Our 18 best pepper recipes
Katy Salter
Peppers are one of the most versatile ingredients in the veg drawer. Whether you prefer them red, orange, yellow – or even green – peppers’ sweet, fresh flavour and satisfying texture makes them a brilliant addition to dozens of dishes.
Although peppers are in the shops all year round, if you’re growing your own (ideally in a greenhouse) you’ll be harvesting peppers in late summer through to early autumn. There’s lots of pepper recipes to make with your freshly-picked veggies.
Try easy stuffed peppers, pasta dishes and meat-free enchiladas. Turn them into punchy sauces like romesco or Balkan pepper paste. There’s plenty of quick midweek dinner ideas here, plus dishes where peppers’ natural sweetness is enhanced by a slow stint in the oven.
Our 18 best pepper recipes include classics like stuffed peppers and pasta, plus some fresh ideas for using up the whole pepper rainbow – grilled green peppers, romesco sauce, a quick yellow pepper stir-fry and a colourful frittata. Read on for more recipe inspiration. You’ll never leave an open packet of mixed peppers languishing in the fridge again…
A popular summer dish in Piedmont, Italy, these stuffed peppers are filled with punchy ingredients like anchovies, black olives and chargrilled artichokes, plus golden ciabatta chunks. The perfect summer dinner with a crisp salad and a very cold bottle of Italian white.
Red pepper and courgette enchiladas
This meat-free take on enchiladas has easy weekend dinner written all over it. Turn it into a movie-night feast with guacamole, salsa and plenty of tortilla chips.
Romano peppers provide a sweet foil for sticky, savoury pork mince with soy, chilli sauce and coriander in this easy recipe which needs just 10 minutes prep.
Pepper pastes are popular in Bulgaria, Macedonia and all over the Balkans, where they’re sometimes known as avjar. This versatile spread is made with blackened romano peppers, garlic and walnuts. It’s brilliant with cheese, crusty bread, chicken, pork and – well – just about anything.
Lemon roast chicken with peppers
Why wait until Sunday when you can make this quick and easy lemon roast chicken any night of the week? Yellow and red peppers bring the sweetness. Serve with new potatoes or rosemary-flecked potato wedges.
Mix your pizzas up with a romesco sauce base in place of the usual sugo. Romesco gives these homemade pizzas a serious flavour boost, with the versatile sauce being made with almonds and roasted peppers.
Marinated burnt green peppers with mozzarella and pickled shallots
Green peppers get their time to shine! Grilling the vegetables until blackened, then marinating them with sherry vinegar coaxes out green pepper’s latent sweetness. Serve with creamy mozzarella and easy pickled shallots.
We love romesco sauce so much it’s getting a second mention in this recipe round-up, so shoot us. This time, the punchy pepper and almond sauce makes an easy midweek perk-up for chicken breasts with potatoes and greens. This recipe is seriously popular because it’s both easy and full of flavour.
Balsamic sausage, pepper and red onion bake
This sausage and pepper traybake is a budget-friendly winner for busy nights. Balsamic vinegar and olive oil are a magic combination for rich, sticky roasted peppers. Give it a go when you need something easy.
Roasted red peppers with basil
In this simple starter recipe, peppers are slowly cooked to coax out their sweetness, with Mediterranean flavours like basil, thyme and capers bring a little oomph. This plant-based summer dish is ideal for dinners in the garden, with crusty bread and perhaps a simple salad or two.
Lamb mince-stuffed peppers with yogurt and sumac
These lamb mince-stuffed peppers are a delicious way to use up one of those bags of small, mixed peppers. They’re packed with warming spices and perfect served with couscous.
Sneak one of your five-a-day into pesto pasta with this quick recipe. Our speedy red pepper and hazelnut pesto tastes so much better than the stuff in a jar, we promise.
Crispy halloumi with spicy pepper salsa
Salty halloumi and sweet pepper strips join forces to make one incredible brunch. Serve with poached eggs, sourdough toast and a pot of strong coffee.
Yellow pepper and black bean stir fry
Peppers are a stir-fry stalwart, but they normally play second fiddle to chicken or pork. In this vegetarian stir-fry yellow peppers are the star, while black beans bring the protein. Use maple syrup instead of honey to make it vegan-friendly.
Barbecued vegetables with tahini dressing
Create a plant-based barbecue feast. Bell peppers share grill space with other summer veggies, like runner beans, aubergines and padron peppers. Serve the charred veg with generous spoonfuls of tahini dressing.
Brunch, lunch, dinner…there’s never a bad time for a hot pan of shakshuka. Juicy peppers are a gently sweet addition to this Middle Eastern dish of poached eggs in a rich tomato sauce.
Use roasted peppers from a jar to make this quick and easy frittata. If you don’t have any, pan fry red pepper strips in a little olive oil before folding into the frittata mixture. Versatile or what.
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Gnocchi with red pepper and parsley pesto
In need of a seriously cheesy bowl of comfort food? This baked gnocchi with three types of cheese (and red peppers for contrast and freshness) is ready in just 20 minutes.
Looking for more summer vegetable inspiration? Try our 15 best courgette recipes and take a look at these 15 seriously juicy tomato recipes.
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