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If you love Cubanelle Peppers, you should stock up because they are in danger of going extinct. Else, you could wander in many stores without a single cubanelle.
Do not panic if you are planning to cook a Cuban Pepper dish but do not have it in your kitchen or cannot find any in the stores as you can always settle for other cubanelle pepper substitutes.
Talk of anaheim pepper, bell pepper, passilla chili peppers, poblano chili pepper, banana pepper, sweet chili pepper, pimento pepper, paprika, Thai prik num chili, and jalapenos. These are suitable alternatives to cubanelle pepper that you can use to spice up dishes your dishes.
They can be used raw or cooked to add flavor and provide a slightly zingy kick!
What Is Cubanelle Pepper?
Cubanelle pepper is an Italian pepper with a flavor similar to the famous Mexican jalapeño pepper. However, it is not quite as hot, making it a good choice for those who do not enjoy overwhelmingly spicy foods.
Cubanelle peppers are the best pepper for the BBQ because they can be eaten both raw and cooked.
If you are looking to try something new, this is it. Give them a shot, and you will not regret it. However, if you cannot find any, check the following options.
Cubanelle Pepper Substitutes
1. Bell Peppers
This one of the best cubanelle pepper substitutes! There are plenty of good reasons to choose bell peppers over cubanelle peppers, but the taste is obvious. Bell Peppers should be your first pick if you have a palate for sweeter foods.
The flavor is undeniable and easily outshines the savory flavor of cubanelle peppers. This allows you to add more spice to the dish without overpowering the bell pepper taste.
The other difference is size. Bell Peppers will generally yield more useable pieces per pepper than cubanelle peppers, meaning that you will pay less per serving.
Still not convinced?
Here is another good reason: they are easier to cut than cubanelle peppers. They are soft, easy to cut, and a lot less work.
You can replace cubanelle for bell pepper in virtually any recipe.
2. Anaheim Peppers
If you are looking for a pepper to add extra flavor and spice to your dishes, try Anaheim instead. Cubanelle peppers are sweeter.
There is enough capsaicin in Anaheim pepper to make you See-see-see soo-soo-soo! But not as hot as a jalapeno. Its Scoville rating is only 500 to 2,500 SHU.
They have a delightful, smoky flavor that makes them good when grilled or roasted in the oven.
3. Passilla Chili Peppers
Passilla chili pepper is a mild and sweet pepper that originates from Mexico. It is commonly used in both Mexican and Spanish cuisine.
Its rich taste makes it ideal for various dishes and can be eaten on its own or in sauces, stews, soups, or even pickled.
Passilla Chili Peppers have a fruity taste and are milder than Cubanneles.
Cubanneles are sweeter in comparison.
I would use Passilla Chili Peppers over cubanelle peppers because they have a much better flavor for making chili sauce.
4. Poblano Chili Pepper
Suppose it was a debate between Poblano Chili Pepper and Cuban pepper. In that case, we would say the winner is clearly:
Poblano Chili Pepper because it tastes better, has more nutritional content, and grows faster.
But that’s not the case. The question is whether Poblano Chili Pepper is a good Cubanelle pepper substitute.
And the answer is YES.
They are dark green and heart-shaped with mild heat to them. You can use them to replace cubanelle pepper, whether fresh or dried, in all sorts of dishes, including sauces, soups, chilies, and more.
5. Banana Peppers
Banana peppers are a type of pepper that is sometimes confused with cubanelle peppers. You might have seen them in dishes at a restaurant or even stuck into a sandwich.
However, the main difference between banana peppers and cubanelle peppers is that banana peppers are less spicy than cubanelle peppers.
The two types of peppers can look very much alike.
Although banana peppers tend to be thicker, shorter, and broader than cubanelle peppers, they have smoother skin, while cubanelle peppers are wrinkled with many bumps.
It would be best to choose banana peppers over cubanelle peppers when you want to use raw peppers in your dishes.
6. Sweet Chili Pepper
Cubanelle peppers and sweet chili peppers are both members of the species Capsicum annuum, which means they are both from the same genus of peppers.
Cubanelle peppers and sweet chili peppers are close cousins. Therefore, you can use them interchangeably whether sautéed, fried, or roasted and stuffed. Sweet Chili Pepper is like a cubanelle pepper optimized for consistency and flavor.
Both peppers have a mildly spicy taste, but cubanelle peppers tend to lean toward the hotter side of the spectrum, while sweet chili peppers have a sweeter taste and milder spice level.
The last major difference is color: sweet chili peppers are green at first, then turn red when they ripen. Cubanelle peppers, on the other hand, stay green throughout their lives!
7. Pimento Pepper
The pimento pepper is a lot more flavorful than the cubanelle pepper. It is also more aromatic, spicier, and much sweeter. I would use pimento peppers over cubanelle peppers because they have a richer taste.
Pimento peppers are best used in Italian dishes and are considered the most famous Italian sweet pepper.
Pimento peppers have a tangy flavor, making them perfect for pizza, pasta, and other tomato-based meals.
On the other hand, Cubanelle peppers have a mild flavor, making them ideal for stuffing and green salads.
8. Thai Prik Num Chili
The Thai Prik Num Chili is the better choice for your cooking over cubanelle peppers. The Thai Prik Num Chili is more flavorful than cubanelle peppers.
While the heat of the Thai Prik Num Chili can be intense, it delivers a much more nuanced flavor than cubanelle peppers.
Furthermore, the cubanelle pepper is very mild and often flavorless. It has little to offer as a seasoning beyond its texture, which many people find unpleasant.
The Thai Prik Num Chili has a bright and complex taste that can be used to bring out the best in other flavors in your dish.
This makes it less likely to mask or overpower other tastes that you want to highlight.
9. Jalapenos
If you’re looking for a spicy, fruity pepper to add to your dishes, then Jalapenos are a perfect choice. Aside from that, Jalapenos are a wide variety of chili pepper readily available in all grocery stores.
They are harvested when green and unripe. However, as they ripen, these peppers will turn bright red and become hotter in taste.
They have a Scoville rating of between 2,500 and 8,000, which means that Jalapenos can range from mildly spicy to quite hot, depending on when they were picked.
However, Cubanelle peppers have a milder Scoville rating of up to 1000.
This means that you’ll likely need more Cubanelle peppers than Jalapenos – depending on how much heat you want – to create the same level of spiciness in your dish.
Jalapenos are best used in salsas and dips and cooked into sauces or served fresh with salads and sandwiches.
10. Paprika
Paprika and cubanelle pepper are tasty options, but paprika is the way to go. First, it’s more versatile: you can use it in a lot more situations than cubanelle pepper.
It pairs exceptionally well with chili, cumin, and oregano, while cubanelle pepper is too sweet for those flavors.
Paprika is at its best when you’re looking for the perfect balance between sweet and spicy, like in Hungarian chicken paprikash or this chorizo potato hash.
Cubanelle pepper doesn’t necessarily need to be cooked, whereas paprika works best when cooked in oil before adding it to whatever you’re making.
Cubanelle peppers are much sweeter than paprika, so if you’re looking for something that will give your food a hot kick (while simultaneously waking up your taste buds), paprika is the way to go.
Frequently Asked Questions
What Are Cubanelle Peppers Used In?
Cubanelle peppers are a type of pepper used in much different cooking, but they are particularly well suited to stewing and pickling. In addition, they are often used in Italian dishes, including caponata, eggplant parmesan, and pasta sauces.
You can also use them to stuff other foods, like chicken or fish. The versatile Cubanelle peppers can also be grilled as part of a healthy appetizer or side dish.
Which Is Hotter Cubanelle Or Poblano?
Poblano! Cubanelle peppers are not even in the same league as poblano peppers. However, on the Scoville Scale rating system, Poblano has a rating of 1,000 SHU — that’s considered mild!
That’s because it’s only about half as hot as the Jalapeño pepper, which clocks approximately 2,500SHU. On the other hand, Cubanelle pepper has 0-1,000 on the Scoville scale. It’s so mild that it sometimes doesn’t register on the Scoville.
What Pepper Is Very Similar To Cubanelle Pepper?
When it comes to flavor and heat, the Cubanelle pepper is very similar to Anaheim pepper, Jalapenos, sweet chili peppers, Banana peppers, and Poblano Chili Pepper.
How Do You Make Peppers Taste Better?
If you’re sick of being disappointed by the flavor of your peppers, it’s probably because you’ve been using the same old prep method. We have a secret to share: roasting, grilling, sautéing, or frying. In addition, you can make your pepper delicious by putting them into a dish they’re meant to be in.
Conclusion
The sweet flavor and crunch of Cubanelle peppers are hard to replace. However, if you don’t remember to buy them in time for your meal preparation, you don’t have to delay the process when you can use other peppers in place of it.
The goal is to use an alternative similar to cubanelle pepper in taste and heat.
Luckily, the above are Cubanelle peppers substitutes that can save you time and energy and may still provide the same benefits as the Cubanelle pepper.
