Mildest Peppers, Ranked from Zero Heat Up
The gentlest peppers you can eat, ranked from no heat upward. Good starting points if you want pepper flavor without the burn.
25 peppers · Ranked by maximum SHU, mildest first (capped at 5,000 SHU).
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Bell pepper is a sweet Capsicum annuum pepper with 0 SHU, so it adds no chile heat. Thick walls and a hollow blocky shape support raw slices…
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California Wonder is a 0 SHU, open-pollinated bell introduced in 1928. Burpee records blocky, thick-walled fruit around 4 by 3.5 inches and about 75…
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Fushimi is a long Japanese frying pepper with 0 SHU in most harvests, so the value is sweetness and texture, not burn. We use it for quick sautees…
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The Gypsy pepper is a sweet, thin-walled Capsicum annuum hybrid that All-America Selections named a winner in 1981. Its crisp texture and fruity…
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The habanada is a heat-free habanero developed at Cornell University, delivering all the tropical, floral sweetness of a habanero without any…
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Melrose is a classic sweet frying pepper at 0 SHU, valued for thin skin, soft sweetness, and fast skillet use. We rely on it when a dish needs pepper…
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Peperone di Senise is a sweet Calabrian type at 0 SHU, best known for drying quality and concentrated pepper flavor. We use it as a flavor-building…
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The Purple Beauty pepper is a 0 SHU sweet bell cultivar grown for one thing most standard bells cannot offer: a deep purple exterior that holds long…
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Sichuan pepper is not actually a pepper at all, it is the dried husk of a berry from the Zanthoxylum shrub, native to China's Sichuan province…
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Carmen is a Johnny's-developed F1 sweet pepper modeled on the Italian corno di toro type, not an Italian heirloom. The cultivar won the 2006 AAS…
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The Sweet Italian Pepper registers just 0 to 100 SHU - virtually no heat at all, just clean, sweet pepper flavor with a thin, tender skin. Elongated…
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The Tangerine Dream pepper is a C. annuum variety from the USA with virtually no heat (0-100 SHU) and a vivid orange color that makes it a standout…
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The shishito pepper is a slender, wrinkled Japanese variety registering just 50 to 200 SHU - firmly in the mild heat bracket and nearly always sweet…
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The choricero pepper is a Spanish heirloom variety with 175-300 SHU - barely a whisper of heat, prized for its deep, sweet flavor and thick flesh…
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Aji Dulce is a mild Capsicum chinense seasoning pepper used in Puerto Rican, Dominican, Cuban, and Venezuelan-style cooking, commonly listed at 0 to…
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Banana pepper is a mild C. annuum chile best known for pale yellow, curved pods and pickled rings. Most sweet banana peppers sit at 0-500 SHU, so the…
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Biquinho is a small Brazilian Capsicum chinense pepper listed by Embrapa at 80-500 SHU. Its crisp teardrop pods work best in pickles, snack plates…
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The bullhorn pepper is a long, tapered Italian sweet pepper with 0 to 500 SHU - essentially no heat at all. Named for its curved, horn-like shape, it…
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The cherry pepper tops out at just 100 to 500 SHU, putting it firmly in the gentle heat category alongside bell peppers and sweet snacking varieties…
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The Corno di Toro - Italian for 'horn of the bull' - is a traditional sweet Italian pepper registering just 0-500 SHU. Its dramatic curved shape…
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The friggitello is a slender Italian frying pepper at 100-500 SHU, faint warmth rather than none. Grown across central Italy for centuries, it is…
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Jimmy Nardello is a heat-free Italian heirloom frying pepper with a 0 to 500 SHU range and an intensely sweet, fruity flavor that develops fully when…
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The Lipstick Pepper is a compact, sweet C. annuum variety bred in the USA, topping out at 0 to 500 SHU - essentially no heat at all. Its tapered…
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The Marconi pepper is a thick-walled Italian sweet pepper registering just 0 to 500 SHU - essentially no heat at all. Its flavor is rich, almost…
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Most people think pepperoncini are just a pizza topping garnish. Actually, these 100 to 500 SHU Italian pickled peppers carry genuine tangy…
How we rank: Ranked by maximum SHU, mildest first (capped at 5,000 SHU). Scoville figures come from our pepper database, measured by high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) where available. Individual pods vary with growing conditions, so ranges matter more than single numbers.