Oven Roasted Shishito Peppers

These Oven Roasted Shishito Peppers are so easy to prepare in the oven with just a cast iron skillet, a little salt, pepper and oil. These slightly sweet, savory and smoky peppers are the perfect easy to make appetizer or side dish of the summer. Serve with a variety of proteins. These peppers are ready in just minutes, super delicious, totally low carb, keto & gluten free!

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Have you passed some bright green shishito peppers at the grocery store and felt intrigued, but unsure of what to do with them? You’re not alone, we pondered purchasing them many times! Until just recently, we hadn’t made shishito peppers at home, because we didn’t know how to prepare them and we had no idea what they tasted like. As it turns out, shishito peppers are super mild in flavor. They are a little sweet, a little smoky and a little savory. Shishito peppers aren’t spicy for the most part. Experts say about 1 in 10 are hot, and there’s no telling which ones will be spicy! We have yet to encounter a spicy shishito pepper to be honest, but we welcome the challenge of discovering one!

These oven roasted shishito peppers are seriously one of the easiest sides or appetizers ever. You won’t believe how simple they are to make. They don’t save well and are intended to be eaten right after they’re prepared, though you would be hard pressed to save any of them anyway. You can dip these roasted shishito peppers in your favorite sauce. We recommend this avocado lime crema, your favorite ranch dressing, or a tangy/smoky mayo based dipping sauce (we’re working on a recipe!)

Ingredients:

• Fresh Shishito Peppers
• Avocado Oil
• Pink Salt and Ground Pepper
• Ranch Dressing, Sriracha Chili Sauce + Fresh Lime Juice for Dipping (recipe coming soon)
• Maldon Sea Salt Flakes for finishing

How to Make This Oven Roasted Shishito Peppers Recipe:

• There’s really not too much to this recipe at all. First, preheat your oven to 450°F. Wash your peppers.
  
• In a bowl or in the cast iron skillet, coat with oil and salt. Toss or mix to combine so everything gets coated.

• Bake for 5-10 minutes, tossing once halfway through to make sure both sides are blistered. Remove from the oven, then add some fresh crashed black pepper, a squeeze of lime, and serve these roasted shishito peppers immediately with dipping sauce!

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What Proteins Should I Serve These Roasted Shishito Peppers With?

These shishito peppers are so delicious and delightful in flavor, they would go well with so many different proteins! One of our top choices would be to serve them alongside this chipotle lime shrimp, since it’s a similar flavor profile.

Our homemade keto maple bbq shrimp or oven baked pork ribs would also be obvious choices for us for a great sweet and spicy protein to pair with these shishito peppers. They would also be a tasty low carb alternative to french fries to serve with this delicious keto bbq bacon cheeseburger or this cheeseburger casserole. Another couple of delicious choices would be this sweet, savory and spicy keto brown sugar bacon wrapped chicken or these keto sloppy joes!

If you want to go a more rich, savory and umami route, serve these roasted shishito peppers with this homemade walnut pesto recipe!

What Do Shishito Peppers Taste Like?

Shishitos are a unique pepper, coming from East Asia, so you can find them in many Asian markets in the US. We got ours at Trader Joe’s and we’ve also seen them at Aldi. These unique peppers are a yellowish green to a bright green color. They taste a bit savory, mild, smoky and sweet. You can eat them raw or cooked. If eaten raw, they taste similar to a bell pepper, but a little sweeter. The most common way to eat shishitos is blistered. You can blister them in a skillet with oil on the stovetop on high heat, under the broiler, or in the oven for a few minutes at a high heat.

Are Shishito Peppers Spicy?

In general, shishito peppers are not spicy! We have yet to come across a spicy shishito pepper, but apparently, they exist. It is common knowledge that about 1 in 10 shishito peppers are actually quite spicy, but there is no telling if a pepper is spicy just by looking at one. Proceed with caution if you are going to enjoy shishitos, and be aware that you just may bite into a spicy one! If you do come across one, will you let us know in the comments?

How Should I Season These Peppers?

The sky is the limit with these roasted shishito peppers! We like to keep it simple with a little salt, pepper and oil, then drizzle it with a little fresh lemon or lime juice when it comes out of the oven. Then, we top it with some flaky sea salt. We made a flavorful dipping sauce by combining some ranch dressing with a little bit of fresh lime juice and sriracha sauce. It was delicious, and we hope to have a recipe of our own soon!

What Oil Do I Use?

For this recipe, using an oil that has a high smoke point is going to be best. We usually use avocado oil, since it has a very high smoke point of 520°F, which makes it a very great choice for this dish. The neutral flavor of avocado oil also makes it a good choice. Avocado oil is also considered a good choice for keto, low carb, or paleo diets, since it is one of the “cleaner” oil sources.

Most avocado is cold pressed, and avocados are naturally high in fat, making it a natural choice for extracting oil that is high in nutrients. Avocado oil is naturally high in vitamins A, E & D, plus lecithin, potassium, antioxidants and oleic acid, a very healthy fat! You can read more about the benefits of avocado oil here. Our favorite brand to purchase our avocado oil from is Chosen Foods. They also make mayo, salad dressings, and more.

If you don’t have avocado oil, you can use other oils with higher smoke points. Some common high smoke point oils are sunflower oil, grapeseed, safflower, corn, and canola oils. These oils are generally considered to be less healthy, since they are often highly processed. They will work for these oven roasted shishito peppers however!

What Pan Should I Use to Cook These Roasted Shishito Peppers?

We love cooking just about everything in our Lodge Cast Iron Skillets. Just recently, we got a 12″ Blacklock skillet by Lodge, and my goodness, it’s amazing! It’s triple seasoned, and extremely lightweight compared to our other skillets. Our only recommendation is making sure you don’t crowd the pan. You want the peppers to get as much contact with the pan as possible to make sure the skin blisters. If roasting in the oven like us, make sure you are using an oven safe skillet, which is why we always opt for our cast iron. You could of course use a baking sheet as well.

Can You Save the Leftover Cooked Shishito Peppers?

We recommend eating the peppers right after they are cooked, as they aren’t really known to save well. In other words, you should only cook the amount of peppers you will eat. There will likely not be any leftovers, so don’t worry about that. They are a totally crave worthy food if you ask us!

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More Recipes To Try:

• Roasted Green Beans with Garlic and Lemon
• Asparagus with Dill Goat Cheese and Lemon
• No Sugar Added Maple Glazed Carrots

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If you get a chance to try this recipe, let us know what you think, would ya?! Leave us a comment, or catch up with us on Facebook or Instagram, or pin to your favorite Pinterest board for later. We love sharing your versions of our creations over on Instagram @afullliving!

Until Next Time,
Briana & Chamere

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