Banana peppers and Hungarian wax peppers are long, yellow, waxy Capsicum annuum peppers that look almost identical. Banana peppers are sweet and mild; Hungarian wax can be surprisingly hot.
What it is¶
Banana peppers and Hungarian wax peppers are two varieties of Capsicum annuum that are so alike they are often sold under each other's names. Both are long (10–15 cm), tapering, smooth and waxy-skinned, usually harvested pale yellow or yellow-green, and ripening on the plant through orange to red.
| Banana pepper | Hungarian wax | |
|---|---|---|
| Heat | 0–500 SHU (sweet to faintly warm) | 1,000–15,000 SHU (mild to hot) |
| Shape | Slightly curved, like a banana; tip usually rounder | Often straighter, slightly broader at the shoulder |
| Walls | Thin to medium | Medium, a little firmer |
| Typical use | Pickled rings, salads, sandwiches | Stuffing, frying, pickling, stews |
In practice the only reliable test is to taste: cut a thin slice from near the stem, where heat concentrates. The wide range for Hungarian wax is real, and one plant can produce both mild and quite hot fruit depending on sun and water stress.
Origins and history¶
Long, pale peppers of this kind have been grown in Hungary and the Balkans since chillies reached central Europe through Ottoman trade in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries (see how chillies spread around the world), and pale yellow and white peppers remain everyday vegetables in Hungarian markets. The Hungarian wax pepper as sold in North America is a descendant of these types, taken to the United States by central European immigrants and developed by American seed companies in the twentieth century.
The banana pepper is an American selection: the variety 'Sweet Banana' became popular with gardeners and commercial growers in the mid-twentieth century, and pickled banana pepper rings are now a standard sandwich, pizza and salad topping in North America.
Flavour and aroma¶
Banana peppers taste sweet, mild and slightly tangy, with a crisp, juicy texture and a faintly fruity note; pickling adds sharpness and softens them. Hungarian wax peppers have a similar bright, slightly citrusy flavour with heat that ranges from a gentle warmth to something closer to a serrano. Both become sweeter and fruitier as they ripen to orange and red.
In the kitchen¶
Banana peppers¶
- Pickled rings: in sandwiches, subs, burgers and on pizza; in American Greek-style salads alongside pepperoncini.
- Raw: sliced into salads and slaws.
- Stuffed: filled with sausage meat or cheese and baked.
Hungarian wax¶
- Hungarian cooking: pale peppers of this type are the classic base for lecsó (a stew of peppers, onion and tomato with paprika) and are stuffed in töltött paprika.
- Stuffed and grilled: halved, filled with cream cheese, feta or sausage, and grilled or baked; a milder alternative to jalapeño poppers.
- Pickled: whole or in rings, alone or in mixed pickles and giardiniera.
- Fried: sliced and fried with onions for sausages, or whole in olive oil.
💡 Quick pickled rings
Slice 500 g banana or wax peppers into rings. Bring 250 ml white wine or cider vinegar, 250 ml water, 1 tbsp salt, 1 tbsp sugar and 1 tsp mustard seeds to the boil, pour over the peppers packed in a clean jar, cool and refrigerate. Ready in a day, and keeps for a month or more in the fridge.
With Hungarian wax, taste first, and deseed if the peppers are hot.
Buying and storing¶
Choose firm, glossy, evenly coloured peppers without soft spots. Keep unwashed in the fridge for one to two weeks. They freeze reasonably well sliced, for cooking. Pickled rings keep for months unopened and several weeks in the fridge once opened. Label home-grown pickles clearly as sweet or hot: they look the same in the jar.
Substitutes¶
- Pepperoncini: similar size and tang, slightly more wrinkled; the closest swap for pickled banana peppers.
- Guindilla: the mild Basque pickled pepper.
- Cubanelle or other sweet frying peppers for banana peppers in cooking.
- For Hungarian wax heat, jalapeños or a mix of sweet pepper and a little serrano.
Pairs well with¶
Onion, tomato, paprika, garlic, vinegar, cheese (feta, provolone, cream cheese), sausages, ham, salami, olives, eggs, bread and pizza.
Growing your own¶
Both are easy, productive C. annuum plants 45–75 cm tall, well suited to British greenhouses and warm patios. Sow indoors in February–March at 20–25°C, pot on and plant out after the last frost or keep under cover. Pick when pale yellow and full-sized for the classic crunch, or leave to ripen orange and red for sweeter fruit. If you grow both, label the plants: they are almost impossible to tell apart by eye, and pods from the two can cross if you save seed. Water stress makes Hungarian wax hotter. See growing chillies.