If you’re looking for a great snack or the perfect appetizer, look no further than Shishito Peppers Air Fryer style. This super easy recipe for a tasty snack is made from simple ingredients and takes only 3 to 5 minutes of air frying.
Shishito Peppers
Have you tasted Shishito Peppers before? You may have seen them in the grocery store or in a CSA share and not known what to do with them. Or maybe you’ve seen them on a bar menu?
Perhaps you already love these fun little peppers but want to know how to cook them at home in your air fryer! Whichever one is you, welcome! We’ve got you covered.
Shishito peppers are small, vibrant green peppers with a wrinkly surface and thin skin. They cook in no time at all and are a great appetizer, side dish, or snack.
Shishito peppers -or Capiscum Annuum- originated in East Asia and are a popular accompaniment to beer there. They were popularized in Japan and Korea, where they are known as kkwari-gochu (or groundcherries) because its wrinkled surface resembles groundcherries.
Shishito Peppers Air Fryer style are undoubtedly an easy appetizer however you cook them, but it helps to know a little bit about what to expect when you bite into them. That is where the fun starts.
Air Fryer Shishito Peppers
Here’s what you need to make Shishito Peppers Air Fryer Style. Please note the absence of an unwieldy cast iron pan or grill!
We’ve got, as usual, an equipment list and an ingredient list. You’ll find these lists VERY short today.
Equipment for Making Air Fryer Shishito Peppers
- A Basket Style Air Fryer
- Tongs or a spatula
Air Fryer Shishito Pepper Ingredients
- Neutral oil like sunflower or canola oil
- Fresh shishito peppers
- Salt
- Optional, but tasty: soy sauce, furikake, sesame seeds
Are Shishito Peppers Hot?
People sometimes suggest that eating shishito peppers is like the tame, non-lethal food version of Russian roulette. So are shishito peppers hot?
9 out of every 10 to 20 shishito peppers are pretty mild; ranging from about 50 Scoville Units for the mildest to 200 Scoville Heat Units for the spiciest shishito pepper. Considering that jalapeno peppers start at 2,500 and can range up to 10,000 SHU, that makes these a pretty chill chili pepper.
That 10th pepper has a little giddy-up-and-go to it. These Japanese peppers are in general known for their mild heat, though.
You cannot tell that 10th pepper is a doozy by looking at it; at least not that I’ve found. Don’t fret, though, it is just enough to make your tastebuds tingle and make you come back for more, but it most definitely is not a face-melting level of spice.
If you’re still worried, I’d like to assure you that even if you do get the 1 spicy pepper out of 10, the heat dissipates quickly! It might
So this sounds like a non-answer, but the answer is that most of the time shishito peppers are not hot. However, every so often they are.
Where Can I Buy Shishito Peppers?
Shishito peppers are basically a unicorn side dish. They’re a vegetarian and vegan appetizer that takes very little cooking time and packs a nutritional wallop, too.
Are you wondering where to buy the peppers for your shishito peppers air fryer style? If your local grocery store is a Wegmans, I can almost guarantee they’re in stock.
Whole Foods and Trader Joes are two other stores that often carry shishito peppers. Many moderately well stocked grocery stores and local farmers markets also sell them.
Shishito Pepper FAQ
- 9 out of 10 shishito peppers are quite mild like green bell peppers. The 10th one can be moderately spicy.
- Shishito peppers are a popular bar food in Japan and are often served with beer.
- Most shishito peppers are 3 to 4 inches in length, thin walled, and a little wrinkly.
- Despite being wrinkly, a fresh shishito should still be firm, shiny, and unblemished. If it is slimy or soft, it is bad.
- The greener the cap and stem of the shishito pepper are, the fresher the pepper is.
- The bulbous stem end of these mild peppers is said to resemble a lion’s head (in Japan) and its name is actually a portmanteau of “shishi” (lion) and “tōgarashi” (chili pepper).
- The healthy pepper is an excellent source of Vitamin C, A, and E and B Vitamins.
- To store fresh shishito peppers, keep them dry and in a paper or plastic bag in the warmest part of your refrigerator for up to 2 weeks.
- Most shishito peppers are green, but if you find a red, orange, or yellow pepper in your bag, it’s still perfectly fine to eat.
- Shishito peppers are generally available year-round and are easy to grow in containers. They are considered “in season”, however, in summer and early fall.
Air Fryer Cooking Shishito Peppers
Air-fried shishito peppers don’t necessarily save you any cooking time, but they do save you space on your cook top or grill and they use less oil. Sometimes the best way to cook something is the way that saves you from slinging a cast iron skillet around.
As I mentioned above, you’ll want a basket style air fryer. These types are handy because they allow you to give the contents of the air fryer basket a good shake from time to time to ensure even cooking.
Shishito Peppers Air Fryer Style
Preheat the air fryer to 400ºF for 5 minutes.
While the air fryer preheats, pierce each pepper by running a skewer or toothpick through the pepper from side to side and removing it.
In a zipper top bag or mixing bowl, toss the shishito peppers together with the oil. Place shishito peppers in the preheated air fryer basket and return to the air fryer.
Air fry the shishito peppers at 400ºF (see notes) for 3 to 5 minutes, or until the peppers are slightly softened and nicely charred in places.
Transfer the shishito peppers to a plate, sprinkle with salt and sesame seeds. Drizzle with soy sauce and sesame oil, if desired, or serve with your favourite dipping sauce.
Shishito Peppers Air Fryer
Rate RecipeEquipment
- Basket Style Air Fryer
Ingredients
- 8 ounces shishito peppers
- ½ teaspoon neutral oil like sunflower canola, vegetable, or light olive oil
- Flaky sea salt or kosher salt to taste
- ½ teaspoon toasted sesame seeds
Optional but tasty:
- Soy sauce to taste
- Sesame oil to taste
Instructions
- Preheat the air fryer to 400ºF for 5 minutes.
- While the air fryer preheats, pierce each pepper by running a skewer or toothpick through the pepper from side to side and removing it.
- In a zipper top bag or mixing bowl, toss the shishito peppers together with the oil. Place shishito peppers in the preheated air fryer basket and return to the air fryer.
- Air fry the shishito peppers at 400ºF (see notes) for 3 to 5 minutes, or until the peppers are slightly softened and nicely charred in places.
- Transfer the shishito peppers to a plate, sprinkle with salt and sesame seeds. Drizzle with soy sauce and sesame oil, if desired.
Notes
Nutrition
Nutritional information is an estimate and provided to you as a courtesy. You should calculate the nutritional information with the actual ingredients used in your recipe using your preferred nutrition calculator.
did you make this recipe?
Make sure to tag @foodiewithfam on Instagram and #hashtag it #foodiewithfamily so I can check it out!
Comments + Reviews