What is the Difference Between Green, Red, and Yellow Bell Peppers? (2024)

FAQs

What is the Difference Between Green, Red, and Yellow Bell Peppers? ›

Violaxanthin is found in yellow bell peppers, and capsanthin makes fully mature bell peppers red. Red bell peppers, which are the most nutrient-dense, also contain lycopene. As bell peppers ripen, they get sweeter. Green bell peppers are slightly bitter and the least sweet, while red bell peppers are the sweetest.

When growing on the vine, the green colored bell peppers are the first to appear. Then, as they're left to mature and ripen, their color turns from green to yellow, and then from yellow to orange. Their final stage of maturation is their fully ripe, red color.

You've seen bell peppers -- green, orange, yellow, and red -- in the grocery store or in a salad bar. Red peppers pack the most nutrition, because they've been on the vine longest.

Yellow and orange peppers are sweeter than green, but the red ones are significantly sweeter still and have the most vitamins as well. Some varieties of bell pepper even appear brown, white, lavender, and dark purple, depending on their cultivar and their level of ripeness.

“Green peppers are harvested earlier, so they require less time and fewer resources, which makes them cheaper. Red, yellow, and orange peppers need more time to mature, which requires more care from the farmer, and this additional investment is reflected in the price.”

Red and yellow bell peppers are essentially just green peppers that have been allowed to ripen, with red being fully ripened and sweeter in flavor, green peppers being unripened with a slightly grassy and bitter flavor, and yellow peppers falling in the middle.

To summarize from the link, green are harvested earliest and contain the least vitamins, yellows are next and contain more vitamin C and less vitamin A and beta carotene, reds are harvest last and contain the most each vitamin types. Yellow and red are both sweeter and more fruity than green. I grow my own peppers.

Why they're good for you: Bell peppers—especially the bright-red ones—are high in antioxidants and low in starch. Similar to spicy peppers, sweet bell peppers contain the chemical compound capsaicin, which is known to help reduce inflammation and potentially even pain.

Green peppers

If you love eating peppers, you're better off sticking to red ones, according to Forkly. Green peppers are harder to digest and can cause bad bloating and stomach pain. Red peppers are more ripe, and can be easier for a lot of people to digest.

Generally, the darker the pepper, the more nutrients you'll get. This also means that green peppers are lower in sugar and carbohydrates, though not enough that it makes a significant dietary difference, Crumble Smith says. Yellow and orange peppers fall somewhere in the middle with sweetness and nutritional content.

What is the best color bell pepper to eat raw? ›

That sweetness varies by specific hue: yellow and orange bell peppers tend to be sweeter than the green variety, and a red bell pepper will be even sweeter still. For that reason, home cooks may choose to reserve the colorful, more expensive peppers for recipes where they're eaten raw.

If not harvested when purple, they will change to red. These are terrific raw, and they'll also turn green when cooked. As a rule, the more colorful, sweeter peppers are better for eating raw; the green pepper, with its less sweet taste, is better for cooking.

The Red Bell, also known as the King of the Grill. Among the sweetest of all Bell Peppers, Red Bells go through the full process of ripening, allowing the natural sugars to enter the fruit to give them their signature sweet and fruity flavor.

However, red and yellow bell peppers tend to spoil. a little bit faster than a green bell pepper. That's why they're more expensive.

Check out more from the series here. Listener Margaret Munford sent in this question: Why on earth are green bell peppers always cheaper than red, yellow or orange bell peppers? The simple answer is that green bell peppers are unripened red, yellow or orange bell peppers.

It is true that all red peppers start out as green, but they don't turn yellow or orange before they turn red. They usually turn chocolate brown before turning red. It takes time and sun to turn them red, and as their color changes, they become more susceptible to damage from extreme weather.

As others have said, red peppers are fully ripened, yellow and orange ones are half-ripened and green ones are the least ripe. They differ in taste. I prefer red peppers because they are sweeter. Green peppers tend to be more bitter.

Most typically, unripe fruits are green or, less commonly, pale yellow or purple. Red bell peppers are simply ripened green peppers, although the Permagreen variety maintains its green color even when fully ripe. As such, mixed colored peppers also exist during parts of the ripening process.

The Red Bell, also known as the King of the Grill. Among the sweetest of all Bell Peppers, Red Bells go through the full process of ripening, allowing the natural sugars to enter the fruit to give them their signature sweet and fruity flavor.