Can You Eat Bell Pepper Seeds? (Explained)

Can You Eat Bell Pepper Seeds

We’ve all been there. You start chopping your vegetables for the next meal and when you cut open the bell pepper – you’re greeted by a pepper full of seeds.

Normally you remove the seeds from hot peppers but bell peppers aren’t spicy. So is it better to just leave the seeds in there or should you remove them?

So can you eat bell pepper seeds?

Bell pepper seeds are edible and not toxic. However, pepper seeds can have a slightly bitter taste and will add a hard crunchy texture. You may want to remove pepper seeds when using a large number of peppers.

Ultimately, it comes down to personal preference if you want to take the time to remove all the seeds. The flavor and texture of the dish will not be dramatically altered if a few seeds remain.

Now let’s cover some frequently asked questions with pepper seeds and cover some tips on how to remove them.

Why Do We Remove Pepper Seeds?

Since bell pepper seeds are edible and non-toxic then why do we even bother removing them?

The most common reasons for removing bell pepper seeds is due to the flavor and texture.

Bell Pepper Seeds Removed

Bell pepper seeds, and all pepper seeds for that matter, are slightly bitter. So having a lot of pepper seeds will adding a stronger bitter taste to your dish versus having none or just a few.

Pepper seeds will also retain their hard texture even when cooked so this can add an unpleasant crunchiness to a dish.

Do Pepper Seeds Make The Pepper Spicy?

A common misconception is that the seeds are where the spiciness is stored in a pepper.

Pepper seeds themselves do not make the pepper spicy. However, the white membrane, called the pith, is where capsaicin is found in peppers.

So if you want to reduce the spiciness of a pepper then removing the white inner parts of a pepper will help turn down the heat.

Although bell peppers aren’t particularly spicy peppers, they still have spiciness stored in the same location as other peppers. So by removing the white membrane, or the pith, within the bell pepper, you will be removing any spiciness the pepper has.

How To Remove Pepper Seeds

There are a few ways to remove the pepper seeds out of a bell pepper. Here are the steps that I personally follow in order to remove the seeds from a pepper.

  1. Cut the bell pepper lengthwise down the middle
  2. Open the pepper so you have two halves facing up
  3. Cut around the stem at the top which will remove the bulk of the seeds
  4. Discard the stem with all the seeds
  5. Trim the remaining seeds out
  6. Rinse the peppers with running water to remove all remaining seeds

Now your peppers are ready to be sliced, diced, or chopped and used in any dish.

There are also pepper deseeding tools if you want to quickly remove the seeds out of peppers. This tool is great if you need to remove the seeds from a lot of peppers.

You can find pepper deseeding tools on Amazon.

Are Bell Pepper Seeds Edible?

Bell pepper seeds are edible. The pepper seeds will not harm you and will pass through your body.

Are Bell Pepper Seeds Toxic Or Poisonous?

Bell pepper seeds are not toxic or poisonous.

Much like hotter pepper seeds, you can eat bell pepper seeds without worrying about any issues related to the seeds themselves.

Final Thoughts

Bell peppers are a popular and healthy ingredient that’s great to use for a variety of dishes.

Preparing a bell pepper by removing the seeds is a simple and easy step that helps enhance the flavor of this fruit. More importantly, removing the seeds doesn’t have to be a perfect job since the seeds are edible and non-toxic.

So open up that bell pepper, remove its seeds, and include this delicious ingredient in your next meal.

Steven

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