Are Pimentos And Roasted Red Peppers The Same Thing?

Like people, peppers come in all different shapes, sizes, qualities. They also vary widely in taste from mild to super spicy, and serve completely disparate purposes in the kitchen as a result. While the hot end of the spectrum includes certified mouth-burners like Pepper X, the mild side encompasses common cooking veggies like bell peppers, banana peppers, poblanos and shishitos. It can be confusing to parse all the different varieties of peppers, especially when they share characteristics, so when you see jars of pimentos and roasted red peppers at the grocery store, you might assume they're one and the same.

In truth, however, despite their commonly similar appearances, pimentos and roasted red peppers come from different variants of the Capsicum annuum species. Jarred, roasted red peppers originate as red bell peppers before getting flame roasted, peeled, and packed in liquid. Though you'll most often find pimentos jarred as well, albeit in diced form, pimentos are their own unique pepper variant, separate from bell peppers, with a flavor that is known to be more aromatic and a shape that is smaller and resembles a heart. Pimentos and red bell peppers can usually be substituted for one another due to their similarities, but pimentos have certain specific culinary connotations.

Sometimes called cherry peppers, pimentos are notable for their sweet, succulent taste, small size, and bright appearance. To the average consumer, pimentos are perhaps best known not as a whole fruit but as one of the base components of pimento cheese, the creamy dip that's a favorite of U.S. Southerners and goes great on a BLT or fried green tomato sandwich. Pimentos are also well-known as the stuffing in pitted green olives. Though it's not exactly clear why they became the olive stuffing standard, pimentos' red hue and mild flavor provide contrast to the pungent green olive.

It's uncommon to find fresh, whole pimento peppers for sale in grocery stores. Most often, you'll see them on shelves in diced and canned form. Aside from making cheese spread or stuffing olives, pimentos can be used culinarily in much the same way as any mild red pepper. They make a crunchy, colorful addition to a sandwich or salad, or can be pureed and added to pasta sauce. Pimentos are also among of the chili peppers varietals that are frequently ground up and used to create paprika.

Though jarred roasted red peppers certainly look like they could be made from pimentos, these pantry staples actually start their lives as red bell peppers. According to the journal Scientia Horticulturae, approximately 36 million tons of bell pepper are produced annually worldwide, making them one of the most widely cultivated pepper varieties. They are sold in grocery stores in a variety of forms, including as whole, fresh plants, but also make an appealing pepper to sell in prepared form due to their abundance.

To make the roasted red peppers you'd find on supermarket shelves, manufacturers cut and flame roast red bell peppers, then peel and package them in a jar of liquid, most frequently water or olive oil. The resulting product is soft, more intensely flavorful than fresh bell pepper, and useful as an addition to a wide array of dishes, such as pizza, pasta sauce, or cold cut sandwiches. Buying pre-cut roasted red peppers also eliminates the need to cut them yourself and risk a seed explosion — though if you do find yourself in possession of a whole bell pepper, there's a cutting hack to minimize that risk.