Of all the many beautiful colors that peppers come in, purple may be the most rare. You’re probably more familiar with green, orange, red, and yellow peppers.
So, in this article, I’ll share 11 amazing purple peppers that you can grow in your own backyard! There are sweet, spicy, and even superhot varieties to choose from.
1. Purple Beauty Bell Pepper
- Heat level: Sweet (no heat)
- Get seeds here
The purple beauty bell is a very popular sweet variety. The peppers start off with streaks of purple and green, and can become fully purple in full sun conditions.
Eventually the peppers will ripen to a deep red color. However, the unripe purple peppers are gorgeous during the early and mid-summer months. They can also be eaten at any stage, so you can harvest the purple beauty when they have a creamy, lavender color.
2. Purple UFO Pepper
- Heat level: Medium
- Get seeds here
If you like your peppers spicy, the purple UFO is a great purple pepper variety to grow. These upside-down cone shaped chiles go through a beautiful color transformation.
The UFO pepper starts off deep purple, eventually ripening to a crimson red. The heat level is medium (they’re not as hot as they look), similar to that of a hot jalapeño.
3. Pimenta Da Neyde
- Heat level: Hot
- Get seeds here
The pimenta da neyde pepper was discovered in Brazil, and is believed to be a natural cross between two Capsicum species (C. annuum x C. chinense). This pepper is one of the few types that never changes from its dark purple color, even when ripe.
The heat level is high, so it is best for making hot sauces or spicy spice blends in the kitchen. Pimenta da neyde peppers can also be pickled or fermented, making a beautiful purple brine.
4. Black Pearl Pepper
- Heat level: Medium
- Get seeds here
The black pearl pepper is one of our favorite ornamental peppers. The leaves, fruits, and flowers are all different shades of purple. While the peppers are so dark that they almost seem black, the flowers are a bright, gorgeous violet.
Like most of the peppers on this list, they eventually ripen to bright red. In this case, the red offers amazing contrast against the dark foliage. This is truly stunning to see in the ornamental garden!
5. Purple Reaper Pepper
- Heat level: Superhot
- Get seeds here
If you like it super spicy, then the purple reaper may be for you. These are some of the hottest peppers we have ever grown (and we’ve grown a lot of superhots). They are also some of the most vigorous and productive, with our plant easily surpassing 5′ in height.
Like I said, this pepper is brutally spicy, so if you don’t have a need for serious heat, I wouldn’t recommend growing it. It also ripens from dark purple to a deep red, and has a sinister appearance.
6. Buena Mulata Pepper
- Heat level: Medium
- Get seeds here
Cayenne peppers are great and all, but why not make them purple? Well, the buena mulata is pretty much a purple cayenne. These long, slender pods have a light purple color before ripening to red.
While we weren’t impressed with the flavor or heat of these peppers, they certainly made a statement in the garden. If aesthetic is more important than taste or yield, the buena mulata is a great purple pepper to grow.
7. Purple Jalapeño Pepper
- Heat level: Medium
- Get seeds here
Jalapeños are a staple in our kitchen. We have tried many different jalapeño varieties in search of the best flavor, heat level, and yield. The purple jalapeño was not a winner, but it sure did look pretty!
These peppers have a unique flavor (slightly fruity), but had less heat than we wanted, and a smaller fruit size. Yield was also lower than other types. However, the purple peppers shapes like jalapeños were fun to watch grow.
8. Chinese 5 Color Pepper
- Heat level: Hot
- Get seeds here
As the name would suggest, the Chinese 5 color pepper offers some great coloration in the garden! The pods often display all 5 colors at once during the summer.
If you grow this plant, expect to see yellow, green, purple, orange, and red fruits. The small teardrop shaped fruits point upwards on the plant, so all those pretty colors are on display above the foliage.
9. Fluorescent Purple Pepper
- Heat level: Hot
- Get seeds here
Now here is a unique pepper: the fluorescent purple. This entire plant is covered with intrigue, from the white and purple variegated foliage, to the multicolored flowers, to the purple peppers.
While seeds can be tricky to find, it may be worth the search to grow something so unique and rare.
10. Purple Marconi Pepper
- Heat level: Sweet (no heat)
- Get seeds here
Another sweet purple pepper variety to try is the purple marconi. The Italian marconi peppers are a sweet, crunchy delight, similar in flavor to bell peppers.
However, a purple color makes them even more exciting. The early fruits start off purple, and eventually ripen to red.
11. Peach Gum Tiger Pepper
- Heat level: Superhot
- Get seeds here
Truly one of the strangest peppers we have grown, the peach gum tiger is an odd purple pepper. This plant is rich in anthocyanins, hench all the purple coloration.
However, the fruits eventually ripen through to a gorgeous peach color with splotches of purple. Plus, the calyx on each pepper has a deep purple, almost black color.
I hope you have enjoyed learning about some of the purple peppers that are out there. Try growing any of these, and feel free to share any other purple varieties you have grown yourself.
Calvin
One of the original Pepper Geeks! When Calvin isn’t gardening or learning more about peppers and botany, he might be traveling new places or playing some music.
David Niemi
Wednesday 14th of June 2023
Nice list! I've grown most of the peppers on this list, plus Pippin's Golden Honey which starts purple and ends up golden to orange. Purple and black are normally unripe colors. As noted above, except for Pimenta de Neyde which starts almost black and lightens slightly to rosy or purple on one side -- it is hard to tell they are ripe. Despite a totally different color and shape, they taste a lot like a habanero. Generally speaking, I find peppers that go through a lot of colors take longer to ripen, but if you like the colors it can be worth it. Ornamental peppers also tend to be fairly hot and have a lot of seeds; they are not usually optimized for taste or convenience in eating.