A medium bell pepper contains roughly 30 calories, making it one of the lowest-calorie vegetables you can eat. Hot peppers like jalapeños and serranos are even lower, coming in at just 2 to 4 calories each. The exact count depends on the type of pepper, its size, and whether it’s fresh or dried.
Bell Pepper Calories by Color
Bell peppers are the most commonly searched variety, and the calorie differences between colors are small. A medium bell pepper weighs about 119 grams and contains around 30 calories regardless of color. Red and yellow peppers tend to sit a couple of calories higher than green ones because they’re riper and contain slightly more sugar, but the difference is negligible for anyone tracking intake.
The macronutrient breakdown for a medium bell pepper is simple: 6 grams of carbohydrates, 2 grams of fiber, and 3 grams of sugar. There’s virtually no fat or protein. Half the carbs come from natural sugars, which is why red and yellow peppers taste noticeably sweeter than green ones. That sweetness develops as the pepper matures on the vine, converting starches into sugar.
Hot Pepper Calories
Hot peppers are significantly smaller than bell peppers, so their per-pepper calorie counts are tiny. A single raw jalapeño has about 4 calories. A serrano pepper comes in at roughly 2 calories. Habaneros, despite their intense heat, land in a similar range of 5 to 8 calories per pepper depending on size.
Because you typically use hot peppers in small quantities, their calorie contribution to a meal is essentially zero. Even if you dice up several jalapeños for a batch of salsa, you’re adding fewer than 20 calories from the peppers themselves. The compound that makes hot peppers spicy has no caloric value on its own.
Dried and Powdered Peppers
Drying peppers concentrates their calories by removing water. One teaspoon of paprika (about 2.3 grams) provides roughly 6.5 calories, with 1.2 grams of carbohydrate, 0.3 grams of protein, and 0.3 grams of fat. Chili powder and crushed red pepper flakes fall in a similar range per teaspoon.
That said, most recipes call for one to three teaspoons of these spices, so even dried peppers rarely add more than 20 calories to a dish. The calorie density matters more if you’re using large quantities, like coating a rub on meat or making a pepper-heavy sauce from scratch.
What Makes Peppers Worth Eating
The real story with peppers isn’t their calorie count. It’s what they deliver for those calories. One cup of chopped raw red bell pepper provides 191 milligrams of vitamin C, which is 212% of the daily value. That’s more than twice what you’d get from a medium orange. The same serving delivers 234 micrograms of vitamin A (26% of the daily value), mostly from beta-carotene, the pigment that gives red and orange peppers their color.
Green bell peppers contain less vitamin C and vitamin A than their red counterparts because they’re harvested earlier. If you’re choosing peppers specifically for nutrient density, red peppers give you the most per bite. Yellow and orange varieties fall between green and red.
The 2 grams of fiber in a medium bell pepper also adds up quickly if you eat peppers regularly. Fiber slows digestion, helps you feel full, and supports gut health. Combined with their high water content (about 92% water by weight), bell peppers are one of the most filling foods relative to their calorie count.
Calories by Preparation Method
Raw peppers are the baseline, but how you cook them changes the calorie picture. Roasting, grilling, or sautéing peppers without oil keeps the calorie count nearly identical to raw since cooking mainly evaporates water. A roasted bell pepper might weigh less after cooking, but it still contains the same 30 or so calories it started with.
Oil is where the numbers shift. One tablespoon of olive oil adds 120 calories, so sautéed peppers can jump from 30 calories to 150 or more depending on how generous you are with the pan. Stuffed peppers vary widely based on the filling. A bell pepper stuffed with rice, cheese, and ground meat can easily reach 300 to 400 calories per pepper, with the shell itself contributing less than 10% of that total.
Pickled peppers, like jarred jalapeños or banana peppers, stay very low in calories (around 4 to 10 per serving) but pick up sodium from the brine. If you’re watching salt intake, check the label, but calories aren’t a concern with pickled varieties.