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Peppers are another one of those really versatile vegetables that can be eaten as a stand-alone snack, or added to so many meals. Red bell peppers are my favorite because they have the sweetest flavor out of all the colors.
Though bell peppers seem to last quite some time on their own, I’m going to share my process that will help you make them last even longer. Washing and prep to properly store bell peppers doesn’t take long and it doesn’t require a ton of special, hard-to-find ingredients.
How to Wash Bell Peppers and Properly Store Them in the Fridge
If you have read through any of my other posts, you will already know all about my vinegar wash for produce. If not, this is what I do to wash all my produce so that it lasts for weeks:
1. Grab a very large bowl – it’s got to be big enough to hold more than 10 cups of liquid plus the produce, some of which will displace the liquid more than others.
2. Add 10 cups of water and 1/4 of distilled white vinegar.
3. Mix the water and vinegar together in the bowl, stick the bell peppers in for 2 minutes (set a timer for this because you can over-soak produce)
4. Take the peppers out of the water and set them on a towel to dry for a couple of hours, turning occasionally to make sure each side gets completely dry.
To store bell peppers and make them last, make sure they are completely dry before storing.
Some types of produce are more sensitive to the wash and dry times, but monitoring and setting timers are good practices to get into if you want to make sure the process works right and you don’t end up with wasted produce. These steps are really simple, but also really important to do correctly.
Should You Store Bell Peppers in the Fridge, Freezer, or Use a Dehydrator?
When I keep my uncut bell peppers in the fridge, they last 3-4 weeks. When they start to wrinkle, I make sure to use those first.
When prepping bell peppers, I like cutting them up into strips or dicing them and putting them (along with other veggies) into these wide-mouth, pint-size mason jars for easy-to-grab salad toppings.
Another way I like to use my diced peppers is to pair them with onions (2:1 ratio, peppers to onions) and freeze them in either quart-size ziplock bags, or using my FoodSaver vacuum sealer (you can find the vacuum sealer here and the bags to go with it here).
I love to make a bunch of these all at once, because it cuts down on prep time for any meal that requires chopping. If you store bell peppers after cutting them up in quart-size ziplock bags, they last 6 months, and if you store them in vacuum-sealed bags, they last about 18 months.
I suggest storing both the ziplock or vacuum-sealed bags flat in the freezer. It’s a real space-saver.
*One note about freezing: Peppers do not need to be blanched (a fancy cooking term that refers to putting vegetables in boiling water for a short time and then in ice water) or given any other special method of preservation before freezing.
When I do use my dehydrator, I like to use the dehydrated peppers for snacks, soups and salads. You can also grind them, once dehydrated, for flavor to add to soups.
Among the other recipes I like to use bell peppers in is my One Pot Mexican Quinoa dish, tortilla soup, fajitas, and gyros.
Hope this post helps to give you a few more ideas of how to store bell peppers, keep them fresh for weeks (or months!) and use them.
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