Grilled Peppers and Onions

Grilled peppers and onions are my answer to: "I'm grilling. What do I serve as a side dish?" I always have onions in the pantry and peppers in the vegetable crisper, and they grill up beautifully.

Grilling peppers and onions is how I learned to grill vegetables. Most grilled vegetables cook the same as these peppers and onions. Grill them over medium to medium-low heat, turning occasionally, until they get soft and have nice grill marks.

These easy grilled peppers and onions are a versatile side dish. If you already have the grill heated up to cook some burgers, try them on the side! I especially love them with Grilled Sausages.

Ingredients

• Onion
• Red bell peppers (or a mix of red, green, and yellow bell peppers)
• Kosher salt (or fine sea salt)
• Olive oil
• Balsamic vinegar
• Fresh ground black pepper

See the recipe card for ingredient quantities

How to Make Grilled Peppers and Onions

Prepare the peppers and onions

Cut the onion crosswise into ½-inch rings. Cut the peppers into planks by chopping off the top and bottom of the pepper, setting the pepper cut side down, then cutting each side away from the core to make the pepper into planks. Sprinkle the onions and peppers with the salt, then brush with the olive oil.

Preheat the grill to medium-low heat (300°F)

Set the grill up for direct heat cooking at medium-low (about 300°F). For my Weber Summit, this means preheating the grill for ten minutes with all burners on high. Then, I clean the grates with my grill brush and turn the burners down to medium-low.

Grill the peppers and onions

Put the onions and peppers directly over the medium-low heat. If you are cooking on a gas grill, keep the lid closed. Cook until the peppers and onions have grill marks, about 3 minutes. Flip the peppers and onions and cook until they have good grill marks, about 3 more minutes. Flip the peppers and onions, rotating 90 degrees as you flip them (to get diamond grill marks). Cook until the peppers and onions have another set of grill marks, about 3 more minutes. Flip and cook until the peppers and onions are softened, about 3 more minutes. (Sometimes, smaller pieces of pepper will blacken before they start to soften. If pieces need to cook more, but they're getting too black, stack them on top of each other and move them to a cooler part of the grill.)

Marinate the peppers and onions

Move the peppers and onions from the grill into a bowl, and pour the balsamic vinegar over them. Toss to coat, then let rest for at least 5 minutes and up to 15 minutes.

Serve

Cut any overly blackened edges from the peppers and onions. I serve peppers and onions one of three ways: whole, sliced into strips, or diced into a relish. Move the peppers and onions to a serving dish, and sprinkle them with ½ teaspoon of salt and the fresh ground black pepper. Pour the remaining balsamic vinegar from the marinating bowl over the top of the peppers and onions, serve, and enjoy!

Substitutions

• What kind of onion?  I usually cook sweet Vidalia onions. But white, red, or yellow onions all work in this recipe.
• What kind of pepper? I prefer red bell peppers because they're ripe. Green bell peppers are just bell peppers that haven't ripened yet. (That's why they're bitter compared to red bell peppers.) That said, I will buy a stoplight pack of peppers from my grocery store when I want a mix of colors with my meal.

Serving Suggestions

After grilling the onions and peppers, I serve them a few different ways:

• As a relish: I dice them, toss them with their sauce, and use them as a topping for sausages or burgers.
• As a vegetable side dish: I slice them crosswise into strips and serve them on the side or pile them on tortillas.
• As a sandwich: I leave them whole, put them in a bun, and top with some cheese and grainy mustard.

Recipe Variations

This recipe is a classic "what grows together, goes together" pairing. Peppers and onions come out of the garden at the same time. At some point in history, every cook has thought, "What if I combine these two…"

• Italian style: This recipe makes Italian-style peppers with olive oil and balsamic vinegar.
• Asian style: Use peanut oil, soy sauce, and a tiny drizzle of toasted sesame oil after cooking.
• Mexican or Tex-Mex style: Use canola oil and lime juice for the marinating step.
• Spanish style: Use olive oil and marinate with sherry vinegar.

Equipment

A grill and grilling tongs to flip the peppers and onions.

Some people like to use a grill basket to keep the peppers and onions from falling through the grill grates. I've never liked them; they're flimsy compared to my grill grates. They don't heat up, which gets in the way of browning the vegetables.

I flip carefully so the peppers and onions don't slip through the grates. Sure, I lose the occasional pepper or onion into the grill, but not so often that I want to mess with a grill basket.

Leftovers

If you don't eat all the peppers and onions, the leftovers will last a few days in the refrigerator. Leftover peppers and onions make a smoky topping for sandwiches and salads. (I don't bother reheating them.)

Unfortunately, cooked peppers and onions turn to mush after freezing. You need to use them up within a few days of cooking.

How long does it take to grill peppers and onions on the grill?

It depends on your grill. On my grill, set to medium-low heat, it takes about 12 minutes, flipping the peppers and onions every three minutes.
But remember, grill temperatures vary a LOT. Keep an eye on the peppers and onions. They may need more time to brown or less time if they start to burn around the edges.

Print

Cutting a pepper into planks (pictures)

Chop the top off the pepper	Cut one side off...
...rotate, cut the next side off, repeat...	...until you have four planks and a pepper core

After grilling (pictures)

Balsamic on top	Toss to coat
Slice crosswise	Diced and ready to serve

Notes

• I like this as a side dish because I can make it on half the grill while my main course cooks on the other half.
• If the grill is too hot, and the skin of the peppers is overly blackened, don't tell anyone! Pretend they were supposed to be roasted red peppers and peel the blackened skin off the peppers before cutting them up.

What do you think? Questions? Other ideas? Leave them in the comments section below.

Related Posts:
Grilled Asparagus
Grill Roasted Fennel
Grilled Beets
Grilled Stuffed Jalapenos

Inspired by
I don't remember, specifically. I think it was Cooks Illustrated and Steven Raichlen, but I've done this recipe for so long that I forgot who taught me the basic technique.  I know Stephen and Cooks have both had good suggestions on how to grill vegetables, so I'm going with them.
Cook's Illustrated Magazine
Steven Raichlen: How to Grill

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