Pepperoncini plants
The pale pepper in the jar of antipasto. Ours is an orange fish cross.
By Debra Austin
Species: Capsicum annuum
Greek, Italian, and the jar
Pepperoncini, also called friggitello or a golden greek pepper depending on the strain, is a thin-walled Capsicum annuum pickled in a sweet-tart brine. The familiar jar pepper is pale yellow-green and wrinkled. It is not a banana pepper, though both end up in the same relish tray, and it is not a sport pepper.
The plant we currently list is Orange Fish Pepperoncini, a cross, listed at 100 to 500 SHU. It is the pepperoncini on the shelf. It is not the supermarket brine pepper reproduced one for one. Read the plant page before you assume the pod will look like the jar.
How hot pepperoncini are
A classic pepperoncini sits around 100 to 500 SHU, which is the edge of no-heat. Ours is listed in that same band. You can eat it raw. The brine is where most people meet it, and the brine tastes louder than the pepper.
Pickling them
Pick while they are still light colored if you want the jar you know, pack them in vinegar, salt, and a little sugar, and wait. They wrinkle. That wrinkle is normal. Frying the Italian friggitello form is the other use: a quick blister in oil, salt, and nothing else.
Growing pepperoncini
Easy annuum. Three to five gallons, sun, and steady water so the thin pods do not stall. They set a lot of fruit. One plant covers a year's pickles for a small kitchen.
The Pepperoncini we grow
Questions people ask
How hot is a pepperoncini?
Orange Fish Pepperoncini, the one we list, is 100 to 500 SHU. That is the usual band for the type: barely hot.
Is a pepperoncini a banana pepper?
No. Banana peppers are thicker and sweeter. Pepperoncini are thinner and usually meet you in vinegar. We grow both, on separate pages.
Are pepperoncini and sport peppers the same?
No. Sport peppers are hotter and they are a different pickling tradition. Pepperoncini are the mild Greek and Italian ones.
Related types