Mild Pepper Varieties

Ancho or Poblano

• Poblano peppers are a mild pepper than rates between 300 and 1,000 Scoville units, which is not considered hot. The peppers are often used in Mexican cooking and are suitable for stuffing and making mole. The fried version of the pepper, known as ancho, is also a popular ingredient in Mexican cuisine. The peppers are dark green until they mature at around 100 days of growth and turn red. They have a fruity and smoky flavor and grow from a bush that produces the dangling peppers year round in warm weather.

Anaheim

• The Anaheim pepper is a mild pepper named after the city in California where they were first cultivated. The bright green chili pepper is six to 10 inches in length and is typically used before it ripens to a red color. Red peppers are sometimes dried and strung together to make ristras, an arrangement of peppers used for decoration. The Anaheim pepper is very mild at only 500 to 1,000 Scoville units. The Ortega chili is a common variety of the Anaheim pepper.

Paprika

• Paprika peppers are mild peppers that can sometimes be hot, but are usually quite mild. These red elongated peppers turn bright red when mature and resemble a red sweet bell pepper. Paprika is most commonly used in its dried and powdered form. It is a popular ingredient in Hungarian cuisine and as a garnish. As whole peppers they are best suited for roasting.

Pepperoncini

• With a Scoville rating of only 100 to 500, the Pepperoncini or Tuscan pepper is among the mildest of peppers. These bell-shaped green peppers are commonly used on sandwiches or in salads in their pickled form. The pepperoncini can have a little "bite" but is typically more sweet than hot.