Beginner‑Friendly Hot Peppers List
Jalapeño Seeds – we have not just one but 11 different varieties of Jalapenos, and they are some of the easiest hot peppers you can grow because they grow quickly and produce over a long season. Jalapenos also come in different colors and heat levels so you can pick your favorites! Like them HOT? We have a super hot Orange Jalapeno that packs up to 80,000 Scovilles. We even have a no-heat jalapeño if you love jalapeño flavor but can't take the heat.
Green & Red Chile Seeds – The infamous Hatch Chile and Pueblo Chile varieties are fast growing and easy to germinate and grow in any vegetable garden. These popular varieties originated in the short season high-desert climates of New Mexico and Colorado, but they do very well across all growing regions. These are big peppers, too, so they are fun for beginners! You can even grow them in large pots if you don't have a garden. Everyone is impressed by the size of these chiles! Plus when roasted, their flavor is out of this world.
Serrano Pepper Seeds – Serrano Pepper Seeds are easy to grow for beginners, and the plants are very productive. People love Serranos for their distinct flavor profile, featuring a bright, grassy taste and a significant but not overwhelming heat. They are great in pico-de-gallo!
Cayenne Pepper Seeds – Growing Cayenne peppers is easy and fun, making them a great choice for beginners and experienced growers alike. They have a nice moderate heat, and are great for sauces, hot sauces, salsas, and dried red chili flakes. We have a variety of Cayenne seeds including the wonderful Goat Horn pepper which is prolific, fiery and flavorful!
Cascabella Peppers – these yellow beauties are the very peppers that Mezzetta uses to make their famously delicious pickled Hot Chili Peppers. They are small but prolific, and very easy to pickle or to use in salsas or hot sauces. Check out our Pickled Cascabella Hot Pepper Recipe so you can make your own jars of delicious yellow hot peppers for snacking, sandwiches, or pizza toppings. They grow great in pots or in the garden. Cascabellas grow quickly and put out a TON of hot little golden pods so you can pick them all summer long. They have similar crunch to jalapenos, but are smaller in size, and start out green-yellow and ripen to orange and then cherry red when fully mature. They are typically picked when yellow to orange for pickling.
Habanero Seeds – these take a longer growing season, but they are relatively easy to grow for an extra hot pepper! Plus, they taste delicious so they are an all-time favorite. They also come in different colors beyond the classic Orange Habanero, so grow them all. Start Habaneros indoors earlier if you live in a short growing season region, they do take about 90+ days to start harvesting so they need time. In order to extend the season here in Colorado, we like to grow them in containers so that we can move them indoors or shelter if late spring or early fall cold weather is expected.
Tabasco Seeds – Tabasco peppers are another pepper that needs a longer growing season (in the garden they take about 80 to 90 days to start harvesting) but they are very easy to grow and very prolific! In shorter season climates, you can start them indoors in February/March (10-12+ weeks before transplanting after all chance of frost has passed), this will allow for enough time to get a ton of pods. In warm season climates, Tabasco plants are tender perennials that can live for several years in warm, frost-free climates, specifically USDA growing zones 9-12. Some people have Tabasco bushes – they typically reach 2 to 4 feet in height, sometimes up to 6 feet! The plants are very productive and put out tons of blooms followed by 1-1/2 in pods. Tabasco peppers are fun to harvest, as they will turn red, they will just pop right off the plant when fully mature, no pruners needed.
Ornamental Pepper Seeds – Ornamental Peppers like Bolivian Rainbows, Fish Peppers, Easter Peppers and Fire and Ice are not only beautiful, they are quite prolific! They are bred for ease of growing and for the trait that they put out tons of pretty pods. Contrary to popular belief, they are edible! While they may not be rated for their Scoville heat levels, they are typically quite spicy and can be used for hot pepper flakes, salsa recipes and hot sauce recipes. Everyone should try growing ornamental peppers from seed, they are show stoppers, better than flowers!
Thai Hot Peppers – Easy to grow with nice compact sized plants, these hot peppers thrive in containers. They are an excellent choice for urban gardeners or anyone with limited space. The fast growing plants can get up to 18" high, and they blossom profusely, producing an abundance of thin-skinned, 1-1/2" peppers that grow upright towards the sun. A great beginner hot pepper!
Fresno Peppers – Great for beginners, these cherry-red heirloom peppers that are about the size of a jalapeño but with thinner walls. These special peppers were named after Fresno, California in 1952. The longer they stay on the plant, the spicier they become! Fresnos have moderate heat with sweet and fruity flavor, and are great for pickling, in salsas and hot sauces. They're one of the best-kept secrets in hot sauce making – hot sauce chefs love them! These delicious hot peppers deserve a permanent spot in your garden and kitchen. They are fast growers and start to harvest in about 75 days after transplanting in the garden. They grow great in large pots, and are charming as their fruit is pointed upward toward the sky! Very ornamental. 
Big Jim Legacy, shown above, is an easy to grow HUGE pepper!
Discover the Easiest Pepppers to Grow!
There are no mistakes in gardening, only experiments!
