Choose pimento when you want soft sweetness in diced pieces, spreads, or olive stuffing. Choose piquillo when you want a roasted red pepper with more shape, more tang, and a stronger place on the plate.
Comparison Contributor·Updated Jun 30, 2026·
Reviewed by
Karen Liu
Quick Comparison
Pimento Pepper measures 100–500 SHU while Piquillo Pepper registers 500–1K SHU. That makes Piquillo Pepper about 2x hotter by upper SHU range. Pimento Pepper is known for its sweet and mild flavor (C. annuum), while Piquillo Pepper offers sweet and smoky notes (C. annuum).
Pimento Pepper
100–500 SHU
Mild · sweet and mild
Piquillo Pepper
500–1K SHU
Medium · sweet and smoky
Heat difference: Piquillo Pepper is about 2× hotter by upper SHU range
Species: Both are C. annuum
Best for: Pimento Pepper excels in everyday cooking and salsas, Piquillo Pepper in fresh salsas and mild recipes
Heat does not decide this page. Both peppers sit near the floor, so the real choice is shape, roast level, and what form you plan to pull from the jar or tray.
Pimento usually lands around 100 to 500 SHU, while piquillo tends to sit around 500 to 1,000 SHU. That looks like a ratio on paper, but both still eat as sweet peppers, not hot peppers.
If you can comfortably eat roasted red pepper, you can handle either one. The dish changes far more from texture and flavor than from heat.
So the smarter first question is not 'which is hotter?' It is 'do I need a soft sweet pepper or a roasted pepper with more identity?'
Few peppers carry as much cultural weight as the pimento.
Piquillo Pepper
500–1K SHU
sweetsmoky
C. annuum
Grown in the Navarra and Rioja regions of northern Spain, the piquillo pepper (Capsicum annuum) is harvested in autumn, hand-roasted over wood fires, and peeled by hand - a process that gives it a depth of flavor no oven-roasted substitute fully replicates.
Pimento tastes soft, sweet, and round. It reads closer to a very mild red bell pepper with a thicker wall and a candy-like sweetness.
Piquillo tastes roasted, a little earthy, and slightly tangy, especially when you buy it jarred after fire-roasting and peeling.
That roasting step matters more than the SHU range. Pimento keeps a cleaner sweet-pepper profile, while piquillo brings built-in char and a stronger Spanish pantry feel.
If the recipe wants the pepper to stay quiet, pimento behaves better. If the pepper should still taste like the star after stuffing or plating, piquillo usually wins.
That is also why jar liquid matters. Pimento often arrives ready to chop into a spread, while piquillo often arrives ready to drain, fill, and serve almost as its own composed ingredient.
Culinary Uses for Pimento Pepper and Piquillo Pepper
Pimento Pepper
Mild
Roasting is where pimento earns its reputation. The thick walls caramelize beautifully under a broiler or over an open flame, and the resulting flesh - sweet, slightly smoky, deeply red - works in everything from pasta sauces to sandwiches.
Piquillos arrive in most kitchens already roasted, peeled, and jarred - which makes them one of the most convenient flavor-packed ingredients you can stock. The classic preparation is stuffed piquillos: filled with bacalao (salt cod) and cream, or with braised oxtail, then warmed in a light tomato or pepper sauce.
Use pimento for pimento cheese, stuffed olives, chopped sandwich spread, relishes, and mild jarred pepper strips where you want sweetness without smoke leading the bite.
Use piquillo for stuffed peppers, tapas, romesco-style plates, roasted pepper toasts, or sauces where the pepper should taste already cooked and already seasoned by fire.
The shape changes the work too. Pimentos are easy to dice or mash. Piquillos are easier to keep whole, fill, or lay across bread and grilled meat.
That difference is why the two peppers can share a shelf but still solve very different recipe jobs.
For a cold antipasto plate, pimento usually plays support. For a plated appetizer or stuffed bite, piquillo can be the piece people notice first.
Pick pimento when the dish needs gentle sweetness and tidy chopped pieces that blend into spreads, dips, or relishes without drawing too much attention.
Pick piquillo when the pepper should arrive with roasted flavor, visible shape, and enough character to hold up in stuffing, tapas, and plated dishes.
If your real question is about other sweet red pantry peppers, cherry pepper vs pimento is a closer sibling debate than this roasted piquillo track.
Can You Substitute One for the Other?
Start near 1:1 by amount. The heat ranges are close enough that flavor, form, and recipe role matter more than a strict Scoville conversion.
Growing Pimento Pepper vs Piquillo Pepper
Growing notes
Pimento Pepper
Pimento plants are compact and productive, typically reaching 18–24 inches tall - manageable in containers or tight garden rows. Start seeds indoors 8–10 weeks before your last frost date.
Give pimento plants steady direct sun for about 6 to 8 hours daily. Well-drained soil with a pH around 6.
Growing notes
Piquillo Pepper
Growing piquillos is straightforward if you're in a warm climate - they share the same needs as most C. annuum varieties. Start seeds indoors 8–10 weeks before last frost.
Transplant outdoors once nighttime temps stay above 55°F. Piquillos need full sun and well-drained soil with a pH of 6.
For practical guidance on how long peppers grow from transplant to harvest, piquillos typically reach maturity in 80–90 days. They start green and ripen to a deep red; for authentic flavor, wait for full red color before harvesting.
Where They Come From
Origin & background
Pimento Pepper
Spain · C. annuum
Spain's role in pimento cultivation dates to at least the 16th century, when C. annuum varieties brought from the Americas were selectively grown for sweetness rather than heat. The pimento became particularly associated with the Extremadura and Murcia regions, where it was dried and ground into pimentón - the smoked paprika that defines Spanish cooking.
The olive-stuffing tradition emerged in the early 20th century, when Spanish and later American processors began hand-packing pimento strips into green olives. By the 1940s, mechanized stuffing made jarred pimentos a pantry staple across the United States.
Origin & background
Piquillo Pepper
Spain · C. annuum
Piquillo peppers have been cultivated in the Ebro River valley of northern Spain for centuries, with the Lodosa region of Navarra becoming their spiritual home. The DOP designation - protecting the name and production methods - was established in 1987, formalizing what local growers had practiced for generations.
The tradition of wood-fire roasting over embers (rather than gas or electric heat) is what separates authentic piquillos from imitations. This technique developed as a practical preservation method: roasting loosens the skin for peeling, and the charred wood smoke penetrates the flesh during the process.
Buying & Storage
Whether you’re shopping for Pimento Pepper or Piquillo Pepper, the same quality indicators apply. Fresh peppers should feel firm and heavy for their size, with taut, glossy skin and no soft or wet spots. Minor stem cracks known as “corking” are perfectly normal and often indicate a mature, flavorful pod.
Selection
What to look for
Firm pods with taut skin and consistent color
Should feel heavy relative to size
Minor stem cracks (“corking”) are normal
Avoid anything soft, shriveled, or with dark wet spots
Storage
How to store them
Fresh: Paper bag, crisper drawer, 1 to 2 weeks
Frozen: Wash, dry, freeze on sheet pan, 6+ months
Dried: Airtight and away from light, up to 1 year
Mistakes to avoid
Common misses
Pimento Pepper
Equating green with unripe. Different products.
Overcooking. Cell walls break down fast.
Sealed plastic storage. Causes rot. Use paper bags.
Common misses
Piquillo Pepper
Equating green with unripe. Different products.
Overcooking. Cell walls break down fast.
Sealed plastic storage. Causes rot. Use paper bags.
Final call
Pimento Pepper vs Piquillo Pepper
Pimento Pepper and Piquillo Pepper
occupy very different positions on the heat spectrum. Piquillo Pepper delivers about 2× more upper-range heat with its distinctive sweet and smoky character.
Pimento Pepper, with its sweet and mild profile, excels in everyday cooking.
Heat gap about 2× by upper rangePimento Pepper sweet and mildPiquillo Pepper sweet and smoky
Most shoppers meet both peppers in jars, but not in the same cut. Pimento is often sold as diced pieces, strips, or spread-friendly chopped pepper.
Piquillo is usually sold whole or in long roasted strips, so it can be stuffed or plated with its shape intact.
If the recipe needs neat little red bits, pimento saves work. If it needs a pepper you can fill or fold, piquillo is the better buy.
Swap Lines
You can swap them in chopped fillings or cold spreads if sweetness matters more than roast. Start 1:1 there and taste for smoke or acidity.
The swap breaks down in classic stuffed piquillos and in pimento cheese. Piquillo is too roasted and slippery for the second job, and pimento is too mild and plain for the first.
When the pepper itself is supposed to carry part of the dish, that small format difference becomes a big cooking difference.
Mild Red Role
Both peppers live in the mild range, but they do not fill the same mild-red role. Pimento is the friendlier default for spreads and garnish work.
Piquillo is the better choice when you want a mild pepper that still feels composed and intentional on the plate. That is why jar shape, roast level, and recipe format matter more here than small SHU numbers ever will.
Fact-Checked & Expert Reviewed
Editorial Standards: Head-to-head comparisons include blind tasting when applicable. Heat levels cross-referenced with multiple sources. All substitution ratios tested side-by-side.
Review Process:
Written by
James Thompson
(Lead Comparison Reviewer)
, reviewed by
Karen Liu
(Lead Fact-Checker & Science Editor)
. Last updated June 30, 2026.
Pimento Pepper vs Piquillo Pepper FAQ
Only if the stuffing is chopped or spreadable. Pimento usually comes in smaller pieces and has a softer sweet profile, while piquillo is better when you need a roasted pepper that can hold its shape as a filled piece.
Piquillos are commonly fire-roasted and peeled before jarring, so they keep a roasted edge. Pimentos tend to taste cleaner and sweeter, with less char and less tang in the final bite.
Not exactly. Pimento is a specific mild sweet pepper, even though roasted pimento can look and taste similar to generic roasted red peppers in a jar. The sweetness is usually rounder and the pieces are often packed differently.
Not in the way most people use the word hot. They sit slightly above pimento on paper, but both peppers still behave like mild sweet peppers, so flavor and roast level matter much more than heat.
Pimento is better for pimento cheese because its sweetness stays soft and familiar. Piquillo is better for romesco-style or tapas uses because the roast and shape add more presence to the finished plate.
