How to Grill Peppers
on Jul 06, 2024, Updated Mar 17, 2025
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Grilling peppers gives them a silky texture and a smoky sweet flavor. Use them in all kinds of ways, or serve them up as a colorful side!
Grilled bell peppers are one of the biggest joys of summer. Grilling makes peppers softer, smokier, sweeter, silkier, and a great partner to just about anything else you will throw on the grill that day. They are also a very handy ingredient to keep on hand, perfect for layering in sandwiches or adding to grain bowls. And, with extra grilled peppers around, you can make roasted red pepper dip in minutes — a perfect start to a summer meal. Or just give them a little drizzle of Basil Oil or Pumpkin Seed Pesto before serving.
They are gorgeous, no matter what color you choose, and an assortment of peppers is even more dazzling. Arrange them on a platter, drizzle them with extra virgin olive oil, and shower with chiffonaded basil for a beautiful appetizer. Grilled peppers also pair perfectly with chicken, like in my Grilled Provencal Chicken recipe. I also love serving these sweet veggies on the side of some Grilled Tuna Steaks or as a topping for a Perfect Grilled Burger or turkey burger.
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In essence, grilled peppers are very similar to roasted peppers, but this cooking method saves you from heating up the kitchen during the hottest months. Bonus!
Table of Contents
How to Grill Peppers: Grilling peppers gives them a silky texture, and a smoky sweet flavor. Use them in all kinds of ways, or serve them up as a colorful appetizer or side!
The Best Peppers for Grilling
This recipe is for bell peppers, but you can also prepare other peppers this way. Jalapeños, cubanelle peppers, hatch peppers, poblano peppers, shishito peppers, and banana peppers all cook up beautifully on the BBQ. With spicier peppers, try blending them into a salsa ranchera for a smoky note.
Another option, particularly for smaller ones, is leaving the peppers whole and turning them so they blister on all sides. Think about using a grill basket for smaller peppers so they don’t fall through the grates of the BBQ.
After they are bubbly and charry, put them in a bowl, cover them with a clean dish towel, and let them cool. Slide the skin off, then break them open and remove the seeds and core. Slice or dice as desired.
How to Grill Peppers on the BBQ
- Prepare to cook: While the grill heats up, halve and core the peppers and remove the stem, core, and seeds.
- Season: Brush the peppers on all sides with olive oil and season with salt.
- Place the peppers on the hot grill.
- Cook: Grill the peppers for about 4 minutes, covered, then flip and grill until soft and beginning to char on both sides.
- Finish: Remove the peppers from the hot grill and serve. If you wish to peel to skin off, grill the peppers until the skin is completely charred, then remove and cover the peppers to steam. When cool, slip off the skins.
How to Use Grilled Peppers
These smoky, velvety peppers can be used in many recipes; anywhere roasted peppers are called for. They are also terrific as a side for everything from Grilled Swordfish to Baked Chicken Breasts. And, of course, you can serve them as part of a larger grilled vegetable assortment.
You can also:
- Drizzle grilled peppers with good balsamic vinegar or Chermoula Sauce.
- Serve them with creamy burrata cheese.
- Use them on bruschetta and crostini.
- Add them to salads, pastas, casseroles, grain salads, and other bowls.
- Layer them in sandwiches or on top of burgers.
- Include them in an antipasti platter or add them to a cherry tomato antipasti salad.
- Puree them into dips (try Roasted Red Pepper Sauce, Hummus, and Cannellini Bean Dip with Lemon and Parmesan).
After grilling, especially if you have let the skin get nice and charry, you can peel the skin off. This makes for a more elegant presentation. However, some people prefer to serve the peppers with the bubbly browned skin still on, and that’s fine, too. The skin is perfectly safe to eat, though if you peel the peppers you will get a more consistent velvety texture and be able to see the rich colors of the peppers better.
Roasted peppers tend to be a bit softer overall, as they take longer to char up in the oven, so the meat of the peppers becomes more cooked. Grilled peppers tend to be a bit firmer, as the hot fire will char the skins quickly before the peppers themselves have as much time to soften. You can use them interchangeably in recipes.
The time will vary a bit depending on whether you are grilling them whole or cut in half. Peppers will take about 8 to 10 minutes, in general. If you have cut them in half, the peppers will take about 4 minutes per side on the grill. If you are grilling whole bell peppers and turning them, about 10 minutes in total.
What to Serve With Grilled Peppers
More Grilled Vegetable Recipes
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How to Grill Peppers
Equipment
Ingredients
- 4 bell peppers (any color)
- 2 tablespoons olive oil (approximately, for brushing)
- Kosher salt (to taste)
Instructions
- Heat the grill to medium-high.
- Halve, core, and seed the peppers. You can cut them into quarters if you want smaller pieces, but if you plan to slice them thinner, you’ll need to use a grill basket so they don’t fall through the grates. Brush the peppers on both sides with olive oil. Sprinkle them with salt.
- Place the peppers on the grill cut side down (you can place them directly on the grill or on a vegetable grilling rack if you have one). Grill the peppers, covered, for about 4 minutes until they get nice grill marks on the bottom and begin to soften, then flip them and grill for another 3 or 4 minutes or so. You should feel free to move them about the grill to cooler spots if they look like they are browning too quickly before they become tender. You can grill them for longer if you want softer peppers. Just make sure to flip them as needed and not let the heat get too high — you want the skin to blister and turn brown in spots.
- Remove from the grill and serve warm or at room temperature.
