Poblano vs Bell Pepper, 2,000 SHU Against Zero

How much hotter is a poblano than a bell pepper?

A poblano rates 1,000 to 2,000 SHU and a bell pepper rates 0¹. That makes it a pairing of mild against none: the chart above shows a short poblano bar at the bottom of the mild band and nothing at all for the bell.

Poblano

Hotter

Heat

1,000–2,000 SHU, mildly hot¹²

Iowa State band

1,000–1,500 SHU, beside the ancho³

Dried form

Ripe red and dried, it becomes the ancho¹

VS

Bell pepper

Heat

0 SHU¹²

Iowa State band

0, with pimiento and sweet banana³

Lab test

No capsaicinoids detected in the cultivar 'Cardinal'⁴

The bell's zero is real, not rounded. A 2013 HPLC study found no capsaicin and no dihydrocapsaicin in a red bell cultivar, while a dried ancho from the same trial, the poblano's dried form, tested at about 19,300 SHU on a dry-weight basis⁴. That dry-weight figure runs high because water no longer dilutes the heat, so read the fresh range for cooking.

So any heat you taste in a stuffed poblano comes from the pepper, and any heat you taste in a stuffed bell comes from your filling. If someone at your table finds even a jalapeño too much, the poblano is about the gentlest chile you can serve them, and the bell is the only pick with none.

How do you tell the two pods apart in the store?

By length. A poblano runs about 4 inches long and 2 inches wide, with thick walls¹. A medium green bell measures about 2¾ inches long and 2½ across⁵, so it looks almost as wide as it is tall. Put one of each in your hand and the poblano feels long and flat, the bell round and hollow.

1Poblano: about 4 inches long, 2 wide, tapering¹2Bell: blocky, four lobes, about 2¾ × 2½ inches¹⁵3Both have thick walls¹

1. Poblano: about 4 inches long, 2 wide, tapering¹
2. Bell: blocky, four lobes, about 2¾ × 2½ inches¹⁵
3. Both have thick walls¹

Color helps you too. A poblano at the store is dark green and turns red when ripe¹; NMSU notes that US produce markets use the name poblano for a fresh green ancho or mulato⁶. A green bell is a lighter, glossier green and ripens to red, orange or yellow¹.

Trust your eyes over the sign on the bin. If the pod in your hand is long, dark and pointed, you are holding a poblano; if it sits upright on three or four lobes, you have a bell¹³. Miniature bells exist too, only 1 to 2 inches long when ripe⁷, so size alone can fool you in a mixed bag.

What does a poblano taste like next to a green bell?

Deeper. UF/IFAS calls the poblano's flavor rich and melon-like¹, and UC Master Gardeners describe it as earthy, smoky and fruity⁸. The bell brings you sweetness and crunch with no heat, and its green form is simply a red bell picked early⁸, which is why your green bells taste sharper than your red ones.

One detail from that UC sheet is worth knowing: the black and purple bells are slightly spicy⁸. If a recipe counts on zero heat, buy green, red, yellow or orange.

Which one has more vitamin C, fiber and sugar?

The poblano, on most counts. USDA's records give it more vitamin C, protein and fiber per 100 g than raw green bell, and slightly more sugar⁵⁹.

Put that on a plate. One medium green bell weighs 119 g⁵, so it carries about 96 mg of vitamin C (119 × 0.804). The same 119 g of seeded poblano carries about 152 mg (119 × 1.28)⁹. The two records come from different USDA datasets, so treat the gap as a fair guide, not a lab duel.

Leave either pepper on the plant to color up and Maryland Extension says the fruit gains vitamins A and C¹⁰. A red poblano or a red bell is the richer pick of each, so if your recipe works with either color, you lose nothing by choosing red.

What happens when you dry a poblano, and can you dry a bell?

A dried poblano becomes a new ingredient with its own name. Let a poblano ripen red, dry it, and you have an ancho¹; NMSU calls the ancho a pre-Columbian pod type from Mexico that matures red, and the mulato a close relative that turns brown⁶. Iowa State keeps the ancho in the same 1,000 to 1,500 SHU band as the fresh pod³.

The ancho also held its heat well under stress. In the 2013 trial a heat-stressed greenhouse crop of ancho tested about 20,300 SHU dry weight against 19,300 in the field, while the jalapeño in the same trial lost about 61 %⁴. That steadiness is one reason you can trust an ancho to stay mild from one bag to the next.

A bell has no famous dried form, but its sweet relative does. Kentucky's crop profile says pimientos, sweet heart-shaped peppers, become sweet paprika when dried and ground⁷. So if you want the color and sweetness of a bell in a dry rub, a spoon of the sweet kind gets you there, and you still add no heat.

Which one should you stuff, roast or eat raw?

Pick by the job. Both have thick walls and hold a filling¹, and Iowa State notes that 'California Wonder' bells stuff well³. What changes is heat, flavor and whether you need to peel.

A good middle path for a mixed table: stuff half poblanos, half bells in the same tray, with the same filling. You serve one dinner, and each guest picks the heat they want. Mark the poblanos with a strip of cheese on top so nobody grabs the wrong one.

How do you roast a poblano so the skin slips off?

The poblano's skin is tough enough that most recipes peel it, and NMSU's blistering method works well for it¹¹. A bell you can roast the same way, but it is optional, since you often eat it raw.

1. 1

   Slit and heat

   Wash and dry the pods and cut a small slit so steam can escape. Heat the oven, broiler or gas grill to 400–450 °F.¹¹

2. 2

   Blister for 6 to 8 minutes

   Turn the pods often until the skin blisters all over and pulls away from the flesh.¹¹

3. 3

   Steam in a covered bowl

   Put the hot pods in a covered heat-safe bowl or a food-grade bag so the steam loosens the skin.¹¹

4. 4

   Peel and chill

   Pull the skin off with a gentle tug; scrape any stubborn patch. Refrigerate within 2 hours and use or freeze within 3 days.¹¹

Frozen roasted poblanos keep up to 12 months¹¹. If you roast a big bag, freeze them flat in packs no deeper than 2 inches so you can break off one pod at a time. NMSU also notes you can freeze whole pods unpeeled, and the skins come off more easily after thawing¹¹, which saves you the steaming step on a busy day.

How much bell pepper replaces a poblano, and the other way round?

Weight for weight. Both pods have thick walls and similar water, 92.8 g against 93.9 g per 100 g⁵⁹, so they cook down alike in your pan and you can keep your cooking times.

If you want a pepper between the two, the Anaheim against the poblano covers a long, mild chile that peels the same way.

Will a poblano planted beside your bells make them hot?

No. Maryland Extension says planting sweet types near hot types will not make the sweet peppers hot¹⁰. Cross-pollination only shows up in the seed, so saved seed can give you an odd plant next year.

The two crops run on a similar clock. Maryland gives bells 70 to 80 days from transplanting to green maturity, plus 2 to 3 weeks more to color¹⁰; Iowa State lists bell cultivars from 63 to 80 days³. UF/IFAS says the poblano keeps producing through the summer², so one or two plants feed a household.

Your next step: decide on the dish with the checklist above, then weigh your pods against the swap table before you shop. If the poblano's heat is the question, the poblano against the jalapeño shows the next step up, and the ancho entry covers the dried form.