Unlike their zero-heat bell pepper relatives, Mexibell peppers are a spicy yet sweet bell pepper hybrid that will give your palate a kick. Growers prefer the peppers because of their disease resistance and large fruit sizes.
What Is A Mexibell Pepper?
A Mexibell pepper is a Capsicum annuum hybrid between a red bell pepper and a hot pepper that was developed by Seeds by Design, a California-based wholesaler of specialty vegetables, flowers, and herbs.
Mexibell peppers are resistant to the tobacco mosaic virus (TMV), which endears them to commercial farmers and home gardeners in areas where the disease is prevalent.
The Mexibell became an AAS winner in 1988 when the All-America Selections recognized it as a new pepper variety with superior garden performance.
Color
Mexibell peppers start green and ripen to deep red at full maturity. A greenish-red color is observable during the transition from green to red at full maturity. Some characterize the red color as chocolate-red since it is a little darker than traditional red bell peppers.
Flavor
The flavor of a Mexibell pepper is likened to that of an Anaheim pepper, which has a sweet, smoky, and tangy taste with a mild heat that dissipates quickly.
The Mexibell pepper has a crisp garden-fresh flavor with undertones of heat.
Size And Shape
Mexibell peppers are large, wide, bell-shaped peppers that average 3-4 inches long. They have 3 or 4 lobes that are more conspicuous at the top than at the base.
Texture
The green or red skin of Mexibells is smooth and glossy. It flows over the pepper’s firm flesh, thick walls, white ribs, and wide cavity. The lobes are visible and can be felt by hand.
Are Mexibell Peppers Hot?
As mentioned, Mexibells aren’t the usual bell pepper or chili pepper-bell pepper hybrid. The Mexibells pack mild heat with a Scoville Scale range of 100-1,000 Scoville Heat Units.
The heat of the hybrid peppers actually manifests as an undertone, much like something that got into them as an afterthought!
Compared to other red jalapenos peppers (2,500-8,000 SHUs), the hottest Mexibell is eight times milder than the hottest jalapeno. The least hot Mexibell is 25 times milder than the least hot jalapeno.
How To Use Mexibell Peppers In Cooking
You can use Mexibell peppers in similar ways as bell peppers. They are excellent as stuffed peppers, given their thick walls and wide cavity. Stuff them with ground meat, grains, and cheese, then bake or grill them.
Fresh Mexibells are also ideal for grilling as a barbecue side. You can chop them fresh to flavor sauces, stews, and soups.
If you want a fresh salad with a little family-friendly heat, you can chop your fresh Mexibells into the salad. The pepper will add to the crunchiness and garden-freshness of your salad.
Where To Buy Mexibell Peppers
Mexibell peppers are rare in supermarkets in the U.S., but you can sometimes buy them from local farmers’ markets and chili farms close to you.
How Do You Grow Mexibell Peppers?
Like bell peppers, Mexibell peppers are easy to grow. The two peppers grow the same way, as they are just about the same pepper.
Mexibells do well in loamy, moist, well-drained soil. They thrive in the warm season and require full sun with partial shade during hot days, especially in the afternoon.
Mexibell vegetable seeds are available online from retailers like Amazon or offline at chili farms.
Sow the seeds indoors to transplant them outdoors after germination and hardening off. Plant the seedlings in the garden or containers with a garden spacing of at least 18 inches.
The open-pollinated pepper plants produce beautiful white flowers and do not require staking, even as the fruits are large and heavy.
While Mexibells mature to green in 120 days and red in 140 days, you can pick them while still green in 60-70 days after planting. The red ones pack more heat and sweetness than the green versions.
Substitutes For Mexibell Peppers
Sweet peppers with little to no heat are your best options for substituting Mexibell peppers. The heat and flavor profile may differ, but the sweetness will remain.
You can substitute them with zero-heat peppers like bell peppers, California Wonder peppers, carmen peppers, habanada, and gypsy peppers.
If you want your dish to pack some heat, you can replace Mexibells with pimento peppers (100-500 SHUs), Santa Fe Grande peppers (500-700 SHUs), aji dulce (0-1,000 SHUs), banana peppers (0-500 SHUs), and Anaheim peppers (500-1,000 SHUs).
Piquillo peppers and Mad Hatters are excellent Mexibell pepper substitutes, given their mild heat levels of 500-1,000 Scoville Heat Units.