Fried Peppers With Garlic

Fried Peppers With Garlic

The Spruce / Cara Cormack

Prep: 5 mins
Cook: 10 mins
Total: 15 mins
Servings: 4 servings

Looking for a quick and easy recipe to entertain your guests before the main course arrives? This simple recipe for the famous Spanish pimientos fritos con ajo (fried peppers with garlic) will be a crowd-pleaser. Suited for vegan, vegetarian, and gluten-free diets, it's a great addition to your menu and easy on your wallet.

Fried peppers with garlic is very versatile and requires very little time to make. You might see this simple tapa offered in Spain alongside slices of rustic bread, but you can also serve it as a hot or cold side dish, as a sandwich topping, or offer it with other cold dishes like pasta or potato salads.

In Spanish cuisine, peppers are present in as many as 50 percent of recipes due to their great variety and the extent to which they're farmed. For this dish, use mild green chiles, such as green pasilla (or poblano) chiles or green Anaheim chiles paired with sweet red bell peppers. You could use other types of peppers, but the result might be less authentic compared to the original Spanish dish.

Ingredients

  • 2 large mild long green chile peppers, such as Anaheim or pasilla

  • 2 red bell peppers

  • 3 large cloves garlic

  • 1/2 cup Spanish extra-virgin olive oil, for frying

  • Kosher salt, to taste

  • Crusty bread, for serving, optional

Steps to Make It

  1. Gather the ingredients.

    Ingredients for fried peppers with garlic gathered

    The Spruce Eats / Cara Cormack

  2. Rinse the peppers with cold water and cut off the stems. Slice the peppers in half, lengthwise, and discard the seeds and veins.

    Slice the peppers in half, lengthwise, and discard the seeds and veins

    The Spruce Eats / Cara Cormack

  3. Cut the flesh of the peppers into large pieces. You should end up with pieces about 1 1/2 inches square.

    Cut the flesh of the peppers into large pieces

    The Spruce Eats / Cara Cormack

  4. Peel all the garlic cloves and mince. You can also use a garlic crusher or a cheese grater to speed up the process.

    Peel all the garlic cloves and mince

    The Spruce Eats / Cara Cormack

  5. In a large frying pan, add the olive oil and warm it over medium heat.

    Oil in a frying pan

    The Spruce Eats / Cara Cormack

  6. When the olive oil is hot, add the peppers and garlic into the frying pan. Stir often until peppers are soft; this will also prevent the garlic from burning.

    When the olive oil is hot, add the peppers and garlic to the frying pan

    The Spruce Eats / Cara Cormack

  7. Salt peppers to taste. Remove the peppers from the pan and place in a serving dish.

    Remove the peppers from the pan and place in a serving dish

    The Spruce Eats / Cara Cormack

  8. To serve as a tapa, spoon some of the peppers onto slices of crusty, rustic bread or baguette. You could also arrange slices of bread next to a bowl with the peppers and provide a spoon for your guests to top the bread slices themselves. Enjoy hot, warm, or cold.

    Fried peppers with garlic in a serving dish

    The Spruce Eats / Cara Cormack

Tips

  • Remember that olive oil has a smoke point considerably lower than other vegetable oils. If the pan smokes, discard the oil and start again to avoid a bitter flavor in your food.
  • You could also blend the peppers and use the thick preparation as a flavor base for a vegetable soup or rice.

How to Store and Freeze

  • These fried peppers keep well in an airtight container in the fridge for up to seven days.
  • You could double or triple the amounts in the recipe and freeze the peppers in a container or freezer bag for up to a year. Remember to label the bags.
  • When you want to use the frozen peppers, thaw them in the refrigerator and use them within three to four days.
  • They will work well as a tapa or side dish when thawed and heated.
Nutrition Facts (per serving)
260 Calories
27g Fat
5g Carbs
1g Protein
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Nutrition Facts
Servings: 4
Amount per serving
Calories 260
% Daily Value*
Total Fat 27g 35%
Saturated Fat 4g 19%
Cholesterol 0mg 0%
Sodium 81mg 4%
Total Carbohydrate 5g 2%
Dietary Fiber 1g 4%
Total Sugars 2g
Protein 1g
Vitamin C 77mg 384%
Calcium 19mg 1%
Iron 1mg 4%
Potassium 125mg 3%
*The % Daily Value (DV) tells you how much a nutrient in a food serving contributes to a daily diet. 2,000 calories a day is used for general nutrition advice.
(Nutrition information is calculated using an ingredient database and should be considered an estimate.)