Honey Garlic Blistered Shishito Peppers with Bacon

If you’re looking for a recipe that will steal the show, these honey garlic shishito peppers will be your newest obsession. In just 15 minutes, you’ll get a total umami bomb featuring charred peppers coated in a honey garlic sauce and piled high with crispy, salty bacon crumbles.

Blistered Sticky Sweet Heat Peppers

Shishito peppers are an adrenaline rush! While most are sweet, there’s always that one that hits you with that surprising punch of heat. In just a few minutes of hitting a screaming-hot skillet, the skin blisters, then softens, unlocking a mild, slightly sweet flavor with a hint of smoky char.

But why stop there? We’re tossing them in my rich, honey garlic sauce and finishing them with a shower of crispy bacon. You get a complex balance of sweet, salty, and savory, with the potential for a punch of heat. Let me show you just how easy this crowd-favorite recipe is, not only in the skillet, but I’m sharing how to make these in the oven and on the grill!

Honey Garlic Shishito Peppers Ingredients

Aside from a bag (or two) of shishito peppers and some bacon, this recipe relies entirely on simple pantry ingredients to make that honey garlic sauce.

• Shishito Peppers
• Crispy Bacon
• Honey Garlic Sauce

Chef Lori’s Tip for Charring Shishitos

• To get that perfect char without making the peppers soggy, do not crowd the pan, and make sure your peppers are as dry as possible. Leave a bit of the bacon drippings in the pan (or add a bit of neutral oil) over medium-high heat.
• You want the pan hot enough that they sizzle immediately, but not so hot that they burn before they soften.
• Lastly, make sure they are in a single layer so that every pepper gets direct contact with the pan.

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How to Make Honey Garlic Bacon Shishitos

Bringing this flavor-packed dish together is not only simple, but it takes only about 15 minutes from start to finish.

1. Add the bacon to a large skillet over medium heat. Cook the bacon until it’s crispy. *If using raw bacon, this will take about 5-8 minutes. The pre-cooked crumbles will take about 3 minutes.
2. If using raw bacon, discard all but 1 Tablespoon of the bacon drippings from the pan. If using the crumbles, add 2 Tablespoons of olive oil to the pan over a medium-high heat. Watch the surface of the oil as it heats. It will begin to shimmer and ripple, resembling waves. You do NOT want it to smoke.
3. Add the peppers to the pan in a single layer, making sure not to overcrowd them. Cook for about 4-5 minutes per side, until they are tender and charred.

4. Repeat step 3 in batches until all of the peppers have been cooked and charred. Add all the peppers back into the hot pan and spoon on the honey garlic sauce (it will sizzle and spatter, but that’s OK). Gently stir the peppers, ensuring the glaze coats every pepper.
5. Transfer the peppers and any remaining sauce from the pan to a serving platter and top with the crispy bacon.

Why You’ll Love This Recipe

I think what makes this recipe such a favorite is its unpredictability. About one in every 10 pepper packs packs a surprising punch of heat. By adding that honey garlic sauce paired with the salty, crispy bacon, even with that heat, it’s so perfectly balanced.

• READY IN 15 MINUTES: It takes less time to make these than it does to order takeout.
• TEXTURAL DREAM: You get the perfect contrast of tender, blistered peppers, sticky glaze, and crunchy bacon.
• THE HOMEMADE SAUCE: The garlic honey sauce lives rent-free in my house 365 days a year. Trust me on this, this sauce IS THE BOSS!
• MASSIVE FLAVORT, MINIMAL CLEANUP: Everything comes together in one pan, giving you a complex restaurant-quality dish without a sink full of dirty dishes.
• PERFECT PARTY SNACK: Since they have built-in handles (the stems), they are the perfect finger food for mingling, backyard BBQs, and game days.

How to Store Blistered Shishito Peppers

Blistered Shishito peppers are best eaten as soon as they are cooked. However, they can be stored in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 3 days.

Blistered Shishito Peppers FAQs

• Are these hot? As I mentioned above, they are usually very mild, but ~1 in 10 has a zing of heat. They are way less hot than a jalapeno.
• Can I make these ahead of time? They are best served fresh and hot right out of the pan, so the peppers stay tender and the bacon stays crispy. However, I do have reheating instructions below.
• Are these gluten-free? As long as the soy sauce used to make the honey garlic sauce is gluten-free, this recipe is 100% gluten-free. In the honey garlic sauce, I’ve included ways to make it gluten-free.
• Do you eat the whole shishito pepper? Almost! You’ll eat the entire pepper: skin, flesh, and seeds. The only part you discard is the woody stem.

Chef Lori’s Tidbit: What are Shishito Peppers?

Shishito Peppers are initially from Japan and aren’t known to be super hot. On the Scoville Scale, they range from 50 to 200 Scoville Heat Units (SHU). Think of it this way: a typical jalapeno pepper averages over 5,000 SHU. So, as I said, these are pretty mild.

That said, one out of every 10 peppers can typically be spicy. This is why they are sometimes called the “Russian Roulette” Peppers. You could eat nine that are mild, a tad smoky, and salty from the blistering. But then you eat that 10th one and reach for that glass of water, milk, or beer.

So why is that 10th one spicy? It all has to do with growing conditions, stress on the pepper plant, or other outside variables. And no, coloring difference doesn’t mean one is hotter.

Recipe Substitutions and Variations

• Bacon: Try crispy pancetta or chopped up crispy prosciutto
• Add Heat: If you want a bit more heat, add some hot honey to the honey garlic sauce, extra red pepper flakes, or some sriracha to the glaze
• Add Crunch: Add crushed, toasted peanuts or fried shallots on top
• Make it Vegetarian: Swap the bacon for toasted sesame seeds or flaky sea salt
• Shishito Peppers: If you can’t find them, use Mini Sweet Peppers or Spanish Padrón peppers instead.

How to Reheat Blistered Shishitos

You can keep them cold and eat that way, or add them to a skillet with a bit of oil and reheat them over medium heat until warm.

Ways to Serve Shishito Peppers

• Dipping Sauce: More Honey Garlic Sauce
• Appetizer: eat them as-is
• Crostini: place on a crostini with grilled shrimp or sliced chicken and more honey garlic sauce
• Pizza Topping

Shishito Pepper Recipe FAQs

• Are these hot? As I mentioned above, they are usually very mild, but ~1 in 10 has a zing of heat. They are way less hot than a jalapeno.
• How do you eat a shishito pepper?: You eat the whole pepper, seeds and all, but do not eat the stem.
• What does a shishito pepper taste like? They have a fresh, bell-pepper taste, with bright flavor and sweetness. However, you can get a jolt of heat in a random one.

Other Ways to Cook Shishito Peppers

Grilled Shishitos:

1. Preheat the grill to medium-high (about 425°F). Place a cast iron skillet over the flame and cook the bacon, removing the bacon from the pan once crispy. To a bowl add the peppers, bacon reserved bacon drippings and olive oil.; coat evenly.
2. You have 2 options, you can place the peppers directly on the grill, turning every couple of minutes or until all sides are blistered. Alternatively you can keep the cast iron pan on the flames and cook the peppers in the pan in batches.
3. Once all the peppers are blistered, add the peppers to the hot pan, and pour on the honey garlic glaze, mixing to coat evenly. Remove from the grill, plate, and sprinkle bacon crumbles.

Oven Broiled Blistered Shishitos:

For this way, cook the bacon in a large skillet. You’ll also use this same skillet to coat the peppers with the honey garlic glaze.

1. Place the oven on broil with the rack in the upper third. To a bowl add the peppers, bacon reserved bacon drippings and olive oil.; coat evenly.
2. To a foil-lined pan, spread out the coated peppers in a single layer.
3. Place the pan in the oven, under the broiler and cook for about 2 minutes; flip and continue broiling until the peppers are blistered. Remove from the oven, and transfer the peppers to the hot skillet, pour on the honey garlic glaze, mixing to coat evenly. Remove from the stovetop, plate, and sprinkle bacon crumbles.

Sticky Honey Garlic Blistered Shishito Peppers with Bacon

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Blistered to perfection and tossed in a sticky, homemade garlic-honey glaze, these shishito peppers hit every single craving. Top them with crispy bacon crumbles for a 15-minute, sweet-and-smoky umami bomb.

• Author: Lori
• Prep Time: 5 minutes
• Cook Time: 15 minutes
• Total Time: 15-20 minutes
• Yield: 8 appetizer servings

Ingredients

• 16 ounces (about 6 heaping cups) of shishito peppers
• 5 slices bacon (chopped small) or 1/3 cup pre-cooked bacon crumbles (not bacon bits)
• 1 Tablespoon Olive oil (if using raw bacon) or 2 Tablespoons if using pre-cooked bacon crumbles
• 1/3 cup honey garlic sauce

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Instructions

If starting with Raw bacon

1. Add the raw bacon to a large skillet over medium heat. Cook the bacon until it’s crispy. This will take about 5-8 minutes. Remove the bacon from the pan and set it aside.  
2. Discard all but 1 Tablespoon of the bacon drippings from the pan. Add the 1 Tablespoon of olive oil to the pan over a medium-high heat. Watch the surface of the oil as it heats. It will begin to shimmer and ripple, resembling waves. You do NOT want it to smoke. 

If starting with Pre-Cooked bacon crumbles

1. Add the pre-cooked bacon crumbles to a large skillet over medium heat. Cook the bacon until it’s crispy. This will take about 3 minutes. Remove the bacon from the pan and set it aside.  
2. Add 2 tablespoons of olive oil to the pan over medium-high heat. Watch the surface of the oil as it heats. It will begin to shimmer and ripple, resembling waves. You do NOT want it to smoke. 

Blister the Shishitos

1. Add the peppers to the pan in a single layer, making sure not to overcrowd them. Cook for about 4-5 minutes per side, until they are tender and charred. Remove from the pan and repeat the above step in batches until all of the peppers have been cooked and charred.
2. Add all the peppers back into the hot pan and spoon on the honey garlic sauce (it will sizzle and spatter, but that’s OK). Gently stir the peppers, ensuring the glaze coats every pepper.
3. Transfer the peppers and any remaining sauce from the pan to a serving platter and top with the crispy bacon.

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