Nutrition

Red peppers contain more vitamin C than an orange. They are also rich in B6, K, A and E and minerals including potassium and folate. These nutrients support our bodies in lots of ways including our vision, immune system and bone health.

Shopping Guide

Look out for female peppers, with only three lobes at the bottom of the pepper – they are sweeter and better raw, whereas the male peppers have four lobes and are better cooked.

Storage

Keep peppers in the fridge for up to a week. Once cut, wrap in kitchen roll to absorb moisture before putting back in the fridge. To freeze – slice and lay out on a tray in the freezer for an hour, then put in a container or bag and keep for up to 6 months. Frozen peppers will go mushy raw, so make sure to cook – perfect for pizza, chillis, stews or anything with a sauce!

Preparation

Peppers sweeten as they grow. Red and orange are sweet and tasty raw and in salads. All peppers are great on pizza, in stir fries, or roasted. To prep, just slice open and remove the seeds.

WATCH: Tom Hunt’s guide to preparing peppers.

Kids in the Kitchen

For a younger child, why not get them washing the peppers and tearing it into rough chunks with their hands.

For an older child, it could be a great opportunity to teach them some essential knife skills by practising the claw grip. As they get more confident, you could even challenge them to help you make a dip to serve with the peppers for snacktime!

Find more ideas for involving kids in the kitchen here.

Sensory

Grab a couple of different coloured peppers and explore what they look like together – what do they remind you of? Encourage imagination, allowing them to explore with their senses, perhaps shaking, tearing, or sniffing it. Try cutting one lengthways and see what they think it looks like now – do they see a scary face or something else? Let them be curious and come up with mad ideas to keep it fun!

Watch our video from Ruth Platt for a visual guide to exploring peppers with your senses here.

Find more sensory ideas, tips and videos here.

Describing words for raw peppers:

Crunchy, bitter or grassy (green), sweet (red/yellow/orange), cold, colourful, hard, smooth, strong (flavour)

Describing words for cooked peppers:

Soft, sweet, bitter (green), colourful, mild (flavour), slimy (fried), slippery, warm/hot.

Serving

Serving up some peppers and dip for an after-school snack? Why not get your child to serve it up by arranging on a plate or board? See if they can make an edible picture or funny face out of them!

Find the best ways of involving your own child and their skills and interests on our Roles for Kids page.

Activities

Why not try making a pepper face mask a cut-out and colour pepper, or veg crown?

Or grab some of our free games & puzzles with peppers like our Shaun the Sheep – Amazing Pepper Chase (or our other Shaun-themed pepper activities), our Chop Chop pepper game or our Spot the pepper game?

Find loads more free pepper-themed crafts here and games here.