PoblanoBest swap 1 cup chopped poblano Best for: Stuffed peppers, fajitas, soups, casseroles Richer and earthier, with mild heat
How to use it. Thick walls and a large cavity make it the best stuffer. Its skin is waxy, so roast and peel it if that bothers you.
What sources say, per 1 cup chopped bell pepper. Bell pepper's closest swap: PepperScale.
Cubanelle (Italian frying pepper) 1 cup chopped cubanelle Best for: Frying, salads, sandwiches Less fruity than red bell, less grassy than green, faintly spicy
How to use it. Cook's Illustrated found it crunchy and a little fibrous raw, and it kept its color when cooked.
What sources say, per 1 cup chopped bell pepper. PepperScale. Taste test: Cook's Illustrated.
Anaheim 1 cup chopped Anaheim pepper Best for: Stuffing, roasting, salsas Sweeter than poblano, mild heat
How to use it. Thick walls and a large cavity, so it stuffs well too. Some can be about as hot as a mild jalapeño.
What sources say, per 1 cup chopped bell pepper. PepperScale.
Jarred roasted red peppers 1 cup roasted red peppers Best for: Sauces, soups, dips, sandwiches Sweet and smoky, soft
How to use it. Cooked and soft, so use it where the pepper is cooked or blended, not where you want crunch. An opened jar keeps 4–6 months in the fridge (USDA FoodKeeper).
What sources say, per 1 cup chopped bell pepper. Drain, then chop and measure: University of Wisconsin Extension.
Pimiento 1 cup chopped pimiento Best for: Salads, spreads, pimento cheese Sweeter than red bell pepper
How to use it. Too small to stuff, and usually sold in jars.
What sources say, per 1 cup chopped bell pepper. PepperScale.
Sweet banana pepper 1 cup chopped sweet banana pepper Best for: Salads, sandwiches, pickles Mild; tangy when pickled
How to use it. Check the label: Hungarian wax peppers look similar but are hot.
What sources say, per 1 cup chopped bell pepper. Listed as a sweet pepper: Iowa State Extension.
Onion 1 cup chopped onion Best for: Soups, stews, stir-fries, sauces Sweet when cooked
How to use it. The base of most cooked swaps; pair it with celery or carrot.
What sources say, per 1 cup chopped bell pepper. Matched by weight from USDA portions.
Celery 1½ cups chopped celery Best for: Gumbo, jambalaya, salads Crunchy, not sweet
How to use it. Keeps the crunch in raw dishes. Not for everyone with a pepper allergy (see below).
What sources say, per 1 cup chopped bell pepper. Matched by weight from USDA portions.
Carrot 1 cup chopped carrot Best for: Soups, sauces, braises Sweeter and firmer
How to use it. LSU AgCenter notes that French mirepoix and Italian soffritto use carrots where Cajun cooking uses bell pepper.
What sources say, per 1 cup chopped bell pepper. Matched by weight from USDA portions.
Zucchini 1¼ cups chopped zucchini Best for: Quiche, stir-fries, pasta Mild and watery
How to use it. In quiche, The Kitchn mixes grated zucchini in uncooked.
What sources say, per 1 cup chopped bell pepper. Matched by weight from USDA portions.
Mushrooms 2 cups sliced white mushrooms Best for: Quiche, fajitas, pizza Savory and meaty
How to use it. Cook them first so they don't water down the dish.
What sources say, per 1 cup chopped bell pepper. Cook first: The Kitchn. Matched by weight from USDA portions.
1 cup of chopped bell pepper is 149 g (USDA). Peppers swap cup for cup, chopped; the amounts for onion, celery, carrot, zucchini and mushrooms are our arithmetic, matching that weight from USDA portion sizes.
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Which swap for which dish
| Dish | Best swaps | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Stuffed peppers | Poblano, then Anaheim | Thick walls, large cavity |
| Raw: salads, crudités, sandwiches | Cubanelle, sweet banana, celery | They stay crunchy raw |
| Fajitas and stir-fries | Poblano, cubanelle, onion, mushrooms | Body and sweetness once cooked |
| Sauces, soups, dips | Jarred roasted red peppers, onion, carrot | Soft texture doesn’t matter once blended |
| Gumbo and jambalaya | More onion and celery | The other two parts of the Cajun trinity |
| Quiche | Zucchini, cooked mushrooms | The Kitchn’s own swaps |
| Canned salsa | Another pepper only | See the canning note below |
Most cooked dishes need sweetness and body more than the pepper itself, which is why onion and carrot do well there. The Cajun “holy trinity” is onion, celery and green bell pepper, so without the pepper, more onion and celery keep the dish on track; LSU AgCenter points out that French and Italian cooks use carrot in that slot instead.
Green or red bell pepper?
PepperScale calls green bell peppers grassy and bright, and colored ones sweeter and less bitter. For a green bell, poblano is the closest swap; for red, try Anaheim, cubanelle or pimiento, or jarred roasted red peppers in a sauce.
| Per 100 g, raw | Green bell | Red bell |
|---|---|---|
| Calories | 20 kcal | 26 kcal |
| Sugars | 2.4 g | 4.2 g |
| Vitamin C | 80.4 mg | 127.7 mg |
Figures from USDA FoodData Central. A medium bell pepper weighs 119 g, a small one 74 g and a large one 164 g.
Is a bell pepper hot?
No. Bell peppers have 0 Scoville heat units, which is why every chile swap above adds at least a little heat. New Mexico State University notes a few bell varieties do have some heat, and that heat comes from glands on the white ribs (the placenta) inside the pepper, not from the seeds.
- Bell pepperBell 0
- Pimiento 0–500
- Sweet banana 0–500
- Cubanelle About 1,000
- Poblano 1,000–2,000
- Hungarian wax 2,000–4,000
- Anaheim 1,000–5,000
- Jalapeño 2,500–10,000
- Cayenne 25,000–50,000
- Habanero 100,000–350,000
Scoville heat units (SHU). Bars use a log scale, so the mildest and the hottest fit on one card.
Scoville ranges from University of Florida IFAS, Iowa State and Penn State Extension; sweet banana from PepperScale. Bell pepper has 0, though New Mexico State notes a few varieties do have some heat.
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Nightshade-free swaps and pepper allergy
Every pepper is a nightshade, so poblano, pimiento, jarred red peppers and paprika are out if you avoid them, and so are tomato, eggplant and potato. Onion, celery, carrot, zucchini, mushrooms and cucumber are not nightshades.
The Arthritis Foundation says there’s limited scientific evidence that nightshades cause flares, and suggests a personal trial of cutting them out for about two weeks. A 2017 study often cited for nightshades tested a whole autoimmune elimination diet, not nightshades alone: 15 people with inflammatory bowel disease cut grains, legumes, nightshades, dairy, eggs, coffee, alcohol, nuts, seeds, refined sugar, oils and additives for 6 weeks, and 11 were in remission at week 6. It had no control group.
A true pepper allergy is rare, according to a 2022 paper in Allergy, Asthma and Immunology Research, but it’s linked with celery, birch pollen and mugwort, and cross-reactions with latex have been reported. So celery isn’t a safe swap for everyone with a pepper allergy; check with an allergist.
How we checked this
We read PepperScale, Cook’s Illustrated, The Kitchn and LSU AgCenter on which swaps work where, weighed every swap against USDA FoodData Central portions, checked heat with University of Florida, Iowa State, Penn State and New Mexico State Extension, canning rules with Wisconsin and UC Extension, and the nightshade and allergy claims against the Arthritis Foundation and the original studies.
| We said | Now |
|---|---|
| Red bell peppers are 6–8% sugar when ripe | 4.2 g per 100 g, vs 2.4 g in green |
| Red bell pepper has 43 kcal per 100 g | 26 kcal |
| Canned pimento has 30 kcal and 71 mg vitamin C per 100 g | 23 kcal and 84.9 mg |
| A 2017 study: better after 3 weeks without nightshades | A 6-week diet that cut many foods, 15 people, no control group |
| Seeds and membranes hold the most heat | The white ribs; seeds aren’t a source of heat |
| Jarred peppers: ¾ cup plus ¼ tsp sugar per cup | Drained and chopped, cup for cup |
| Cubanelle tastes like mild honey and black pepper | Less fruity than red, less grassy than green, faintly spicy |
More on bell peppers
If you have bell peppers after all, our how to use bell pepper guide covers what to cook with them, and our difference between bell peppers and sweet peppers guide explains where cubanelles, pimientos and banana peppers fit. The top swap has its own page in reverse, our poblano pepper substitute guide, and a bell pepper you can’t use right away keeps longer with our how to store bell pepper guide.
Sources
- PepperScale: Bell pepper substitute
- Cook's Illustrated: A green bell pepper alternative
- The Kitchn: Quiche recipe (2026)
- LSU AgCenter: For whom the bell grows (2021)
- USDA FoodData Central: Peppers, sweet, green, raw (170427)
- USDA FoodData Central: Peppers, sweet, red, raw (170108)
- USDA FoodKeeper data
- University of Wisconsin Extension: Canning salsa safely (B3570)
- UC Cooperative Extension Master Food Preservers: Salsa, salsa, salsa! (2023)
- University of Florida IFAS: Peppers by Scoville units
- Iowa State Extension: Growing peppers in the home garden
- Penn State Extension: Growing hot peppers, can you make them hotter?
- New Mexico State University: Growing chile peppers in New Mexico gardens (2019)
- Arthritis Foundation: Do nightshades worsen arthritis?
- Konijeti et al., Efficacy of the autoimmune protocol diet for inflammatory bowel disease, Inflamm Bowel Dis (2017)
- Takei et al., Cap a 7, a bell pepper allergen, Allergy Asthma Immunol Res (2022)
