Banana Peppers: How Hot They Are, Taste, and Uses

SCOVILLE HEAT UNITS: 0-500 SHU
Capsicum Annuum

What is a Banana Pepper?

The banana pepper is a mild, medium-sized chili pepper with a tangy, slightly sweet taste. It is not considered a hot pepper, offering either no heat or a slight tingle. Compared to the mildest jalapeno pepper, it is 5 times milder, if offering any heat at all.

Also known as the yellow wax pepper or banana chili, the Banana Pepper has a mild, sweet taste that is very popular on many types of foods. It is commonly eaten on pizza, in Greek salads, on sandwiches, or stuffed with meat and/or cheese.

They also add a bit of sweetness to salsa and an interesting flavor, while other peppers add the heat.

They may be pickled or used fresh. Pickled banana peppers are very popular, often confused for pepperoncini peppers. As the name suggests, it is typically a bright yellow or yellow-green, but they may mature to orange or red if left to ripen.

Why are Banana Peppers Called Banana Peppers?

Banana peppers are so named because of their resemblance to actual bananas. Their yellowish color and shape strongly resemble bananas when they are ripe on the plant, so the name is a reference to this similarity.

Are Banana Peppers Spicy?

No, banana peppers are not spicy. They measure 0-500 Scoville Heat Units, which makes the hottest banana pepper at least 5 times milder than the mildest jalapeño pepper (2,500-8,000 SHU). Most people taste little more than a light tingle, and many banana peppers carry no heat at all.

Ripeness matters here. Younger, yellow-green pods tend to have that slight zing, while fully ripened orange or red pods lean sweeter. If you want a banana pepper with genuine fire, you want a hot banana pepper variety, which I cover below.

For comparison, other chilies in this mild range include the Anaheim pepper (500-1,000 SHU), the cubanelle (0-1,000 SHU), and the pepperoncini (100-500 SHU).

Learn more about the Scoville Heat Scale here.

Sweet vs. Hot Banana Peppers

Here is where a lot of the confusion comes from, my friends. Walk down the pickle aisle and you'll see jars labeled both "mild banana pepper rings" and "HOT banana pepper rings." So which is it? Are banana peppers hot or not?

The answer is that "banana pepper" covers two different types of chilies:

Sweet banana peppers are the standard. This is the mild, tangy pepper I've been describing on this page, the one you find fresh at the grocery store or on your Subway sandwich. It tops out around 500 SHU.

Hot banana peppers are hot wax varieties that look nearly identical but pack the heat. The best known is the Hungarian wax pepper, which ranges from 1,000 up to 15,000 SHU. That puts the hottest of them well beyond jalapeño territory. Seed catalogs also sell cultivars labeled simply "Hot Banana," and the listed heat levels vary quite a bit from seller to seller, so grow a test pod before you commit a whole batch to a recipe.

Those hot banana pepper rings in the jar? They're typically made with hot wax types, not the sweet banana peppers you'd pick up fresh.

The good news is the two are completely interchangeable in the kitchen. Same wall thickness, same tangy flavor, same great crunch when pickled. Just adjust for the heat. I use hot banana peppers when I want my pickled pepper rings or stuffed banana peppers to bite back a little.

Growing Banana Peppers

I've grown banana peppers in my garden on and off over the years and consider them fairly easy to grow. The plants enjoy full sun and they grow with fairly thick walled flesh.

That's a positive when you cook with them like I do, making them ideal for everyday chopping and slicing, but also for stuffing or pickling peppers. You can cut them into pepper rings and pickle them quite easily.

Treat them like other Capsicum annuum varieties, as they require no special treatments or considerations. Plants will typically reach 1 to 2 feet tall and can be grown in many climates, though like most pepper plants, prefer warmer climates.

I've grown them in zone 5 without any issue.

When to Pick Banana Peppers

Pick your banana peppers when they are a vibrant yellow-green in color and the flesh is firm to the touch. Ensure there are no soft spots in or on the pepper skins, and no signs of rotting. You can leave them on the plant to ripen and they will darken to an orange or reddish color, but they are typically picked when yellow or yellow-green.

How Long do Fresh Banana Peppers Last?

Peppers picked fresh from the garden will last 2-3 weeks if stored properly. Place them into a plastic bag and keep them in your refrigerator vegetable drawer. The optimal temperature for storing peppers is between 40-45°F. See my page on How to Store Peppers for further information.

What Can I Substitute for Banana Peppers?

If you are unable to obtain banana peppers, look for the pepperoncini. Pepperoncinis are usually pickled, and they are great in flavor, very similar to banana peppers. In fact, banana peppers are often confused for pepperoncinis.

Fresh pepperoncinis are more difficult to find, however, so you may need to grow them. A more commonly found pepper to use as a substitute would be a small sweet yellow bell pepper or a mild Italian sweet pepper.

The Hungarian Wax Pepper is an excellent substitute for comparable flavor. However, the Hungarian Wax is much hotter, reaching up to 15,000 SHU.

Banana Peppers Vs. Pepperoncinis

While these peppers look very much alike, they differ in certain crucial ways. First, banana peppers measure at 1-500 Scoville Heat Units, where Pepperoncinis measure at 100-500 SHU. A small difference, but notable in the scientific world.

Also, banana peppers are usually smooth, where pepperoncinis can have more wrinkly skin, a physical difference. 

In flavor, both peppers are sweet, but pepperoncinis have a reported slight bitterness compared to banana peppers.

See also: Pepperoncini Vs. Banana Pepper: a Comparison.

Where Can I Find Banana Pepper Seeds?

You can order seeds online, but seeds are easily found in larger retail stores before growing season. You can either purchase them at Amazon (affiliate link) or check out my Chili Pepper Seeds Resources page.

If you have any questions, feel free to email me or leave a comment below. Thank you. -- Mike H.

Try my Stuffed Banana Peppers Recipe.