Blistered Shishito Peppers with Soy Garlic Sauce

These cast iron blistered shishito peppers with soy garlic sauce will have you skipping them on restaurant menus and making them at home instead! This quick and easy pepper recipe is perfect for a nutritious snack, appetizer, or side dish.

What are shishito peppers?

Do you have a go-to appetizer that you know will be good? Shishito peppers are that app for me.

Shishito peppers are a mild green pepper from East Asia. They say that about 1 in every 10 shishito peppers are hot, but I typically never encounter spicy ones. 

Although you can eat shishito peppers raw, they’re most delicious when sautéed, grilled, or roasted with oil and a bit of flaky sea salt. My favorite way to enjoy them is, of course, blistered in a cast iron skillet.

Why this shishito peppers recipe works

• These shishito peppers are blistered to perfection, giving them a complex, charred, smoky flavor. 
• Sesame oil adds a delicious, nutty flavor that perfectly compliments the peppers. 
• Blistering these peppers gives them a satisfying crunch in contrast to their juicy insides. 
• Optional soy garlic sauce takes this appetizer to the next level, giving it a sweet, umami flavor with added garlic, chili sauce, and honey.

Ingredients needed

Here’s everything you’ll need…

• Shishito peppers
• Toasted sesame oil
• Garlic
• Low-sodium soy sauce
• Huy Fong chili garlic sauce
• Honey
• Sesame seeds

Are shishito peppers hot?

Shishito peppers are very mild (think green bell peppers), so they should be suitable for all spice tolerances. Do note that sometimes, you’ll get a random pepper with a slight kick to it!

How to cook shishito peppers

Cooking these shishito peppers takes just 10 minutes for an unreal flavor. While “blistering” may sound intimidating, it’s really just a fancy way of grilling your peppers until they have a nice char. Here’s how to do it:

Step 1: Blister shishito peppers

1. Drizzle 1 tablespoon of sesame oil in a cast iron skillet and turn your heat to medium-high. 
2. Add 6oz of peppers to the skillet and leave them undisturbed for two minutes. 
3. For the next eight minutes, begin pushing your peppers around the skillet, letting them blister on all sides. 
4. Your peppers will start to pop as they heat up. After ten minutes, take a knife and carefully pop any peppers that have failed to do so. 
5. Remove your peppers from the heat source once they’ve finished blistering. 

BLISTERING tip:

The high, evenly dispersed heat in a cast iron skillet is the quickest way to achieve the perfect blistered char on shishitos. If you don’t have a cast iron, a regular skillet will work, too.

Step 2: Coat in soy garlic sauce

These shishito peppers are delicious on their own, so skip this step if you prefer a subtler flavor.

1. Create your soy garlic sauce by whisking together 2 cloves of garlic, 2 1/2 teaspoons of low-sodium soy sauce, 1 teaspoon of sesame oil, 1/2 teaspoon of honey, and 3/4 teaspoon of Huy Fong garlic chili sauce. 
2. Add your prepared sauce to the hot skillet. It will steam at this point. 
3. Toss your blistered peppers in the soy garlic sauce until each piece is well-coated. 

SAUCE Tip:

Remove the cast iron from the heat before pouring the sauce in. This will prevent the garlic and honey from burning. 

Step 3: Garnish and enjoy!

1. Garnish your shishito peppers with toasted sesame seeds.
2. These peppers are best enjoyed right away while they’re still warm from the skillet. 

How do you eat shishito peppers?

To eat these shishito peppers, grab them by the stem and eat the entire pepper—just remember to toss the stem aside. 

Are shishito peppers good the next day?

While these peppers are best eaten warm from the skillet, they are still tasty the next day. The texture will be softer, losing some of that crispy char from the blistering process. 

To regain some of that crisp, I recommend reheating them in a cast iron skillet. 

If you still don’t love the texture, chop your blistered peppers up and add them to another dish, like a stir fry or salad.

How to serve blistered shishito peppers

These blistered peppers make a delicious snack all on their own, topped with sesame seeds and dipped into some Kewpie mayo. 

They’d also make a tasty side to any of your go-to dinners, particularly those with an Asian influence like my spicy chicken stir fry, vegetable low mein, or Szechuan cold sesame noodles. 

Finally, shishito peppers have quickly become a tapas staple. Serve up your very own “girl dinner,” including various small bites like my crispy tostones, garlic parmesan smashed potatoes, and honey-roasted coriander carrots. 

How to store blistered shishito peppers

You can safely store these blistered peppers refrigerated in an airtight container. They’ll be good for up to three days but will definitely decline in both texture and flavor.

To give them a little extra life, make sure your peppers have completely cooled before storing them, and keep them in the crisper drawer for the most consistent temperature. 

Love this appetizer? Try out these other recipes:

• Cast Iron Garlic Butter Dinner Rolls
• Fried Goat Cheese and Roasted Beet Salad
• Grilled Corn Halloumi Salad
• Vietnamese Shrimp Spring Rolls With Spicy Peanut Sauce
• Grilled Romaine Lettuce With Parmesan Vinaigrette

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