But sport peppers can be used similarly to other pickled chilies too. Anywhere where you’d use pickled pepperoncini or jalapeños, you can opt for sports. But just be prepared for the extra heat. They are delicious sliced for sandwiches and hoagies and they’re an excellent pizza topping.
What Do Sport Peppers Taste Like?
The sport pepper isnt overly sweet, but it does maintain that cloying pepper tinge on the back of the palate as it tingles the tongue. It has a gentle brush of heat and a nice, juicy crunch, and when pickled, these peppers stand up to just about anything. Dont expect to sweat from the sport pepper since its much milder than hotter varieties; it ranges between 10,000 and 23,000 units on the Scoville scale, which is a little spicier than jalapeno and the same as serrano peppers.
What Are Sport Peppers?
Prior to the 1970s, this sturdy, fertile plant gained popularity in the South as a backup crop to the more finicky tabasco pepper, famously used to make Tabasco brand hot sauce. In flavor and appearance, sport peppers, which are from the Capsicum Annuum species, are similar to the tabasco plant, just a little smaller and green or yellow instead of bright red. Its also close to the pepperoncini, a milder pepper that tends to get pickled and used in the same way.
In 1957, Chicagoans started to see their beloved Vienna Beef hot dogs dressed in the “dragged through the garden” style which included pickled sport peppers. The sport pepper fell out of favor in the 1980s, but it maintained a strong following in Chicago. Plenty of locals will tell you its not a true Chicago dog without this particular chile. The Vienna Beef company even markets their own bottled sport pepper which remains one of the most consistent ways to find the food.
Sport Peppers Sausage
FAQ
Can you eat sport peppers raw?
Are sport peppers hotter than jalapenos?
What do sport peppers taste like?
Why are they called sport peppers?