Roasted Red Peppers

Learn how to roast red peppers! Delicious in salads, sandwiches, and more, homemade roasted red peppers are sweet, silky, and super easy to make.

Roasted red peppers

I use roasted red peppers in my cooking all year round. In the winter, I crack open a store-bought jar when I want to add roasted red peppers’ sweet, rich flavor to a pasta, dip, or soup. But in the summer, bell pepper season, I much prefer to make my own.

Homemade roasted red peppers are sweeter and smokier than store-bought ones, and they’re not overly salty or briny either. They’re super easy to make, and they keep in the fridge for a week or more—perfect for punching up the flavor in whatever you’re cooking.

I’m sharing 2 methods for how to roast red peppers below: on the stove and in the oven. The next time you have a bunch of bell peppers on hand, give one a go! You’ll love using the sweet, tender peppers in salads, sandwiches, and more.

How to roast red peppers on the stovetop

How to Roast Red Peppers on the Stove

My favorite way to roast red peppers is on the stovetop. You can do this in three ways:

  1. On a grill pan
  2. In a dry cast-iron skillet
  3. Directly over a gas flame

Light a gas burner, or preheat a grill pan or dry skillet until a drop of water sizzles when you add it. Place a whole red bell pepper over the flame or in the pan and cook, turning as the pepper blackens and blisters on each side. It’s ready when it’s charred and tender all over. Feel free to cook more than one pepper at once if there is room in your pan.

Note: Don’t rub the pepper with oil before cooking. It’ll smoke and burn!

Roasted red peppers in a bowl

When the peppers are charred and blistered all over, let them steam. Place them in a large bowl, and cover the bowl with a kitchen towel or plastic wrap. Set aside for 10 minutes for the peppers to soften.

Bowl covered with striped kitchen towel

When the peppers are cool enough to handle, peel off the loose skin. If you can’t get off every last bit of it, that’s ok! I actually like to leave on a little of the blackened skin for a nice charred flavor.

Finally, remove the stem, membranes, and seeds. Enjoy the roasted red peppers right away, or store them in the fridge for one to two weeks.

How to Roast Red Peppers in the Oven

You can also cook roasted red peppers in the oven. I use this method for roasting bell peppers when I’m cooking a large batch, since it’s more efficient than charring each individual pepper over a gas flame.

  • Preheat the oven broiler.
  • Place the whole peppers on a foil-lined baking sheet. The peppers should be dry—no oil needed here!
  • Broil the peppers until they are blistered and blackened all over, turning them as necessary. Oven broilers vary quite a bit, so the exact timing will depend on your broiler.
  • Place the roasted peppers in a large bowl, and cover it with a kitchen towel or plastic wrap.
  • Let the peppers steam for 10 minutes before removing the loose skin, stems, membranes, and seeds.

That’s it!

Hands peeling loose skin from roasted red peppers

Storage

If you’re not using all your roasted red peppers right away, transfer them to a jar with a tight-fitting lid or another airtight container. Pour in enough olive oil to submerge the peppers, and store them in the fridge for 1-2 weeks.

For longer storage, you can freeze roasted red peppers. Cut the peppers into whatever size or shape you like, and then spread them in a single layer on a sheet pan lined with parchment paper. Freeze on the pan for 2 hours before transferring to an airtight container. They’ll keep well in the freezer for up to 3 months. Zap them in the microwave to thaw, or transfer them to the refrigerator to defrost overnight.

Roasted red peppers on a platter

Uses for Roasted Red Peppers

Roasted red peppers enhance all kinds of dishes—salads, pastas, sandwiches, and more! Have fun experimenting with different ways to use them. Here are a few ideas to get you started:

What do you like to do with roasted red peppers? Let me know in the comments!

Two jars of roasted red peppers

More Vegetable Basics

If you loved learning how to roast red peppers, try one of these basic vegetable recipes next:

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Roasted Red Peppers

rate this recipe:
5 from 2 votes
Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cook Time: 10 minutes
Total Time: 20 minutes
Learn how to roast red peppers in the oven or on the stovetop! Sweet and silky, these easy roasted red peppers are a great addition to sauces, pastas, pizzas, and more.

Ingredients

Instructions

  • To make roasted red peppers on the stovetop, preheat a grill pan or cast-iron skillet over medium heat, or light a gas flame. Place the red bell peppers directly over the flame or in the hot pan, turning as they blacken and blister. Cook until they are charred on all sides.
  • To make roasted red peppers in the oven, preheat the oven broiler. Place the peppers on a foil-lined baking sheet and broil until they are blackened and blistered all over, turning as necessary.
  • For either method, remove the peppers from the heat, place in a large bowl, and cover with a towel or plastic wrap. Set aside for 10 minutes to steam and soften.
  • Uncover and use your hands to peel off the loose skin.
  • Remove the stems, seeds, and membranes. Use the peppers whole or slice into strips. Season to taste with sea salt.
  • To store the peppers, transfer them to a jar and pour in olive oil to cover. Cover with a tight-fitting lid and store in the refrigerator for 1 to 2 weeks.

 

15 comments

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  1. Jill Dalton
    07.12.2023

    Can you can the roasted peppers?

    • Jeanine Donofrio
      07.13.2023

      Hi Jill, I’m not experienced with canning so I’m not sure what the proper steps are to make them food safe.

  2. Pam
    06.12.2022

    We love Roasted Red Peppers! Something different I’ve done is layered then in my meatloaf by just laying them in strips…It gives a very Suttle flavour plus looks pretty when loaf is sliced. Hope you enjoy!

    • Jeanine Donofrio
      05.15.2022

      Hi Arlene, I haven’t tried, but I think it would be fine.

    • Pam
      06.12.2022

      I have before when red peppers are abundant. I just roast-peel skin- slice- flash freeze-freeze/note: after frozen they’re thawed and press out excess water from being frozen- use in recipes. I’ve mostly only used mine in my sauce. Hope this helps.

  3. Carolyn Robinson
    02.26.2022

    Roasted Red Peppers I use Roasted red peppers in a pasta salad. Tri Blend pasta I usually use Rotini or Fusilli- Roasted red peppers, red onions ( will try it now with pickled ped onions, black olives, feta cheese, celery, radish. I use 2 different types of dressings dependin on my frame of mind-Italian dressing with a little black olive and feta cheese liquid or I mix black olive liqid, feta cheese liquid, balsamic vinegar or red wine vinegar and olive oil

  4. Jamie J
    08.16.2021

    Dumb question…. Should you only roast red peppers? Or can you do the same for yellow, green and orange?

    • Jeanine Donofrio
      08.16.2021

      Hi Jamie – you can do the same for any colored pepper.

  5. Aria Culjak
    06.26.2019

    I make red bell peppers the same way.Roasting on top of stove.I rinse them under cold water,the blacken skin comes right off. I then cook them in olive oil and garlic in a skillet over medium. I use them on french rolls dipped in the oil and garlic, if I don’t eat them all be fore I go to bed!!! I can’t help it!!!

  6. Emma
    06.25.2019

    We store ours in olive oil and garlic and eat them at room temperature as part of an aperitivo.

  7. Sharon
    06.23.2019

    5 stars
    Roast the peppers and put in a slice of goat cheese. Cook at 350 for 20 minutes. Delicious
    I make roasted peppers all the time.

  8. Sabrina from newkitchenlife.com
    06.22.2019

    good idea, roasting adds a nicely different flavor, thank you

  9. Paul
    06.21.2019

    LOVE those glass jars with the hinged lid. Perfect!

  10. Tania
    06.21.2019

    5 stars
    Thank you for sharing your recipe, all of them are fantastic. I like the red roasted peppers.

    Thanks again,

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Photograph of Jeanine Donofrio and Jack Mathews in their kitchen

Hello, we're Jeanine and Jack.

We love to eat, travel, cook, and eat some more! We create & photograph vegetarian recipes from our home in Chicago, while our shiba pups eat the kale stems that fall on the kitchen floor.