A kitchen skill that everyone needs in their back pocket: how to roast bell peppers! The most efficient way to do it, in my opinion, is in your oven. Roast a bunch of bell peppers at once, and use them to elevate your meals all week long.
Sometimes I buy jarred roasted red peppers for convenience, and I do love them in certain recipes... but when the fresh peppers are in season, I'm all about roasting a big batch in my oven once a week for delicious meal add-ins all week! When roasted at a high heat, bell peppers get a wonderful char, so it's perfect for those who don't have a gas stove for roasting over an open flame, or who just want to do a larger batch all at once.
Once you've roasted your peppers, you can add them into salads, pasta salads (like this late summer veggie pasta salad), blended into sauces or soups, sandwiches, use as pizza toppings... they're so versatile! Let's get a batch in the oven.
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Ingredients
Roasted red peppers are so simple! All you need are:
- Sweet bell peppers - These are the red, orange, and yellow bell peppers you find in the store. They're mild and sweet, and roasting them brings out even more of their sweetness and flavor. While green peppers can also be roasted, we're going for the sweeter bell peppers in this recipe.
- Extra virgin olive oil
- Salt
Substitutions and Variations
This recipe is pretty essentialist, but you can make some variations based on your taste preferences or how you plan to use the peppers.
- Seasonings - This roasted pepper recipe is intended to be as simple as possible, but you can also add delicious flavor by roasting the peppers with additional seasonings. I love using freshly cracked black pepper or dried Italian seasonings.
- Olive oil - I love using extra virgin olive oil, but you could also use avocado oil or another oil in its place.
How to Roast Bell Peppers in the Oven
Step 1
Preheat your oven 450 degrees and line a baking sheet with parchment paper, or brush with a bit of a olive oil. Cut the stem off of each pepper and slice lengthwise and through the bottom to open up the pepper. Scrape or cut out the seeds and cut each pepper lengthwise into fourths. Transfer peppers to a large bowl and toss with olive and salt.
Step 2
Spread peppers in an even layer across the sheet pan with a bit of space in between each.
Step 3
Roast peppers at 450 degrees for about 30 minutes. Peppers are done when they look collapsed with wrinkly skin and charred edges.
Success Tip: Make sure there is a bit of space on between each pepper on your sheet pan to ensure air circulation around the peppers.
How to Use Roasted Bell Peppers
Roasted bell peppers are incredibly versatile and elevate the flavor in many dishes! I especially love them in:
- Salads
- Pasta salads - they'd be delicious in this olive tapenade and tuna pasta salad
- Sandwiches and burgers, such as these smoky turkey tzatziki burgers
- Homemade spreads and sauces, like roasted red pepper pizza sauce or romesco sauce
- On homemade pizzas
- Serve them chilled, as an appetizer alongside various olives, cheeses, bread, crackers, or even chopped and added to marinated white beans.
Roasted Bell Pepper FAQs
You sure can! Once the fully roasted peppers are completely cooled, transfer them to a freezer-safe container, such as a airtight glass container, mason jar, or reusable zip-top bag. Transfer to the freezer for up to three months, and thaw in the fridge when ready to use.
Allow the roasted peppers to cool completely first, then store them in an airtight container in the fridge for up to a week.
Related Recipes
If you're looking for more roasted veggies, check out our other favorites! All air fryer veggies include an oven method as well.
Did you make these oven-roasted bell peppers? Don't forget to leave a star rating 🌟 and comment below, and tag me on Instagram and Pinterest so I can see what you made!
📖 Recipe
How to Roast Bell Peppers (Oven Method)
- Total Time: 40 minutes
- Yield: ~4 cups
Description
Roasting bell peppers is one of the easiest ways to elevate any dish! You can make sauces and spreads, add them to pasta salads and sandwiches, top pizza, or put them out as an appetizer.
Ingredients
- 8-10 bell peppers (red, yellow, and/or orange)
- ¼ cup extra virgin olive oil
- ½ teaspoon salt
Instructions
- Preheat and prep. Preheat your oven to 450 degrees and line a rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper, foil, or brush with olive oil. Slice off the pepper stems and remove seeds, then slice lengthwise into fourths. Place the peppers into a bowl and toss with olive oil and salt.
- Transfer peppers to baking sheet. Transfer the seasoned peppers onto prepared baking sheet and spread evenly across, leaving a little space in between each. The peppers can be face up or face down - either way will work.
- Roast. Roast the prepared peppers at 450 degrees for about 30 minutes, but keep an eye on them. You'll know the peppers are done when they're slightly collapsed and charred on the edges, which may take a few minutes more or less than 30 minutes in different ovens. Remove from the oven and allow to cool.
Notes
- Variance among ovens. All ovens are different, so to ensure success, you'll want to use your senses for clues as to how the peppers are doing. They'll smell incredible as they start to cook, and you'll know they're done when they look collapsed with wrinkly skin and slightly charred edges. If you have a convection oven, you could also use that for a nicely charred result, but note that many convection ovens cook more quickly.
- Storage & freezing. To store roasted peppers, allow them to cool completely and transfer to an airtight container. Store in the fridge for up to a week, or freeze for up to three months (thaw in the fridge before using).
- Serving suggestions. Roasted bell peppers taste incredible in many dishes, especially pasta, pizzas, grain bowls, and salads. I also love putting together Mediterranean appetizer platters with chilled roasted peppers, almonds, olives, cheese, bread, etc.
- Prep Time: 10
- Cook Time: 30
- Category: Appetizers
- Method: Oven
- Cuisine: Mediterranean
Nutrition
- Serving Size:
- Calories: 157
- Sugar: 10.4 g
- Sodium: 203.7 mg
- Fat: 10.1 g
- Saturated Fat: 1.4 g
- Carbohydrates: 15 g
- Fiber: 5.2 g
- Protein: 2.5 g
- Cholesterol: 0 mg
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Anita says
I did this today. Thank you for the instructions. It worked fantastic and I have an electric oven. I just kept checking and rearranging the pan under the broiler and it was just great. Just in time, we had a bunch of peppers in the garden and I wanted to save them roasted instead of just freezing them.
Tera Gigot says
YAY! I'm so glad you got a chance to try the oven roasting method, and now you get to savor those summer peppers and have some readily available roasted peppers for easy meals in the future. Love it, thank you for sharing!!
Mae says
The smoke point of extra virgin olive oil is around 350 to 430 degrees.. it'll smoke up the kitchen till the smoke alarms blare.
Use avocado oil instead. Smoke point of avocado oil is around 500 degrees.
I roasted my bell peppers at 425 degrees for 22 minutes. Came out perfect!
Tera Gigot says
Hi! Thanks for sharing your idea as alternative! Avocado oil is great. As a quick note, olive oil typically doesn't reach that temperature in the oven for shorter periods of time, but it definitely can on the stovetop when sautéing. Glad it worked out for you!
Karl Duncan says
I’ve burned the crap out off peppers enough times...will try this next time!