Why You Never See Green Bell Peppers In Multi-Packs
It seems a little exclusionary, doesn't it? The red, yellow, and orange bell peppers get to have fun together in a multi-colored three-pack while the green bell pepper is always on its own. But there's actually two good reasons you don't typically see the green bell pepper packed in with the others. It all comes down to cost and taste.
Yellow, orange, and red bell peppers are just the ripened form of their green counterpart. All peppers begin with a green hue and, as they mature on the plant, they turn yellow, orange, and then red. Because green peppers are harvested before they're completely ripe, they require less time to produce and are thus cheaper than other colors.
Because green bell peppers are less expensive, grocery stores usually refrain from adding them to the multi-packs, as consumers have found them to be not cost-effective. When some retailers did try to package them together, the green-yellow-red packs weren't big sellers.
Different colors taste different and are used differently
Bell peppers, one fruit that's often mistaken as a vegetable, vary as much in taste as they vary in color. Green bell peppers taste more bitter than the others for the same reason they cost less: they didn't harvest as long. As peppers ripen, they become sweeter. So, yellow peppers are sweeter than green, and orange versions are sweeter than yellow. As the most fully ripened bell pepper, the reds are the sweetest of them all.
Because the different colors taste differently, they also often serve different purposes in the kitchen. The bitterness of green bell peppers make them best for cooking with, although you can still make delicious recipes with red bell peppers.
The sweetness level in reds and orange also makes them well-suited for eating raw or with a dip — use Gordon Ramsey's hack for julienned peppers next time you want to slice some up for a snack. The difference in taste and use, in combination with the lower cost of green bell peppers, means you shouldn't expect to see them mingling in a pack with the other colors any time soon.