How To: Make grilled bell peppers

Throw some red, yellow, and green peppers on the grill for a colorful and delicious side dish. Watch this video to learn how to make grilled bell peppers.

Step 1. Clean the grill

Clean the grill. For a charcoal grill, light some coals; with a gas grill, set it on high and close the lid. After about 20 minutes, let the grill cool. Then scrape off the burnt-on bits with a steel brush, and end by wiping down the grill with a clean cloth soaked in vegetable oil.

Step 2. Heat the grill

Heat a gas or electric grill to medium. If it's a charcoal grill, wait until the coals are ash-colored.

Step 3. Prepare the peppers

Rinse the peppers and then cut them in half, from top to bottom. Remove the stems, seeds, and the white parts. Coat both sides of each half with vegetable oil.

Marinate the peppers in balsamic vinegar for 20 minutes before cooking if you like.

Step 4. Place peppers skin-side down

Place the pepper halves skin-side down on the grill. Grill for four or five minutes on each side, turning once with tongs.

Step 5. Peel them

If you plan to peel the peppers, grill them until the skins are blackened, about 5 minutes on each side, and then put them in a closed paper bag until they are cool enough to handle. The charred skin should peel easily.

FACT: On average, yellow bell peppers have more than double the vitamin C of green ones, and red ones have the most beta-carotene.