A large, mild, hollow nightshade fruit grown in green, red, yellow, and orange — the same plant changes color with ripeness, the green ones being immature versions of the others.
Color = ripeness
The colors of bell peppers aren’t different varieties — they’re the same fruit at different stages of ripeness:
- Green — unripe. Slightly bitter, grassy.
- Yellow / Orange — partly ripe.
- Red — fully ripe. Sweetest, highest vitamin C.
- Purple, white, brown — specialty varieties from selective breeding.
A green bell pepper is essentially the same fruit as the red one beside it; if left on the plant, it would have ripened to red. This is why red bells cost more — they spent more time on the plant, taking up the grower’s space and energy.
No heat, despite the family
Bell peppers belong to the same species as jalapeños, habaneros, and cayenne — but they have a recessive gene that prevents capsaicin production. They’re nightshades like tomato and eggplant, with the same biochemistry minus the heat.
Bell peppers are sometimes crossed with hot peppers, producing intermediate “stuffing peppers” with a mild bite.
Vitamin C powerhouse
A single red bell pepper contains roughly 3 times the vitamin C of an orange — bell peppers are among the highest vitamin C foods commonly eaten. The vitamin C content drops with cooking; raw peppers retain the most.
Around the world
- Hungary — paprika is dried and ground bell pepper (sweet to spicy varieties); central to goulash and chicken paprikash.
- Spain — piquillo peppers (small, sweet, fire-roasted) and padrón peppers (whole, fried, mostly mild with occasional spicy ones).
- Italy — peperonata (stewed peppers, onions, tomato).
- Greece — gemista (rice-stuffed peppers and tomatoes).
- Mexico — chiles rellenos (stuffed and fried).
Find more vegetables by letter
Bell Pepper starts with B and ends with R. Browse other vegetables along the same letter.
Vegetables that contain a letter from "Bell Pepper":