If you’re like most people, when you think “banana pepper,” you’re thinking of only one type: that bright yellow strip around the perimeter of your sub sandwich, or perhaps a jar of rings beside mayonnaise in the supermarket’s refrigerated deli case. Grow them yourself, though, and you’ll discover these are not unchanging creatures but rather a timeline in fruiting form. As they ripen on plant, the banana pepper shift from mild and grassy to sweet, then both heat and sugar increases together. What stage do you desire? Do you want a pucker-inducing pickle or a softened sauce for roasting? To break it down visually, the chart above shows five stages of progression from that familiar pale yellow-green phase onward.
At first the banana pepper are very mild, slightly grassy, and firm (and this is why it’s undeniably the best for pickles; thick-walled peppers can stand up to vinegar without disintegrating). Harvest here for that old-fashioned crunch you crave in the next jar you make. Don’t let it get any more golden then this; sugars will form and cause it to fall apart fast.
What Color Should Your Banana Pepper Be?
The pepper turns a vibrant shade of sunny yellow as it ripens (and with that comes a change in flavor). You’ll lose that vegetal edge, and instead find something mild, yet still slightly sweet. This is what most people prefers for fresh eating. Toss them in wraps for some added crunch (but not over-the-top heat) or slice ’em up for salads. Their flesh stay firm when eaten raw but has a hint of sweetness to help counteract any acidic dressing.
And then there’s what happens when you leave the pepper on the plant even longer. It turns from shades of orange to a dark, rich red. At this point the sugar concentrate and the heat rises. The flesh gets softer (making these late-season peppers pretty awful for pickles but great for roasting). And once they’re cooked, the cell walls breaks down a bit more and their fruitiness comes out, giving a hint of spice and reminding you how much like bells they taste. Let them go all the way to red if you’ll be using them in bruschetta or pasta sauces. You won’t regret it; the flavors in those red guys are so complex.
Knowing more about what’s going on with any particular plant is helpful. Consistency is a key factor for banana peppers. They wants steady water so they can transition from one stage to the next in time; warmth in the soil helps, too. Irregular watering cause flowers to drop (also known as blossom drop), and even if you do get fruit, there won’t be many. The key is to keep the roots cool but not soggy in high summer with mulch; use mulch to maintain needed humidity around the base, where it counts.
And then there’s this: There is such a thing as a difference in types. A regular sweet banana pepper will be pretty darned mild throughout its life cycle, maybe topping out at five hundred Scoville Heat Units even when fully red. But certain ones billed as “hot” banana peppers, sometimes called Hungarian Wax, has more capsaicin and are warm and tangy instead of sweet. These is better for the antipasto platter or Greek salad, if that’s what you seek. Be sure to check your seed packet, because not all yellow peppers is alike.
How you harvest is as important as when. Always cut stems off with pruners or scissors; pulling on the heavy fruit will tear at branches, weaken the plant’s structure, and diminish future yields. This tell the plant to grow more flowers without the risk of harming the main stem by pulling too hard. Keep picking regularly, every few days, to continue the production cycle instead of stalling it out.
Storing them is easy, though people sometimes forget how. Wash the peppers just before using (moisture retained on the skin speeds up rot). Store them in the crisper drawer in a perforated plastic bag. A week or slightly longer should of see you through. To pickle: Return to those earlier fruits and pickle in brine for long-term keeping. Canned properly, they’ll keep for a year or even longer and bring that summertime taste to your winter kitchen.
That’s all I have to say about the banana pepper. It’s a lesson in paying attention and waiting. The banana pepper, like everything else, knows just what its color means, and what it wants to do for you. It is sweet when fully ripened (red) and has a snap when still young but no longer pale yellow (green-yellow). You decide. But know this: Pale yellow to fiery red isn’t a big leap, and every stage has something special to offer.