How to Cook Shishito Peppers
Updated Dec 09, 2025
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Blistered East Asian shishito peppers are delicious served salted and browned from a good sear in a hot pan.
Blistered shishito peppers are a great snack or appetizer; when I see them on a menu, I’m ordering them! They are often served blistered up from high heat at Japanese restaurants as an appetizer, and have become popular on restaurant menus of all sorts in recent years; I’ve seen shishito peppers at places that have surprised me!
What's In This Post?
What Are Shishito Peppers?
Shishitos are an East Asian pepper. They are small and look a bit like a slightly lumpy and shriveled jalapeño.
Are Shishito Peppers Hot?
Usually, no. They are mild and fairly sweet, as peppers go. However, 1 in a dozen will be hot, and possibly ridiculously hot. You can’t tell by looking at them which ones are hot, so you may be chomping away and get a little surprise somewhere along the way. It’s kind of part of the fun of it, nature’s way of keeping us on our toes, I guess.
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How to Make Shitshito Peppers
- Heat peppers in oil: Super easy. Just heat up a bit of oil in a skillet. Add the whole shishito peppers.
- Cook until blistered: Allow the peppers to brown and blister a bit on the bottom, then turn them to allow the other side to brown. A panful of peppers will probably take about 10 minutes to brown.
Pro Tip for Making Blistered Shishito Peppers
Don’t toss or stir them too frequently — you want nice browned spots all over (but there will be plenty of surface that won’t brown, because of their uneven texture).
- Finish and serve: Toss them with some kosher salt (be generous!).
How to Eat Shishito Peppers
Eat them by holding the pepper by the stem and biting it — the seeds are fine to eat. The only inedible part is the stem of the shishito itself, and frankly, it’s edible but not all that appealing texture-wise.
You can serve these warm or at room temperature.
What to Serve With Blistered Shishito Peppers
- Japanese Meatballs with Ponzu Glaze
- Japanese Miso Eggplant
- Japanese Restaurant Salad Dressing
- Japanese Cucumber Salad
- Goma-ae
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Blistered Shishito Peppers
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon neutral oil of your choice (olive, vegetable, canola, grapeseed, etc.)
- 6 ounces shishito peppers
- Kosher salt (to taste)
Instructions
- Heat the oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add the peppers, and turn them every couple of minutes, as they brown on the bottom, until they are browned in spots and blistered all over. This will take about 10 minutes total.
- Toss the peppers with salt and serve warm or at room temperature.
Love these peppers! I put them in a dry, smoking hot cast iron skillet, blister them, remove from heat add olive oil ant a good sea salt. Sometimes I squeeze a bit of fresh lemon over them. Yum!