorful! I eat lots of chicken. This is now my healthy go-to way of preparing chicken, and takes a fraction of the time compared to baking it. I also mix it with mayo to make a delicious salad dressing, or with sour cream for an excellent dip. It is even good as a soup, instead of salty canned tomato soup.
Sue you have some great ideas! Thanks for sharing your imaginative uses.
I am a first time red pepper roaster and everything came out perfect! I roasted them for 30 minutes at 450 in a throw away tin pan and covered with tin foil for 10 minutes. Skins came right off very easily! Thanks!
Terrific, Steve, I’m so glad it was a success, thanks for the feedback!
First time roasting peppers. I used cubano red peppers and roasted 3 of them for 30 minutes. They peeled vey nicely using these instructions. I was hoping this method would be more cost effective versus store bought jar options. But I didnt get the amount I expected for the dialysis patient I cook for. Recipe was GREAT!
Thanks, good to know it’s just that simple.
IMPORTANT: PLEASE stop advocating the use of Ziplock (or any other) single-use plastic bags. It’s easy not to think about what we put into landfill. But traces of plastics are already starting to show up in our food crops and we seriously need to start being more responsible. Please use and recommend washable, reusable food storage containers.
Thanks!
Great comment about single-use plastic bags!! Thanks for speaking up about it!!
I wash out the plastic bags & dry thoroughly. I use them because you can ”mold” them to where you want them in the freezer.