How to Roast Peppers in the Oven
Easy instructions for how to roast peppers in the oven to make delicious roasted red peppers to use in salads, soups, sauces, and sandwiches.
Roasting a pepper transforms it into something else completely. Roasted peppers have their own unique flavor and texture and they make a wonderful addition to sauces, salads, soups, and sandwiches.
We’re going to show you how to roast peppers in the oven, specifically red bell peppers because those are the peppers people roast most often. However you can use the same steps to roast other varieties of peppers as well.
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What is the Purpose of Roasting Peppers?
Roasting peppers adds another layer of flavor to your peppers. Charring the skin on the outside of the pepper brings out the sweetness in the peppers by caramelizing some of the natural sugars.
If you’re using a spicy pepper roasting is said to reduce the spiciness of the pepper.
The char on the peppers also gives it some additional smoky flavor.
Roasting peppers also makes it easy to remove the outer skin which can be a big tough. When you remove the skin from the pepper it reveals a soft, smooth, pepper underneath. It’s a whole new texture and a really nice addition to soups, sauces, and sandwiches.
Ingredients You’ll Need
- Red Bell peppers – We roast red bell peppers most often but you can roast many different kinds of pepper including any color bell pepper, poblano peppers, Anaheim peppers, Shishito peppers, or jalapeno peppers.
- Olive oil – This will coat the peppers and help the skin cook evenly as it roasts.
How Do You Roast Peppers in the Oven?
Making oven roasted red peppers is super easy!
Step 1 – Prepare the oven. Move your oven rack to the top position so it will be just below the upper heating element. Turn your own to Broil (Hi) and let preheat while you prepare your peppers.
Step 2 – Prepare peppers. Start by preparing your peppers by cutting them in half lengthwise and then removing the stem, seeds, and ribs (the white portion inside the pepper).
Pour the olive oil over the peppers and rub it over the outside and inside.
Step 3 – Bake peppers. Place the peppers on a baking sheet so that the skin faces up. Put the baking sheet on the top rack under the broiler and let the peppers broil for approximately 5 minutes or until the skin begins to blister and blacken.
If needed you can shift the peppers around to help blacken as much of the skin as you can.
Step 4 – Sweat the peppers. When the skin of your peppers has blackened carefully remove them from the oven and place them in a bowl or airtight container together. Cover the bowl or container with a lid or a piece of aluminum foil or plastic wrap. Let the peppers sit for 30 minutes.
This is called “sweating” the peppers and it allows the residual heat and steam from the hot peppers to loosen the skin further so it will come off easier in the next step.
Step 5 – Remove the skin. Once your peppers have been sweating for at least 30 minutes and are cool enough to handle you can remove the skin.
Use your fingers to gently peel off as much of the skin as you can. DO NOT run the pepper under water as you do this because it can wash away some of that nice charred flavor it got from roasting.
Instead gently rub your fingers over the skin and peel it away. If you can’t get every last piece off don’t worry about it.
Roasting Other Peppers
You can use these instructions for roasting most types of peppers.
In general if it is a smaller pepper such as a jalapeno you don’t sweat it and remove the skin you just char the pepper for that added flavor and to mellow out the heat of the pepper.
Roasting a Pepper On the Stovetop
If you are lucky enough to have a gas stove then you can use an alternative method to roast your peppers over a gas flame.
Step 1 – Prepare your peppers. You’ll use whole red peppers, not cut and no olive oil added.
Step 2 – Prepare your stove top. Turn on the gas burner to medium high.
Step 3 – Roast the peppers. Place the whole pepper on the open flame and let the skin begin to char, approximately 3-5 minutes. Use tongs to turn the pepper letting it cook and char on each side.
Step 4 – Sweat the peppers. Follow the same method listed above the sweat the peppers.
Step 5 – Remove the skin. Cut the pepper in half and remove the seeds, stem, and ribs (white parts of the peppers). Then follow the instructions above for removing the skin.
How Long Does it Take to Roast Bell Peppers?
Bells peppers roast for approximately 5 minutes per side or until the skin is blistered and blackened.
How Do You Know When Peppers are Cooked?
You know your roasted peppers are cooked when the majority of the outer skin is covered in black, charred spots and the skin that hasn’t blackened is slightly wrinkled looking.
How Does Roasting Peppers Change the Flavor?
Roasting peppers changes their flavor in a few ways. First, the heat caramelizes some of the natural sugars bringing out the sweetness in the pepper.
Roasting also reduces the heat level (spiciness) of the pepper.
Finally the charring of the pepper under the broiler or over a flame adds a smoky flavor to the pepper.
All three things are why roasting peppers changes and elevates the flavor to something uniquely different.
What To Do With Roasted Red Peppers
Roasted red peppers are a great addition to so many recipes and they are delicious on their own as well. Use them to make hummus, sauces, soups, pesto, or add them to a veggie platter, sandwich or burger.
Here are a few of our favorite roasted red bell peppers recipes:
- Creamy Roasted Red Pepper Pasta with Chicken
- Fire Roasted Red Pepper Soup
- Mediterranean Mezze Platter
- Greek Spaghetti Salad
- Peri Peri Sauce
- Italian Antipasto Skewers
- Keto Antipasto Salad
- Keto Chicken Gyro Bowl
How to Store
You can store roasted peppers in the refrigerator for 3-5 days or in the freezer for up to 2 months.
Refrigerator – Let the peppers cool completely then cut into slices, or keep in large pieces depending on what you’ll be using it for, and store in an airtight container in the refrigerator.
Freezer – Let the peppers cool completely then cut into slices, or keep in large pieces depending on what you’ll be using it for.
Place the peppers on a parchment paper lined baking pan and place in the freezer for approximately 30 minutes or until frozen.
Once frozen place them on a sheet of plastic wrap in a single layer. If you need multiple layers place a piece of parchment paper between each layer. Wrap tightly in plastic wrap and then seal in a gallon freezer bag.
Place in freezer and store for up to 2 months.
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How to Roast Peppers in the Oven
Ingredients
- 3 Red Bell Peppers
- 1 tablespoon Olive oil
Instructions
- Move your oven rack to the top position so it will be just below the upper heating element. Turn your own to Broil (Hi) and let preheat while you prepare your peppers.
- Start by preparing your peppers by cutting them in half lengthwise and then removing the stem, seeds, and ribs (the white portion inside the pepper). Pour the olive oil over the peppers and rub it over the outside and inside.
- Place the peppers on a baking sheet so that the skin faces up. Put the baking sheet on the top rack under the broiler and let the peppers broil for approximately 5 minutes or until the skin begins to blister and blacken. If needed you can shift the peppers around to help blacken as much of the skin as you can.
- When the skin of your peppers has blackened carefully remove them from the oven and place them in a bowl or airtight container together. Cover the bowl or container with a lid or a piece of aluminum foil or plastic wrap. Let the peppers sit for 30 minutes.
- Once your peppers have been sweating for at least 30 minutes and are cool enough to handle you can remove the skin. Use your fingers to gently peel off as much of the skin as you can. DO NOT run the pepper under water as you do this because it can wash away some of that nice charred flavor it got from roasting.
- Use immediately or store the roasted red peppers in an airtight container in the refrigerator for 3-5 days.
Nutrition
