Which Bell Pepper Has The Sweetest Flavor?

If you're looking to pick a peck of peppers, it might feel like there are too many to choose from. From spicy to sweet, each one is unique. There's a range of tongue-tingling, fiery hot peppers out there, with Pepper X sitting at the top as the hottest on the market, but there are plenty of milder options available, too, including a wide range of differently colored bell peppers. Did you know that rich, red bell peppers are the sweetest of the lot?

The bulbous bell pepper isn't known for being spicy, but it is quite flavorful. When it comes to bell peppers, there are as many tastes as there are shades. Bell peppers start out an earthy green hue, and as the fruit ripens from yellow, to orange to bright red, it grows in sweetness. Bell peppers shine in the summer, when they add their crunch and color to pasta, ratatouille, and hearty stuffed bell peppers.

You may have heard that the number of knobs at the bottom of the bell pepper denotes the fruit's gender and dictates its flavor. Sorry to burst your bubble, but this is actually not true. Bell peppers do not have genders, and you can simply look to their color to understand their sweetness. Although red, orange, yellow and green bell peppers are all the same fruit, the varying colors actually have different nutritional values. In general, bell peppers are high in vitamin C and A and are a good source of minerals and antioxidants. Red bell peppers, however, are the most nutrient-rich. 

Aside from the four popular bell pepper colors you're used to seeing lining the produce aisle, there are also a couple of other, lesser-known hues. The purple bell pepper is also a member of the capsicum annuum family. This deep violet variety is sweeter than their green siblings but not quite as sweet as the red, orange, and yellow ones. There is also a rare white bell pepper. The pale yellow pepper goes from translucent white, to a brighter yellow as it ripens. They're crisp and possess a subtly sweet flavor. Then there's the Aloha pepper, with its stunning red-and-orange stripes paired with a mild flavor. You basically have the entire rainbow of bell peppers to choose from.