How to Turn a Green Bell Pepper Red

When buying bell peppers, the red ones are often more expensive than the green ones. You can turn a green one into a red one using this method.

Steps

  1. Image titled TurnGreenPepperRed Step 1
    1
    Purchase the green bell pepper. Or as many as you wish.
  2. Image titled TurnGreenPepperRed Step 2
    2
    Place the bell pepper inside a brown paper bag. The more bell peppers, the larger the bag needs to be.[1]
  3. Image titled TurnGreenPepperRed Step 3
    3
    Add a banana. Fold down the bag and leave. The banana will turn the green bell pepper red.[2]
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    4
    Use in cooking as usual.

Community Q&A

  • Question
    Can I leave a bell pepper to turn red just by itself?
    wikiHow Staff Editor
    wikiHow Staff Editor
    Staff Answer
    This answer was written by one of our trained team of researchers who validated it for accuracy and comprehensiveness.
    wikiHow Staff Editor
    wikiHow Staff Editor
    Staff Answer
    Yes, this is possible, provided that there is already some redness on the pepper. Place it into a dark, cool cupboard for a few days. Over this time, it will change color from green to an orangey-red. It will also be a little sweeter than when just green.
  • Question
    How long does it take to turn red?
    Community Answer
    Community Answer
    If your seed packet says 6 weeks until maturity, that's not accurate. Peppers may be ready to eat at that time, even if they're still green. However, it can take 2-3 more weeks after maturity for a bell pepper to turn red.
  • Question
    Do I remove lower leaves to help ripening?
    Community Answer
    Community Answer
    Removing the leaves to speed up ripening only works when the pepper is still on the vine. In this case, removing the leaves would cause little to no changes to the process, although it wouldn't hurt.
  • Question
    How long before my bell peppers turn red? They are in a brown bag with a banana.
    Community Answer
    Community Answer
    In those conditions, the ripening should take about two weeks. It could take 3-4 weeks if you're storing them in a temperature under 55 F, though.

Things You'll Need

  • Brown paper bag
  • Green bell pepper
  • Banana

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References

  1. ↑ https://www.thekitchn.com/good-question-how-to-ripen-pep-67761
  2. ↑ https://www.growveg.com/guides/how-to-ripen-fruit-faster/

About This Article

wikiHow is a “wiki,” similar to Wikipedia, which means that many of our articles are co-written by multiple authors. To create this article, volunteer authors worked to edit and improve it over time. This article has been viewed 57,047 times.
67 votes - 79%
Co-authors: 4
Updated: September 3, 2020
Views: 57,047
Categories: Fruits and Vegetables