How to Identify a Banana Pepper

Banana peppers have very little heat and a color that ranges from greenish yellow to red. Stores commonly sell these pickled, either whole or sliced, for sandwiches or salad toppings. The challenge in identifying them is that they closely resemble other varieties such as pepperoncini, yellow wax and New Mexico chiles. Choose banana peppers when you want a sweeter, milder pepper to grow in your garden or to serve at the table.

Instructions

- 1
  Look at the shape and size of the peeper. Slender banana peppers grow 4 to 6 inches long with a pointed tip and a wider top; by contrast, pepperoncini peppers are shorter with a rounded tip. New Mexico chiles are wider in the middle, and yellow wax peppers are generally smoother.
- 2
  Inspect the color. Under-ripe banana peppers are yellow-green, but turn a light yellow when ready for harvest. If left to fully ripen, they turn orange, then bright red, giving them an appearance similar to the hotter mirasol pepper.
- 3
  Taste the pepper. Banana peppers are mild with a flavor that's more sweet than hot. If the flavor is hot, it is likely a yellow wax, pepperoncini, New Mexico chile or a mirasol.

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