You can use banana peppers in a variety of delicious and creative ways:
- Pickling: One of the most popular methods to preserve banana peppers is pickling. Pickled banana peppers add a tangy, crunchy flavor to sandwiches, salads, pizzas, and more. You can make sweet or spicy pickled banana peppers depending on your taste
- Stuffed Banana Peppers: Banana peppers are excellent for stuffing because they are just the right size and have thin walls. You can stuff them with a mixture of ground meat (like beef or Italian sausage), cheese (such as gouda, cream cheese, or parmesan), breadcrumbs, and seasonings. Then bake or grill them until tender and the cheese is melted
- On Pizza and Sandwiches: Slice or ring banana peppers make a great topping for homemade pizzas, subs, and burgers, adding a mild tangy heat and crunch
- Sautéed or Roasted: You can sauté banana peppers with garlic, onions, and olive oil to add to pasta dishes or salads. Roasting them brings out a sweeter flavor and works well in salsas or as a side
- Fried or Battered: Turn banana peppers into pepper poppers by stuffing them with cheese and deep frying or baking them for a tasty appetizer
- Relish or Hot Sauce: Banana peppers can be made into a tangy relish for hot dogs and tacos or blended into a flavorful hot sauce
- Freezing: If you have a surplus, you can freeze whole or sliced banana peppers to use later in soups, stews, or fajitas
- Other Ideas: Use them raw in salads for crunch, dehydrate and grind into chili powder, or incorporate them into salad dressings for extra flavor
In summary, banana peppers are versatile and can be enjoyed raw, pickled, stuffed, cooked, or preserved in many ways to enhance a wide range of dishes
