It’s time for a bumper crop of peppers in your gardens, farmers’ markets, and food stores! So if you want to preserve those garden-fresh peppers to enjoy all winter long, then I’m here to help you learn how to roast and freeze red peppers to use and enjoy later! (or any color of pepper too)! Truth is . . . I’ll take a red pepper any time over a green pepper since I’ve come to love their sweet taste! Oh, and not to mention how healthy they are for us!
Tasty and healthy? Seriously? You’ve got both with red peppers!
Go beyond tossing these ruby babies in salads . . . give them a quick and hot roast . . . either in your oven (like I do) or on the grill (like my husband does . . . sorry, I can’t grill; I’m just too scared of blowing things up)! Roasting red peppers is a super-easy way to let these red beauties SHINE with an intensified flavor, a hint of smokiness, and a delicate tenderness beyond compare! Purchasing roasted red peppers in jars is so expensive and the amount of peppers from just one plant is so much more affordable for us to harvest and roast by ourselves.
It’s So Simple and Easy!
Our gardens are overflowing with perfectly vine-ripened peppers now in a variety of colors of yellow, red, and green. So too are all of the farmers’ markets and grocery stores. So when peppers are in their peak season, head out to your garden or local farmers market and fill up a basket!
Oh yes, of course, it’s OK to pick up a jar or two of roasted red peppers in the store! You’re busy . . . shortcuts work miracles! Jarred roasted red peppers are great to have on hand whenever you need them, no matter if you picked them up at the store or you jarred by yourself. But since it’s the season when peppers are in an abundance, they’re ridiculously cheap (and FRESH)! Plus many friends with gardens are happy to share their peppers with you!
Just a few of my pepper bounty from our garden!
Not only that, but once you learn how easy it is to roast peppers, I bet you never buy expensive jars of gourmet peppers again! The extra added ingredient of your love will make them better!
Roasted fresh peppers have the most unique flavor. And if you’ve ever had them before on an Italian antipasto platter (which is very traditional) or have added them to a recipe, you know exactly how they spruce up the flavor of whatever savory dish you’re preparing! You know what I’m sayin’?
Roasting red peppers is super easy, so don’t sweat over this. Seriously! And when they’re finished you have the most tender, delightfully sweet, deliciously smoky flavor in peppers that you can enjoy in endless possibilities! They add extra bang of flavor and texture to so many dishes and sauces (perfect for pasta especially)!
RED is such a beautiful color that visually POPS in any dish to entice our visual senses!
How To Add Roasted Red Peppers to Recipes and More:
Here are a few ideas that feature these beautiful, smoky, charred red darlings:
- Add them to your pasta salads, potato salads,
- or any tossed salad!
- Stuff and layer them to your sandwiches
- Fold them into a frittata, omelet, or scrambled eggs
- Pile them onto a pizza
- Add them to bruschetta
- Add them to a pasta dish
- Make a roasted red pepper aioli
- Blend them into hummus
- Puree them into roasted red pepper soup
- Pulse them into harissa
- Make a roasted red pepper pesto with the usual ingredients (pine nuts, basil, garlic, Parmesan) and enjoy it tossed in pasta
- Puree them with some almonds and cream and a little chicken stock for a delicious pasta sauce
- Puree them with some cream cheese for a cracker and veggie spread
- Add them to a tapenade or flatbread
- Load them into a taco or burrito
- Add them to a potato hash or favorite casserole
- Or even nibble on them for a snack!
The Possibilities are Endless!
I’ve shown you below, the easiest method for roasting bell peppers with step-by-step photo instructions. This method works great for roasting most peppers . . . for any green, yellow, orange, or hot peppers available to you. Besides our colorful assortment of bell peppers available to us, don’t forget that there are other peppers that do well roasted: Jalapenos, Poblanos, Anaheims, Hatch-style chiles, Paprika chiles, and Pimientos! Just keep in mind that the amount of time will differ that you need for each SIZE of pepper. Please keep in mind that all peppers vary in the thickness of their skin and flesh, so you need to keep that into consideration as well as their size. For me, the good old rule of thumb in baking/roasting/grilling when food is either covered or shut in an oven while cooking is to “KEEP AN EYE ON THEM”!
How To Roast Red Peppers?
There are several ways to make roasted red peppers at home. You can either use a grill, over a gas-flamed stovetop burner, or like me, simply roast them in the oven under a broiler heat.
Here’s What You Need to Do:
1. First, trim off the stems and remove the membranes and seeds.
2. Char the peppers whole over a flame from gas burner, on a grill in a grill pan, or under a broiler until the skin is blackened all over.
3. Then, take them off the heat and place them in bowl and cover with a kitchen towel or plastic wrap to allow the peppers to steam and soften for 5 – 10 minutes.
4. When the peppers are cool enough to handle, peel, and remove the loose skin. You can also leave as much of the blackened skin on for a stronger charred flavor. Or do a little of both!
5. Use in a recipe, or alone as a snack or appetizer, or freeze/jar to use later
And that’s it!
YOU DID IT!
Now go brag to your friends and family about your roasted red pepper SUCCESS!
So let’s get to your Cucina and get started, shall we?
The simplest way how to roast and freeze red peppers is in your very own oven spread out on a large baking sheet.
FIRST, get that oven of yours set at the hottest temperature that it can possibly get . . . I set my oven at “Broil” which is 500 degrees F!
set your oven on BROIL or on the hottest temperature that your oven allows!
.
cut the red peppers in half, remove the stems, seeds and membranes,
and then lay them skin-side up on a baking sheet or pizza pan.
Place the oven rack on the top position about 4 inches under the broiler
Roast the skin side up first . . . keep an eye on them
about 5 – 10 minutes
Roast the red peppers until the skins begin to blister and have a blackened char.
flip the red peppers over to roast the opposite non-skin side (optional, but I do this to roast them completely)
Once the skins are blackened remove the peppers from the oven
beautiful roasted, blackened, charred edges
After the roasting is finished, while the peppers are still hot, place the charred red peppers in a bowl and cover with some plastic wrap.
You can also use a sealed plastic container or plastic bag.
Simply allow the peppers to steam and cool a bit for 5 – 10 minutes which also help loosen the skin.
Plus by doing this, they are easier and more comfortable (temperature-wise) to handle because the skin slips off more easily,
and you are less likely to burn your fingers.
If you’re preparing a larger batch to keep on hand, allow them to cool completely before placing them in your frig.
Roasted peppers are ready to use as soon as you’ve peeled off the skins and removed their seeds.
If you’re roasting any as a part of a recipe, you can use them right away.
To keep them fresh, store the roasted peppers in a jar with a tight-fitting lid and pour olive oil over the peppers to cover.
At this time you can also add other ingredients such as capers, onions, and/or Italian parsley.
Just like olives and pickles, make sure that they are covered in oil for maximum freshness!
They should last for up to one week only if not frozen or jarred with correct canning procedures.
Roasted red peppers do really well in the freezer . . . much less work than jarring them!
In small freezer ziplock bags, place two pepper halves in each bag. I pack them this way because I only use a few roasted red peppers at a time.
I place the cooled off peppers directly into the plastic bags,
but some home cooks take an extra (unnecessary) step of laying them on a baking sheet and
freezing them first before putting them in the freezer bags.
This way I can just go to the freezer and take out a bag as I need them instead of thawing out a whole bunch of peppers at a time when I don’t need that many.
It is totally up to you.
Enjoy Your Freshly Roasted Peppers!
If you love these roasted red peppers here are a few of our favorite recipes where roasted red peppers are the star of the show:
First of all, at their simplest, roasted red peppers will help you put on your inner-Italian by serving then with a drizzle of good quality extra-virgin olive oil, a sprinkling of freshly snipped Italian herbs plus some freshly cracked black pepper and freshly cracked sea salt.
And that’s how Italians eat!
This simple antipasto (before the meal) will take you away to the beautiful land of the Mediterranean Sea!
Here’s a fantastic recipe to use your roasted red peppers:
Bucatini with Roasted Sweet Red Peppers
One of our wonderful readers wrote and shared the results of her roasted peppers!
Kaye said:
Hi Roz,
Well not only have you made me very happy with your anti-inflammatory Pineapple and Mango Smoothie but now I have saved 45 mins each week roasting Peppers in the oven! Genius….. They took just moments under a hot grill to blacken and then I let them cool, either sealed in a plastic freezer bag or on a tray covered in cling film. Skin peeled away with ease and now stocking up the freezer with the excess we have ripening in our greenhouse.
Didn’t they come out beautifully? Well done, my friend Kaye!
Pin For Later!
How To Roast & Freeze Red Peppers
Ingredients
- Red peppers, cut in half and opened to lay flat
Instructions
- Heat oven to broil or hottest setting.
- Place pepper halves flat, skin side up, on a baking sheet or pizza pan.
- Roast until the peppers are blackened and charred.
- Remove peppers from the oven and flip them over to roast the opposite side (optional).
- When edges blacken, remove the peppers from the oven.
- Place the roasted peppers in a bowl and cover.
- Allow the peppers to cool.
- Place 2 red pepper halves in one small freezer ziplock bags.
- Continue to fill ziplock bags until finished.
- Place the bags of roasted peppers in the freezer.
This post was originally published in 2014 and updated with more information and re-posted in 2020.
What do you like to do with roasted red peppers? Let me know in the comments!
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Excellent tutorial, Roz! We just did roasted peppers for French Fridays with Dorie (tomorrow’s post). I love how you roast both sides…great tip! xo
Thanks Liz, I like the edges charred, plus the peppers are less ‘mushy’ when you do both sides. I’ll look forward to reading your post!
xo
Roz
I like back-to-basics posts like this. Thanks for this wonderful tutorial, Roz.
Happy Friday!
Angie
Oh Angie, thanks so much! Sometimes it’s the little things that will help others learn about cooking and some things sound so intimidating, when in fact, they are amazingly easy!
xo
Roz
Great step by step tutorial Roz. This is the best method in my opinion to roast peppers. I also prefer red peppers to the green ones. Now you will have a visual feast of red in your freezer all winter.
Sam
Thanks for your visit Sam and ‘thumbs-up’ for this tutorial. With your culinary experience and background, that is quite the compliment! Roz
I never thought about freezing my roasted peppers. Love the idea. I’ve never grown bell peppers before. Are they a finicky plant? I currently have rosemary, with baby rosemary clippings rooting in a mason jar on my windowsill, and an avocado pit that I’m impatiently waiting to root.
Kristin @ Holy Cannoli Recipes
Oh Kristin,
Believe me, once you start roasting and freezing peppers, you’ll be so glad that you did . . . the convenience and savings is wonderful!
Roz
I’ve roasted a ton of peppers but I’ve roasted and then eaten, never frozen. I don’t know why I never thought they’d freeze well. I’m converted!!
Hi Maureen,
Thanks for stopping by; I’ve been sort of MIA since classes have started back up this fall. Freezing peppers is just so much more convenient and cost-saving!
Roz
Those are simply delicious! Thank you for sharing!
Thank you so much Clotilde! I’ll stop by your blog in a moment.
Roz
I always bring home a bushel of these babies in late August to roast and freeze. Will be doing that soon. Easy-to-follow tutorial!
Thanks Claudia! I go through these peppers so fast, that it’s time to get more since my garden is pretty done for the year! Hope you’re doing well!
Roz
I loved this post, Roz! I have never roasted bell peppers before. I would like to give this a try and then make your roasted red pepper sauce. I can’t believe how beautiful and big the bell peppers are that came out of your garden! They are so beautiful. We haven’t been able to get them to grow very well here.They always come out really tiny. I don’t know if it is Arizona or just that we don’t know what we’re doing (a good possibility)!:) Thanks for a great tutorial!
Hi Shari,
I know that gardening is challenging in different places and it sure wasn’t easy getting started here. We were so used to the rich soil in Iowa and then when we moved here, we had to put tons of amending stuff into the clay soil for anything to grow. I don’t know how peppers do in Arizona, I’m sorry. I was a horrible vegetable gardener in Phoenix, just horrible! But I miss so much of AZ that we don’t have here!
xo
Roz
Love this!!!! pinned xo
Thank you so much Katherine!
xo
Roz
Do you ever put any seasoning on the peppers before roasting?
Look at ALL of those bell peppers!!!! I’m so jealous! Mine are just starting to grow. Can’t wait to have enough to roast. I usually roast mine on the grill so I don’t heat up the house. I don’t have air conditioning. 🙂 Everyone should do this. It’s so wonderful pulling these beauties from the freezer in the middle of winter. Great post Roz!
Hey Roz! Afraid of the bbq…not you, surely? We use the Weber chimney to do ours. That thing you do the coals in before putting them in the barbecue. Once the coals are hot and before turning them out into the barbecue…works like a charm! I have found that when I do the peppers in the oven they get a little too cooked but maybe that was my old stove! Also…I freeze them separately on a piece of wax paper on a rimmed baking sheet then pack them into freezer bags. Roasted peppers and a big deal in our house and there is absolutely no comparison to the ones in a jar!
Great how-to post, Roz. and I’m glad to see it. I’ve a variety of large chilies ripening and am at a loss as to what to do with them. I’ve pickled some and cooked with others but they’re still coming in. I’m going to start roasting and freezing them. It’s far easier — and my kitchen will remain so much cooler — than preserving them in a hot water bath. The sooner I can put that big, old pot away, the better! 🙂
Hi John,
How are you doing these days? I sure hope you’re doing ok, staying safe and healthy. What’s going on in your cucina?
Please stay in touch!
Roz
I actually grew red peppers this year, so I wasn’t sure if I would have any left over. But they did well and I will try this so we can enjoy them later!
great tip my friend. pinned. Our bell peppers have been slow growing this year. I think it’s just to darn hot. Pinned xo
Can this roasted pepper be preserved by using refrigerator of pickling with olive oil? Should we put additional quart bags to a one-gallon bag?
Since this technique can enhance the bag to become more freezer-safe.
Hi Lita,
I am sure that if you add a little olive oil, it wouldn’t hurt the peppers. Either way they are going to come out of the frozen state somewhat soft anyway. I think that your idea of placing them in quart bags and then insert those inside a one-gallon bag is BRILLIANT and I’m certainly going to borrow your idea. I get very upset with freezer-burned food due to the waste of time and money, but I use my roasted peppers up very quickly and have never had to be concerned about freezer-burn. But, WOW, what a great idea! Thanks for the inspiration!
Ciao,
Roz
La Bella Vita Cucina
Hi Roz,
Thanks for the tips on roasting and freezing. We have a bumper crop of beautiful peppers this year! Plastic is such a huge environmental problem. May I suggest that instead of freezing in plastic bags, you switch to jars? If you freeze the peppers first on the baking trays, and then put them in jars, they won’t stick together, and you can pull out however many you need at the moment.
What a great suggestion! I’ll do that Carol!
Thanks,
Roz
Thank you thank you thank you for this wonderful recipe and tips for roasting and freezing bell peppers! I ended up with 12 green bell peppers, 3 red bell peppers, and four unidentifiable peppers that are green orange red and yellow all at the same time! And now I know how I’m going to preserve them so they don’t go bad and I can enjoy them at my leisure! I also subscribed and signed up for your newsletter and cookbook which is amazing by the way! I look forward to seeing more of your recipes. I hope you’re having a wonderful day and stay safe out there!
Dear Liz,It is me rather, that needs to thank you for your kind comment about the post on roasting and freezing bell peppers and your thoughts about the mini-eCookbook that you received. You have filled my day with ever more light and I am grateful. If you read the last newsletter that I sent out, I mentioned you.Do stay safe and well. And if you ever want to take a photo of any of my recipes or post information, please shoot it off to me and I’ll share it on the blog and in the newsletter with everyone.
Have a great day now,Roz
Morning
I normally roast our Peppers at 180°c for 45 mins to add to a tuna mix salad but can I ask, when you refer to broiler should I be using my oven or grill and do you oil the Peppers beforehand? I am presuming these are cooked at a very high heat and fast so that they retain more texture?
Greenhouse full of Peppers so itching to try this.
Dear Kaye,
What great questions! I hope that I can answer them well for you. I use my oven broiler, but absolutely, you can use your grill . . . and keep a sharp eye on the peppers so that they don’t burn or char to badly. Secondly, in answer to your question, I don’t oil the peppers. They char nicely on their own. I’m getting hungry now! It’s pepper season! If you’d like to take a photo of your results, I’d be happy to share them on the blog and in the newsletter. I know that others who read this blog would LOVE TO KNOW!
Be well and safe,
Roz
Still waiting for my peppers to turn, because, like you, I love red peppers better than green. Nothing beats the sweetness. Love pulling the roasted ones from the freezer in the winter. It brings summer into the dishes.
Great post! As others have already said, love the easy instructions and the photos. This is also very useful and something I will start to do with my garden peppers from now on!
Hi Kathryn,
Thank you so much. I added your comment to the newsletter yesterday. I hope that you received it!
Ciao,
Roz
Very good tips for roasting peppers.
Thank you Rewari!
Be safe,
Roz
Perfect ! Just perfect ! Pinned for later, needless to say ! 🙂
They are so delicious and wonderful to enjoy when summer is over!
I literally could eat these every day, I especially love them on genoa salami with tomato omg now I am wishing for these!
We love roasted red peppers, and you gave us wonderful tips and methods to char them. Never thought to char them in the oven, but that’s a great idea! Thanks so much!
Question, do you peel the roasted peppers before freezing? It’s mentioned earlier in the post, but not in the recipe and doesn’t look like they’re peeled in your picture of ones ready for freezing. Sorry, never done this before!
How done do pimento peppers have to be for pimento cheese which will last a couple weeks.