16 Favorite Sweet Peppers to Grow

While bell peppers are the sweet favorite, there are many types of sweet peppers available to grow in your garden. We love these nutritious, rainbow-colored varieties that will bring great taste to your table.

By: Lynn Coulter

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Photo By: All-AmericaSelections.org

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Photo By: Courtesy of Johnny's Selected Seeds

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Photo By: Image courtesy of JungSeed.com

Photo By: Courtesy of Johnny's Selected Seeds

Photo By: Image courtesy of JungSeed.com

Photo By: Image courtesy of Mary Beth Shaddix

Photo By: Image courtesy of Burpee

Sweet Pepper Types

Sweet peppers are defined in part by what they're not: hot. Sweet peppers lack the chemical component capcaisin that gives chili peppers their heat. Many sweet pepper varieties are bell peppers — characterized by their rounded, bell-like shape — but not all. There are also sweet varieties of banana peppers; sweet elongated types like 'Cubanelle' and 'Giant Marconi'; shishito peppers (which are rarely hot); and even new heat-free hybrid jalapeños.

The peppers shown here are the 'Cajun Belle' variety, a small bell pepper that has a just-right blend of sweet flavor and flavorful bite that every member of the family will approve. This 2010 All-America Selections winner frequently has fruit on the plant in several shades: lime green, orange and bright red.

Read on for more of our favorite sweet peppers.

Learn More: Planting and Growing Bell Peppers

'Sweet California Wonder' Bell Pepper

This 1928 heirloom and a favorite among gardeners across the country, 'Sweet California Wonder' produces a mass of blocky, 4-inch bell peppers. For a real treat, use 'Sweet California Wonder' in your favorite stuffed pepper recipe.

'Cabernet' Sweet Bell Pepper

'Cabernet' delights with elongated, 8-inch long bell peppers. The fruits turn from a glossy green to red as they mature and taste very sweet. The plants are resistant to tobacco mosaic virus.

'Carmen' Sweet Pepper

Tapered ‘Carmen’ fruits are a type of Italian “bull horn,” or corno di toro peppers, and they’re delicious when fried. The peppers turn from green to deep red as they mature and average about 6 inches long.

'Cupid' Sweet Pepper

Harvest 'Cupid' peppers in 55 days if you like them green, or give them 75 days to become red and sweet. The big, well-branched plants, which can be grown from organic seeds, help shield the fruits from sunscald.

'Sweet Chocolate' Sweet Pepper

Plant ‘Sweet Chocolate’ seeds for mild-flavored, chocolate-colored peppers with brick-red flesh. The smooth fruits taper to stubby, blunt ends.

'Lunchbox' Sweet Peppers

Tuck sweet, mini-sized ‘Lunchbox’ peppers in snack bags, add them to salads or saute them with a little oil. This organic seed mix includes 3 varieties in red, yellow and orange.

'Islander' Sweet Pepper

‘Islander’ peppers have pale lavender skins that take on streaks of yellow and orange as they ripen. Inside, the flesh is pale yellow. At maturity, these mild, slightly sweet peppers turn dark red.

'Gourmet' Sweet Pepper

Attractive ‘Gourmet’ peppers have bright orange skins and juicy flesh that tastes sweet and fruity. The compact plants tolerate a wide range of growing conditions.

'Candy Apple' Bell Pepper

An early-fruiting variety, 'Candy Apple' produces delightfully sweet, 5-inch bell peppers in about 70 days.

'Golden Bell' Pepper

'Golden Bell' peppers turn from green to gold-yellow as they mature. These bells have a sweet taste with a great crunch and mature in 65 to 75 days.

'Intruder' Sweet Pepper

'Intruder' sweet peppers resist phytopthora, a blight that causes plants to suddenly wilt and die. This variety is well-adapted to the Northeast and will also grow in Midwestern gardens. The big, green fruits have a blocky shape and thick walls.

'Moonset' Sweet Pepper

Grow 'Moonset' for eating fresh, frying or stuffing. These big, heat-loving peppers can be grown in heated tunnels or greenhouses, They're medium-sized and change from green to golden-yellow as they mature.

'Sweet Sunrise' Sweet Pepper

Fruity-flavored ‘Sweet Sunrise’ peppers are medium large, with 3 or 4 lobes. The dark green fruits are ready to harvest in 65 days, or give them 85 days to turn yellow-orange. The plants produce dependably, even in Northern gardens.

'King Arthur' Sweet Bell Pepper

Popular 'King Arthur' starts producing 4 to 5-inch bell peppers early, in about 60 days. The fruits are sweet and crunchy whether they're picked green or allowed to ripen to bright red.

'Gypsy' Sweet Pepper

Not a new variety, but a tried-and-true favorite. This All-America Selections winner performs well in much of the country, producing 4" tapered sweet 'Gypsy' peppers that ripen from golden-green to orange to red. Easy to seed and easy to stuff, it's a great variety for many recipes.

'Good as Gold' Italian Pepper

'Good as Gold' is an Italian pepper with a complex flavor that is both sweet and savory, perfect for grilling or roasting, as well as chopped in salads. The long, 7-inch peppers grow on 3-foot plants that mature in 70 days.