Blistered Shishito Peppers with Goat Cheese & Spicy Honey Sauce
If you enjoy jalapeno poppers, you'll also enjoy this easy Blistered Shishito Peppers recipe with Goat Cheese & Chili Sauce. Shishito peppers are a nice change from jalapenos. This shishito pepper recipe makes a great light meal or party appetizer.
I first had shishito peppers at a local restaurant (that leans a bit towards farm-to-table) and my husband, friends & I immediately fell in love with them!
They served them tossed in a sweet & spicy glaze with a sprinkle of black lava salt, however, every time I went there, I ask them to sprinkle goat cheese over-top. Goat cheese combined with the shishito peppers and sweet and spicy sauce made sense to me. Now I don't want it any other way.
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How To Cook Shishito Peppers
You can cook these mild Japanese peppers on the grill, in the oven (roasting at a high temperature), in the air fryer or as shown here in a skillet. You can also use these as an ingredient for meatloaf (I make my meatloaf on the grill, yum) or whatever you typically use peppers for or in salads.
I find shishito peppers at my Saturday morning outdoor farmers market in Wrightstown, Bucks County PA. Farms in NJ and PA have been growing them since they became trendy and if you get to this 4-hour a week market early, you get all the best fresh local produce. I am very lucky to live in such a fertile, farm-filled area.
Growing Shishito Peppers is really easy as well, they are consistently one of my best producing garden vegetables! These days, even Home Depot sometimes carries shishito pepper plants.
Instructions
- All you need to do is blister the peppers in a pan or on the grill. Start by heating a pan.
- Toss your peppers in a tiny amount of olive or avocado oil.
- Once pan is hot enough that a water droplet "dances" across it, add your peppers.
- The shishito peppers will begin to pop and move slightly as some of their water content dissipates and they blister. Use tongs to gently move them around to evenly cook.
- Pull from heat and add the tiniest drizzle of olive or avocado oil, toss, plate and sprinkle them liberally with black lava salt (sea salt or truffle salt, whichever you have on-hand) and goat cheese.
- The dipping sauce is just 2 ingredients and ties it all together so definitely make that. I drizzle it overtop.
- For a more robust dish, serve this shishito pepper recipe with crostini rounds and simply scoop some up, drizzle with the sauce and inhale!
Are Shishito Peppers Hot?
Shishito peppers are mild. Once in a while, you may bite into a hot one but for the most part, they are tame. In all the years that I have enjoyed these peppers, only twice have I bitten into one and it was blazing hot!
Below are typical sized, raw shishito peppers.. Keep on the look out for these cute, flavorful, fun to eat Japanese peppers. Let me know what you think if you make them!
What are Shishito Peppers?
- Small East Asian peppers, shishito peppers are favored in Japanese recipes.
- Typically 2-3 inches long, they are light green in color.
- Shishito's are thinner than jalapeno peppers, and have a distinctive slightly wrinkly / wavy body.
- They are mostly mild tame. Most with no heat however every so often you could get a hot one. I've eaten a thousand of them over the years and have had only two memorable hot experiences.
- Enjoy raw, sliced into salads, sautéed, roasted or blistered. Blistering shishito peppers brings out a wonderful smoky flavor, compliments perfectly by salt (specifically black lava salt in my opinion).
Ingredients
- Olive or avocado oil
- Shishito peppers
- Honey
- Chili with garlic sauce or Sriracha
- Goat cheese
- Black lava salt or sea salt
Variations
- Choose to omit the goat cheese if you are not a fan
- Serve on crostini. Spread goat cheese, add pepper, whole (with stem removed) or chopped, drizzle with sauce and sprinkle on salt
- Enjoy without the sauce or salt and instead dip in your favorite type of aioli.
Pepper Recipes To Try
- Cuban Sandwich Stuffed Jalapeno Peppers - Move over tradition stuffed jalapenos, this one is a game changer!
- Jalapeno Relish - No canning needed, put this on all the things!
- Grilled Meatloaf Stuffed Peppers - These little meatloaf stuffed poblano peppers cook fast and are SO tasty! Add cheese overtop or not, great either way!
- Bacon Jalapeno Popper Quick Bread - One of my most popular recipes for a reason!
Let me know if you have any questions and enjoy!! XO - Colleen
Originally posted August 2017, updated May, 2024.
Shishito Peppers with Goat Cheese & Chili Sauce
Ingredients
- ½ TBS olive or avocado oil the higher the smoke-point the better
- 24 Shishito peppers
- 3 TBS honey
- ½ to 1 TBS chili with garlic sauce based on your preference for heat
- 2-3 oz goat cheese
- Black Lava Salt or sea salt
- Optional: Crostini
Instructions
- Toss peppers with oil in a large saute pan. Heat to med-high heat.
- Toss peppers every minute or so, be careful, once they get hot, they pop and sizzle. Remove from heat to toss necessary. You can lower heat to medium heat halfway through as well.
- While peppers blister, mix honey and chili with garlic sauce in a small ramekin until fully combined.
- Once peppers are evenly blistered (about 5-7 minutes)
- Turn peppers out onto a serving dish, sprinkle liberally with black lava salt, drizzle with salt, add goat cheese and enjoy.
- If serving with crostini, you can dot the serving dish with them and turn the peppers out on top of the crostini.
- Dig in!
