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See why.Roasted Red Peppers
We tasted eight supermarket brands of roasted red peppers, both straight out of the jar and in Roasted Red Pepper Soup—to find the best-tasting red peppers.
Published Oct. 1, 2008. Appears in Cook's Country October/November 2008
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What You Need To Know
We tasted eight supermarket brands of roasted red peppers, both straight out of the jar and in Roasted Red Pepper Soup—to find the best-tasting red peppers. Three were domestically grown and the others were products of Spain, Greece, and Turkey. Tasted plain, our tasters preferred firmer, smokier, sweeter tasting peppers in strong yet simple brines of salt and water. Peppers packed in brines that contained garlic, vinegar, olive oil, and grape must—characteristic of most of the European peppers—rated second. The extra ingredients provided “interesting,” and “lively,” flavor profiles, but the vinegar often masked the authentic red pepper flavor and smoky notes that tasters preferred. The blandest peppers were also the slimiest ones, both of which rated dead last. In soup, texture was indistinguishable, but the sweet and smoky peppers prevailed, as their mildness didn’t interfere with the other flavors in the soup, while those packed in vinegary brines made the soup too sour. Our favorite pepper is domestically grown sweet with a hint of smokiness, the mild, pure red pepper flavor blended well into the soup, and its simple yet strong brine of salt and water gave it enough flavor to stand on its own. Our runner up is also domestically grown and packed in a brine of salt and water.
Everything We Tested
Highly Recommended
“Authentic,” and “not overbearing,” the flavor of these red peppers were the “perfect balance of smoky and sweet,” which made it our favorite tasted plain and in soup. Tasters liked its “firm and crisp” texture.
Recommended
On their own, most thought these peppers had a “good, charred flavor” while some thought they tasted “slightly bitter.” Their flavor was sweet but “a little thin” in the soup.
Recommended with reservations
When tasted in soup, this pepper had a “nice, mild flavor” and rated top of our list. But when tasted plain, they were “unseasoned,” “watery and bland,” “bitter,” and had very little smokiness.
On their own, these peppers—which are packed in water, salt, wine vinegar, and grape must—were noted as “lively,” and “interestingly sweet and sour,” but in the soup they tasted “acidic,” “sour,” and “not like red peppers at all.”
Not Recommended
Tasted plain, these peppers tasted like “pickles” and had a strong vinegar bite. In soup, acidic and sour flavors dominated. One taster exclaimed, “all I taste is vinegar!”
Garlic was the dominant flavor of these peppers when tasted plain. Weak pepper flavor resulted in soup that was bland, yet the overpowering garlic made the soup bitter. “Where’s the pepper?!” asked one taster.
Though domestically grown like our top winners, these peppers fared poorly due to their slimy, “chewy” texture. Noticeably “pale” in color, some noted they had “no flavor at all.” When cooked, they made “thin and watery” soup.
Sour and “pickley,” tasters were turned off by the peppers’ slimy texture and lack of red pepper flavor. In soup, they tasted “watered down” and so sour that there were almost “lemony.”
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