Sautéed shishito peppers are a quick and easy appetizer you can whip up while dinner’s in the oven. Simply sauté whole shishito peppers with olive oil, salt and garlic until they blister and brown. That’s it!
Shishito peppers are a recent discovery of mine. As someone who does not enjoy hot peppers, I stick to bell peppers and cubanelles, assuming all others are HOT.
Then recently I was at a farmers market and noticed someone stuffing a grocery bag full of these bright green and uniquely shaped peppers.
When you see someone buying that many of something, it makes you curious. So I struck up a conversation asking how he cooks them.
He grinned explaining that he simply sautées shishito peppers with a little oil and salt, and they are delicious. Upon hearing our conversation, the farmer selling the peppers also chirped up in agreement that a simple sauté is all that’s needed with shishito peppers.
Farmers are always such a great resource about the food they sell, and it’s one of the perks of buying produce at the farmers market.
I asked if they’re a spicy pepper and was surprised when he said that shishitos usually aren’t spicy at all.
BUT, he added – they are considered the Russian roulette of peppers. Every once and awhile you’ll get one that packs a punch when you bite into it.
I logged this into my memory bank and continued on my way.
As it turns out, he’s a baker and uses them in focaccia. But he also loves to just eat them on their own after a quick sauté to blister them in the pan.
I was sold. So I grabbed a pint eager to try something new and delicious!
What Does it Mean to Blister Shishito Peppers?
Sometimes sautéed shishito peppers are called blistered shishito peppers.
Blistering is what happens when thin-skinned peppers are sautéed at a medium-high heat. The skin literally forms blisters that brown and then blacken to a nice char. Though it sounds unappetizing, it’s really delicious!
You can see blisters starting to form on these shishito peppers in my pan.
The key to a perfect blistered shishito pepper is to keep them moving in the pan over medium-high heat. If the heat is too low, they won’t blister or get those delicious brown spots, and if it’s too hot they’ll just burn.
Whether you call them blistered, sautéed or stir fried, my shishito peppers recipe is a great way to prepare a panful of peppers!
And if you’re intrigued by this cooking technique, green beans are another vegetable I love to blister – here’s my quick sautéed green beans recipe.
How to Sauté Shishito Peppers
These little guys are a great appetizer and this is a simple recipe to make them. Just be sure you’re not distracted while sautéing – shishito peppers cook quickly and need to stay moving in the pan.
1. Prepare shishito peppers to sauté
This recipe assumes you have half a pound of shishitos, which is about 20 to 25 whole peppers.
Place the peppers in a colander and give them a quick rinse under the tap. Then pat them well to dry. Any water that remains on the skin will cause the hot oil to spatter.
Do not cut them, and be sure to leave the stems intact. You’ll use the stem to grab and hold them when nibbling!
2. Heat your pan and add the oil
Heat a large, non-stick frying pan over medium high heat. My stovetop runs hot, so I set the knob on 6 out of 10.
When your pan is hot, add 1 tablespoon of oil. Wait for it to shimmer.
3. Add the peppers to the hot oil and sauté
When the oil begins to shimmer, carefully add the shishito peppers and stir fry them almost continuously.
The heat will work its magic and start creating blisters on the skin very quickly. These blisters then brown and blacken.
4. Add salt and minced garlic
Watch the shishito peppers closely and when they are almost done to your liking (less than ten minutes), add 4 pinches of salt and a medium clove of minced garlic.
Sauté for another minute then remove them from heat.
FYI about garlic cloves: The garlic is optional but does give extra flavor to the mild peppers. I’ve blistered shishitos with and without garlic and find them a bit bland without.
5. Remove from heat and serve immediately
Sautéed shishito peppers are best served hot and fresh, so dig in!
No need for a fork and knife, you’ll pick them up from the stem end and enjoy all on their own. Shishito peppers really do make the ultimate appetizer!
Fast forward a couple weeks and, while at an entirely different farmers market, I see a customer dumping pint after pint of shishito peppers into his bag!
Do not be alarmed when they shrivel up as soon as you remove them from the heat. The air inside the peppers expands while cooking and contracts as they cool.
Shishito Peppers Q&A
What are shishito peppers?
Shishitos are Japanese peppers in the chili pepper variety. They’re about the size of a thumb and can be three to five inches long. When ripe, a shishito pepper is a bright green color and firm to the touch with a rippled exterior. If you cut into a raw shishito they have thin skin and a thin layer of flesh.
And get this – if you eat just 10 shishito peppers (100 grams) you get 134% the DV of Vitamin C!
What do shishito peppers taste like?
I find the taste of a cooked shishito pepper to be quite mellow and a little peppery. The flavor is there, but it isn’t strong. Shishitos have thin skin and flesh, and are soft and juicy to bite into when cooked.
Are shishito peppers spicy?
Though technically a chili pepper, most shishito peppers are not spicy at all – just a little warm. And this is coming from someone who is very sensitive to spicy things. But every once and awhile you’ll get a shishito pepper that is spicy. How spicy? Not very, even I don’t mind. It’s part of the fun.
According to the Scoville scale, the heat rating of a shishito pepper is 50 to 200 heat units, which is practically nothing. Bell peppers are rated zero and Jalapeños are 2500 to 8000, just to give you an idea.
How to tell when shishito peppers are ripe?
Ripe shishito peppers are a shiny, bright green color. Though, if not harvested at this point they will ripen further and turn red. Red shishito peppers can still be eaten and are not any more spicy than green shishito peppers. A ripe shishito pepper has lumpy skin that is firm to the touch.
Are shishito peppers sweet?
Technically, shishito peppers are considered a sweet pepper. But they don’t have a sweet flavor like a yellow or orange bell pepper, nor is the flavor astringent like a green pepper. They are pretty mellow.
When are shishito peppers in season at the farmers market?
Shishito peppers require warm weather to thrive, and are a pretty easy crop to grow here in the United States during the summer months.
I’ve spotted shishito peppers at farmers markets in Ohio and North Carolina in July and August. In Florida, where I live most of the year, you’ll find them at farmers markets during winter when it’s warm but not raining buckets.
If you can’t find shishito peppers at your farmers market, they also carry them at Trader Joe’s and some asian markets. But in my experience, produce from grocery stores does not taste as good as when it’s farm-fresh. So don’t blame my recipe if they’re not delicious. 🙂
Sautéed Shishito Peppers (How to Blister Peppers)
Ingredients
- 1/2 lb shishito peppers from the farmers market
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 4 pinches salt
- 1 clove garlic minced
Instructions
- Rinse the shishito peppers with water and pat well to dry.
- Heat a large, non-stick frying pan over medium high heat.
- When the pan is hot, add the oil and wait for it to shimmer.
- Carefully add the shishito peppers to the pan and stir fry them almost continuously while they blister and brown.
- When the shishito peppers have brown spots on all sides, add the salt and garlic and toss for another minute.
- Remove from heat and serve immediately.
Leave a Reply