Pimento vs Cherry Pepper, 0 SHU Against Up to 500 or More

Are pimento peppers the same as cherry peppers?

No. They are two different sweet-pepper shapes that both turn red, and only one of them can carry heat. Kentucky's crop profile describes pimentos as sweet, heart-shaped peppers that ripen from green to red, and cherry peppers as small, ¾ to 1½ inches across, and anywhere from sweet to hot¹.

1Pimento: conical, 2–3 inches wide by about 4 inches long²2Thick wall, which is why it roasts and jars well²³3Cherry: round, ¾–1½ inches, sweet to hot¹

1. Pimento: conical, 2–3 inches wide by about 4 inches long²
2. Thick wall, which is why it roasts and jars well²³
3. Cherry: round, ¾–1½ inches, sweet to hot¹

So size alone sorts most of them. Virginia Cooperative Extension measures the pimento at 2 to 3 inches wide by about 4 inches long, thick-walled, and used when red and fully ripe². A cherry pepper of 1½ inches would sit inside that outline with room to spare.

Iowa State's pepper table backs up the walls: it lists both as thick-walled, the pimento as large and heart-shaped, and the cherry as small, round and slightly flattened, with both grown mostly for processing³. That shared thick wall is why you find both in jars.

Is a cherry pepper spicier than a pimento?

Almost always, yes, because a pimento has no heat to compete with. Iowa State's heat chart puts the pimiento in its 0 SHU band beside bell peppers, and the cherry (cereza) at 100 to 500 SHU³.

That is the cherry you meet in a garden-variety jar. The hot ones go further. Virginia's guide says large cherry peppers are very hot, milder than a serrano but hotter than a jalapeño², and the jalapeño runs 2,000 to 8,000 SHU⁴.

Put the sources side by side and the picture is clear:

• Pimento, by number. Iowa State lists it in the 0 SHU band with bell peppers³.
• Pimento, in words. The UC Master Gardeners, Kentucky and Virginia all call it sweet or mild²⁵.
• Typical cherry, by number. Iowa State gives 100 to 500 SHU, enough for a faint warmth³.
• Typical cherry, in words. The UC Master Gardeners call it mildly spicy, sweet and slightly tart⁵.
• Large hot cherry. Virginia gives no number, only its place between the jalapeño and the serrano².

A pimento never brings heat; a cherry pepper's heat depends on which cherry you bought.

Kentucky defines sweet peppers as those with no capsaicin, like the 0 SHU bell¹, and the pimento falls on that side of the line. So the honest answer to "are pimentos spicier?" is no, and to "are cherries spicier?" is yes, by a little or by a lot.

How do pimento and cherry peppers taste?

Both taste sweet first; the cherry adds a tart edge. The UC Master Gardeners describe the pimento as sweet, mild and smooth, with a fruity and earthy flavor, and the cherry as mildly spicy, with a sweet and slightly tart undertone, ideal for pickling⁵.

Pimento

Cherry pepper

• Sweet, mild, fruity and earthy⁵FlavorMildly spicy, sweet and slightly tart⁵
• Heart-shaped, about 4 inches long¹²Size and shapeRound, ¾–1½ inches¹
• Thick²WallThick³
• Red and fully ripe²PickedOrange to deep red²
• Good for containers⁵Garden noteIdeal for pickling⁵

The tartness and the small, round shape are what make the cherry a pickling pepper. A pimento's broad, thick flesh suits roasting and slicing into strips, where its sweetness carries the dish.

Why does a jar of cherry peppers say hot while the pimento jar never does?

Because cherry peppers come in sweet and hot types, and pimentos come only sweet. Virginia's guide files sweet cherry with the mild peppers and large cherry with the hot ones, next to cayenne and tabasco². Kentucky sums it up as "sweet to hot"¹.

Seed catalogs add hybrids on top of that. Texas A&M lists the Cherry Bomb among its hot hybrids and specialty varieties⁶. So when you see "hot cherry peppers" on a label, take it at its word, and when the jar says only "cherry peppers", taste one before you build a sandwich around them.

Can you use cherry peppers instead of pimentos?

Yes, as long as you pick the sweet ones and accept a smaller pod. The thick wall carries over, so roasted, jarred or diced uses work. Weigh rather than count, since one pimento holds the flesh of several cherries.

The other direction is simple too: a pimento can stand in for a sweet cherry anywhere you cut the peppers up. You lose the tart note, so a splash more vinegar in a pickle or a dressing brings it back. For a swap list ranked by heat, the cherry pepper stand-ins give amounts for both the sweet and hot routes.

How many cherry peppers make one pimento?

About six, if you go by volume. Treat the pimento as a cone 2½ inches wide and 4 inches long, the middle of Virginia's measurements², and its volume comes to about ⅓ × 3.14 × 1.25² × 4, or 6.5 cubic inches. A 1¼-inch cherry, the middle of Kentucky's ¾ to 1½ inches¹, is a ball of about 4/3 × 3.14 × 0.625³, or 1 cubic inch.

So when your recipe asks for one pimento, start with six sweet cherries and adjust by eye. The real pods are lumpier than our cone and ball, but the estimate gets you within a pepper or two, and both have thick walls, so the flesh per cubic inch runs close.

Will your pimentos turn hot next to cherry peppers in the garden?

No. Maryland Extension says that planting sweet types next to hot ones will not make the sweet peppers hot⁷. Your pimentos stay sweet beside a row of hot cherries; only seed you save from them might carry a cross.

Both peppers ripen to red, and Virginia notes that pimentos are mostly used red and fully ripe², so plan on the longer end of that window. Maryland gives bell peppers 70 to 80 days to mature green plus 2 to 3 weeks to full color⁷; a thick-walled pimento follows the same slow finish. Cherry peppers you can pick from orange to deep red², which gets your first jar going a little earlier.

The UC Master Gardeners call the pimento good for containers⁵, so a balcony pot works if you lack a bed. Maryland adds a warning for both: nights above 75°F slow or stop pod set⁷. In a heat wave you may see flowers drop, and the plant picks up again when nights cool.

Is it pimento or pimiento?

Both, and they mean the same pepper. Kentucky's crop profile writes "pimientos or pimentos" in one breath¹, and Iowa State's Spanish-language guide uses pimiento³. Pimiento is the Spanish spelling; pimento is the common English one on jars and seed packets.

The spelling never changes the pepper inside. If you see either word on a label, you are looking at the sweet, heart-shaped pod from this page, not a hot pepper and not a cherry.

How long do pimentos and cherries keep in your fridge?

About as long as any fresh pepper, if you store them right. The UC Master Gardeners say fresh peppers keep best refrigerated at 45 to 55°F with 90 to 95 % humidity, that you should freeze them for long storage, and that you should keep them away from apples and bananas, whose ethylene gas harms them⁵.

Your crisper drawer is the closest you will get at home. When a bumper crop comes in, pickle the cherries, since they are the jar pepper, and roast and freeze the pimentos in flat bags, since their thick strips thaw well for salads and spreads.

What turns a pimento into paprika?

Drying and grinding. Kentucky says dried, ground pimientos are sold as sweet paprika¹, which is why a jar of sweet paprika tastes like a concentrated version of the fresh pod.

You can use that at home. If your pimento crop outgrows your fridge, slice and dry the extras until brittle, then grind them for a homemade sweet paprika. Cherry peppers can go the same route, but a hot cherry makes a hot powder, so keep your batches labeled.

Pimento or cherry for your next jar, salad or stuffing?

If you are filling jars, the cherry is the pepper built for it, and the pickling steps walk you through brine and processing times. If you are roasting, the pimento's thick, broad wall gives you the most flesh for the effort.

Your next step: if your cherry peppers turned out hot and you want to know how they stack against the pepper you know, the cherry pepper and jalapeño comparison lines them up.