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Roasted Pepper Salad with Feta, Pine Nuts & Basil

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Elevate your summer gatherings with this stunning make-ahead roasted red pepper salad.

Roasted pepper salad with feta, pine nuts, and basil on a plate.

Next time you’re asked to bring a veggie or salad to a summer party or cookout, try these sweet and smoky bell peppers topped with tangy feta, toasted pine nuts, fresh basil, and briny olives. The salad looks gorgeous on a platter and is delicious with toasted pita bread, grilled lamb burgers or chicken kebabs. This recipe comes from Linda Grimes, a South Lake Tahoe restaurateur and also one of my readers. Thank you, Linda!

What you’ll need to make roasted pepper Salad

Salad ingredients including red wine vinegar, peppers, and sea salt.

STEP-By-Step Instructions

Begin by placing the pepper halves face-down on a foil-lined baking sheet.

Halved peppers on a lined baking sheet.

Broil until blackened and charred all over.

Charred peppers on a lined baking sheet.

Place the cooked peppers in a bowl and cover with plastic wrap. This steams the peppers and makes them much easier to peel.

Steaming peppers in a covered bowl.

Once the peppers are cool, the skin will peel right off.

Person peeling the char off of a red pepper.

Cut the roasted peppers into slices and toss with the olive oil, red wine vinegar, garlic, basil, oregano, sugar, salt and pepper. Refrigerate the mix for about at least one hour or overnight.

Roasted peppers being tossed in a bowl.

Meanwhile, toast the pine nuts in a small skillet to enhance their flavor. Keep a close eye on them so they don’t burn.

Pine nuts toasting in a skillet.

When the peppers are cold, arrange them nicely on a platter and sprinkle them with feta, olives and toasted pine nuts. Enjoy!

Roasted pepper salad with feta, pine nuts, and basil on a plate.

Note: To save time you can use roasted red peppers from a jar, but homemade roasted peppers are more colorful and flavorful.

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Roasted Pepper Salad with Feta, Pine Nuts & Basil

Elevate your summer gatherings with this stunning make-ahead roasted red pepper salad.

Servings: 4
Prep Time: 10 Minutes
Cook Time: 15 Minutes
Total Time: 25 Minutes, plus 1 hour chilling time

Ingredients

  • 4 bell peppers (any combination of red, yellow or orange), halved, seeded and cored
  • 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
  • 2 teaspoons red wine vinegar
  • 1 small garlic clove, minced
  • 3 tablespoons chopped fresh basil, divided
  • ½ teaspoon dried oregano
  • 1 teaspoon sugar
  • ¾ teaspoon salt
  • ⅛ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
  • 3 tablespoons pine nuts
  • 2 ounces (a scant ½ cup) crumbled Feta
  • ⅓ cup pitted kalamata olives

Instructions

  1. Set an oven rack in the top position and preheat the broiler. Line a baking sheet with aluminum foil. Place the pepper halves on the prepared baking sheet and broil for 5-10 minutes, rotating the pan once, until well charred. Remove the peppers from the oven and place in a bowl; cover tightly with plastic wrap (so they steam) and let cool until luke warm.
  2. Peel the skin from the peppers (do not rinse under water) and cut into ¾-inch strips. Place back in the bowl; add the olive oil, red wine vinegar, garlic, 2 tablespoons of the basil, oregano, sugar, salt and pepper. Refrigerate for at least one hour or overnight.
  3. Heat a small skillet over medium heat. Add the pine nuts and cook, stirring frequently, until golden, about 4 minutes. Immediately transfer the nuts to a small bowl to stop the cooking process. (Pay close attention: they go from perfectly golden to burnt quickly.)
  4. Transfer the marinated peppers to a serving dish and top with the feta, olives, toasted pine nuts and remaining tablespoon basil (do not toss). Garnish with whole basil leaves if desired.

Nutrition Information

Powered by Edamam

  • Per serving (4 servings)
  • Calories: 194
  • Fat: 16g
  • Saturated fat: 4g
  • Carbohydrates: 11g
  • Sugar: 7g
  • Fiber: 3g
  • Protein: 4g
  • Sodium: 673mg
  • Cholesterol: 13mg

This website is written and produced for informational purposes only. I am not a certified nutritionist and the nutritional data on this site has not been evaluated or approved by a nutritionist or the Food and Drug Administration. Nutritional information is offered as a courtesy and should not be construed as a guarantee. The data is calculated through an online nutritional calculator, Edamam.com. Although I do my best to provide accurate nutritional information, these figures should be considered estimates only. Varying factors such as product types or brands purchased, natural fluctuations in fresh produce, and the way ingredients are processed change the effective nutritional information in any given recipe. Furthermore, different online calculators provide different results depending on their own nutrition fact sources and algorithms. To obtain the most accurate nutritional information in a given recipe, you should calculate the nutritional information with the actual ingredients used in your recipe, using your preferred nutrition calculator.

Gluten-Free Adaptable Note

To the best of my knowledge, all of the ingredients used in this recipe are gluten-free or widely available in gluten-free versions. There is hidden gluten in many foods; if you're following a gluten-free diet or cooking for someone with gluten allergies, always read the labels of your ingredients to verify that they are gluten-free.

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Comments

  • Hi Jenn, I impulse-bought an extra large bag of red bell peppers at our new Costco so I had to find a recipe or two to use them. After a little searching I found your recipe for roasted pepper salad and made it vegan-style for a company lunch today. It was very well received, especially by me, as I enjoy roasted red peppers, even plain. I didn’t have all the ingredients at hand, but nobody seemed to notice. I added Kalamata olives as a sub for feta, and used toasted pecans instead of pine nuts. This recipe is definitely going into my regular rotation.
    Thank you Jenn, your recipes are wonderful!

    • — Del Salyer on February 9, 2024
    • Reply
  • I made this side dish with dinner this evening and it was absolutely delicious! It’s colorful and rich in flavor. I’m looking forward to making it for many more meals with family and friends, and anticipate they will ask for this delicious recipe. Jenn, you have a way with sauces, really inspiring the ordinary to become extraordinary!

    • — Carolyn H. on January 15, 2024
    • Reply
  • This is my most popular to prepare salad recipe of the decade! I get overwhelming responses each time I serve it. This Christmas I want to ‘feature’ this exceptional dish for dinner but have 8 people rather than 4. Because I don’t want to mess up, please advise whether I merely double the recipe, or, make two separate batches.

    • — Sharon Leininger on December 2, 2023
    • Reply
    • Glad it’s such a hit! You can double with without a problem. I hope everyone enjoys!

      • — Jenn on December 4, 2023
      • Reply
  • If you’ve ever been surprised by a salad, This is the One! We tried it with a couple invited guests letting them know it was an ‘experiment’ and hoped they would be receptive.
    BEST UNIQUE SALAD OF THE YEAR! The flavors work so well together, the marinade was perfection. Our guests raved about the ‘colors’; after all, we Americans eat with our eyes!
    So glad we took a chance on this dish. My husband and I are so thrilled with it, we have vowed to add it to whatever we serve for our guests at Christmas.
    Thank you, Once Upon a Chef!!!

    • — Sharon Leininger on September 10, 2023
    • Reply
  • I LOVE fresh roasted red peppers and this dish was amazing! My last couple red peppers in the crisper were getting wrinkly so I roasted them a couple days ago. Since they were already chilled in EVOO & garlic, I only had to add the remaining ingredients except pine nuts. I was out so I used toasted almonds.
    I plated with an ample serving of hummus in the center of the platter garnished with a mixture of minced red onion, English cucumber, (and yes more) garlic in the center of the hummus and a light sprinkling of smoked paprika, and small basil leaves on top. Spooned the roasted red pepper salad around the hummus sprinkled with more basil. Served w toasted pita bread. Oh.So.Delicious!! Thank you ChefJenn!

    • — A@4U on August 31, 2023
    • Reply
  • So good. My daughter doesn’t like bell peppers so I ate
    her portion as well as mine

    • — CKR on August 20, 2023
    • Reply
  • This is such a delicious summer salad. I wanted to bulk it up a little since there were 6 of us so made a bit of extra dressing, tossed it with some baby spinach and then served the peppers on top. It looked so pretty and was very well received. I haven’t gone wrong yet with one of your recipes Jenn.

    • — Fernande on July 21, 2023
    • Reply
  • Very good. Made for July 4th BBQ and complimented the usual burger/hot dog fare. Pine nuts where I live aren’t always available and expensive my. Substituted toasted slivered almonds and worked well.

    • — Dave on July 4, 2023
    • Reply
  • This recipe is absolutely delicious! My entire family went back for seconds. Great flavor and elegant in its simplicity. This is a keeper. Thank you for this recipe! I made this with your penne, spinach and fontina dish. Both keepers!

    • — Sandra Wheatley on May 24, 2023
    • Reply
  • Arrrrrrg! We are obsessed with you and your recipes. I wish I knew we would have to refrig the salad for 1 hour before serving. Silly me, but I looked at your total time which was 25 minutes. Can’t wait to eat it but dinner is going to be late tonight!!! 🙁 I guess we’ll have it tomorrow with the leftovers from your worlds best grilled chicken! xoxoxox

    • — Dana on May 22, 2023
    • Reply
    • Hi Dana, I just added it for future reference, but I’m sorry about not mentioning the hour of chilling time in the recipe!! I hope you enjoy it tonight (and so glad you’re a fan of the recipes). 💗

      • — Jenn on May 23, 2023
      • Reply
  • Hi Jen,
    I’m going to make this without the feta. Instead am topping a crostini spread with mild goat cheese. My question is, what do you think about adding currants instead of sugar?

    • — Kathryn Hale on February 5, 2023
    • Reply
    • Sure, Kathryn, that should work — enjoy! 🙂

      • — Jenn on February 6, 2023
      • Reply
  • Besides looking beautiful, this is delicious…lots of flavor.

    • — Kate B on September 11, 2022
    • Reply
  • Jen – very interested in making this beautiful dish. Can you serve this with burratta cheese? trying to see about this being an appetizer. welcome any advice. thanks Cynthia

    • — Cynthia Taffet on August 19, 2022
    • Reply
    • Sure, I think this would be nice with burrata cheese! 🙂

      • — Jenn on August 19, 2022
      • Reply
  • I love this dish. It’s delicious.

    • — Heather on July 29, 2022
    • Reply
  • Beautifully presented as well as a delicious salad! Love some of the salads you have introduced into our menu. I substituted ‘Italian parsley’ for basil which the grocery was out of, and it was very good and more of a Mediterranean flare along with the Feta Cheese!

    • — JooJoo on May 31, 2022
    • Reply
  • Really good

    • — Jakob on May 3, 2022
    • Reply
  • We make this delicious salad often. In fact, we are enjoying it for breakfast today! It’s so flavorful. Just super delicious.

    • — Linda Barnhart on April 15, 2022
    • Reply
  • Hi Jenn, Do you think I could leave the cheese out of the pepper salad? I want to serve it with your homemade mac and cheese at a vegetarian dinner.
    Thanks,
    Elizabeth

    • Hi Elizabeth, that should be fine but because the feta is a really salty cheese, you may need to add more salt to the salad. I’d wait until you’ve fully prepared it and then add more salt to taste, if necessary. Hope you enjoy!

  • Easy to prepare & absolutely delicious! Once again, Thankyou for sharing another great recipe!

  • Sensational. Will make this next time I’m to ” bring a salad “

  • Excellent instructions leading to very tasty final dish!

  • I just made this today. Easy and fabulous salad. I love it. I replaced basil leaves with rocket leaves as I did not have basil leaves on hand. Turned out great too. Thank you for sharing this.

  • This is such a simple and very tasty salad, with all my favorite foods.
    I’m making it for a picnic and it should be a perfect addition. Thanks for the recipe.

  • Can I make these Wednesday for a Saturday bbq?

    • That seems a bit early to me, Lisa – but I think Thursday would be okay.

      • Is it okay I use green peppers for along with red and yellow for this recipe?

        • — Gianna Gordon on April 23, 2022
        • Reply
        • Hi Gianna, green peppers aren’t as sweet as red and yellow, but if you’re okay with that, it’s perfectly fine. Hope you enjoy!

          • — Jenn on April 24, 2022
          • Reply
  • This is a real keeper that I’ll definitely make again. I prepared a half order early in the morning, using the equivalent proportions except for the sugar, which I reduced to 1/2 tsp. The peppers looked pretty soft but it turns out they still had sufficient firmness and tasted delicious. It was the perfect accompaniment to the main – sea shell pasta in a sauce of sautéed leek, fennel bulb and prawns. The pasta dish had a lot of steps so it was great to just take the pepper salad out of the fridge, toss in the final ingredients and serve. Another good one, Jenn!

  • I’ve made this salad as is and it’s delicious.
    I’ll be making a Moroccan inspired menu with your Grilled Moroccan Chicken & Warm Couscous Salad with Apricot Vinaigrette again (I’ve made both before too – also very tasty!!) Do you think that for a Moroccan flair I could make this salad with cumin, coriander, a touch of harissa instead of the basil and feta? Would you include the olives? Any recommendations are most welcome. Thanks Jenn!

    • Hi Barb, Glad you like this! Yes, I think the tweaks that you’ve described would work nicely to give it a Moroccan twist and, sure, I’d include the olives. Enjoy!

  • Fantastic salad. The sweetness of the pepper marries well with the piquant tartness of the red wine vinegar. The feta cheese and herbs bring everything together into a burst of fresh flavour. This recipe is a keeper!

  • We love this salad!!! It’s a great winter salad when tomatoes are not available! I have used jarred peppers and freshly roasted and while the freshly roasted are amazing the jarred are tasty too when you need a fast side! I have been making an effort to include more veggie sides for my family and your recipes have made it easy and yummy!! Next on my list to try are your roasted green beans!! Thank you!!!

  • This salad was absolutely delicious!!! It looked as wonderful as it tasted. This salad would be fabulous with barbeque meat of any kind. A few extra pepper flakes turn it up a notch for sure as mentioned by another review. This is definitely a keeper!!

  • I always buy the 6-packs of red, yellow, and orange peppers. When I have more than I need, I usually chop them up and freeze them for future use. I had plenty in the freezer so was looking for a way to use up a few fresh peppers before they went bad. This was such a simple recipe with grand results. Added red pepper flakes to spice it up a bit, but otherwise made as directed. Excellent!

  • Loved this! It was just me over the weekend with no family around and I was looking for ways to use up stuff in the fridge, but something light. This hit all of those notes. I really like the blending of flavors. Like all your other recipes, simple, flavorful, and great leftovers. Thank you

  • Flavourful, easy and quick to assemble! Another winning recipe, Jenn!

  • This has been my summer ‘go to’ salad. Every time I serve it folks rave about it! It’s so colourful and flavorful. I love that I can do the peppers ahead of time as well.

  • Hi Jen, this salad was delicious. I’ve tried several of your recipes too and they are fantastic! My wife and I are retiring this spring and these recipes come at a great time. I just bought your book today through Amazon. Thank you! Best to you and your family, Doug

    • So glad you enjoyed this and thanks for your support with the cookbook. I hope it becomes an often-used tool in your kitchen! 🙂

  • I’ve made this 3 times already in the last 2 weeks, and keep grilled peppers in olive oil and garlic in jars, ready to use in this amazing salad or to eat as they are. My husband also LOVES it! Thank you for a simple and delicious recipe!

    • Sal – would love to hear more about how you store the grilled peppers….I would LOVE to do this!!

  • This salad is absolutely delicious. I roasted the peppers on the grill to avoid heating up the house. Wish I had doubled this recipe as it was so good! Thanks again Jenn for making entertaining easier- I just go to your recipes and can be assured it will be delicious.

  • How do you keep your peppers looking so bright? I roasted mine on the grill and after taking off the skin, they do not have the vibrant colors yours have. Is there such a thing as roasting too long?

    • Hi Ann, My guess is that you may have roasted them just a little too long.

      • Thanks Jenn.

  • It’s Amazing! Becoming one of my favorite salads!

  • Excellent salad. I have been looking for alternatives to lettuce salads and this is a delicious one. I plan to make this again. I used walnuts. I did not have pine nuts. With Jennifer’s thoughtful instructions this was very easy to make.

  • Colorful salad full of flavor. I will scale down recipe next time, that’s a lot of peppers for two to eat in 24 hrs. I will also cut the pepper up, as I found the texture of the strips of pepper to be a little off putting.

  • Does the pepper salad need to marinate for any length of time, or should it be dressed right before eating?

    Once the peppers are dressed with the other ingredients, how long will it last in the fridge?

    You’ve done a great job on this website, Jennifer…

    • Hi Deb, it’s best if it is dressed and sits for at least an hour and up to overnight. After that, I would eat it within about 24 hours. And glad you like the blog! ❤️

  • Hello! I have a question regarding the cooking technique. I roast my peppers whole without blackening them; no need to cover with plastic wrap, because they steam from within (one must be careful cutting them open, as the juices are hot) and the skin just slides off. Am I doing it wrong? Missing out on flavor? Is it important to char the peppers?

    PS I am not as keen on raw garlic as I used to be, so I heat oil in a pan and add anchovies plus a couple of smashed garlic cloves, fry till the garlic is golden and the fish fall apart. Mince the garlic and add the whole thing to the peppers. Yummy.

    • No Mags, it’s not necessary to char the peppers from a flavor standpoint — as long as you’re able to peel the skin, that’s all that matters. Hope that helps!

      • Thank you. 🙂 The salad is wonderful.

  • Another fabulous recipe. This dish turned out beautifully, and was very flavourful. I made it to bring to a bbq. Everyone loved it and helped themselves to a 2nd helping! For someone such as me who is a nervous cook, Jenn’s recipes always turn out.
    thank you Jenn!
    Lisa

  • Somehow through the years, cooking became a chore rather than a pleasure, but we still want to eat good food, so cook once, eat twice, recipes are my favorites. I made this salad and reserved half without the final add-ins. It went well with my trusty Greek lemon chicken, harissa yogurt side sauce, and a couscous pilaf. The next day I hit the Mediterranean bakery for some good pita, used left over chicken, added the olives and feta to the remaining salad, and made pita sandwiches. The sandwiches were absolutely stellar. I used walnuts rather than pine nuts, and omitted nuts for the sandwiches. I’ll absolutely make this year round.

  • I made this salad a few years ago and was disappointed, which rarely happens with recipes from this site. It was beautiful, but the flavor was underwhelming, so I tried it again recently with a few minor tweaks and it was excellent! I added a 6 oz. jar of marinated artichokes, drained them first, and mixed the brine with the vinegar and omitted the olive oil from the dressing. I subbed a few tablespoons of pesto for the chopped fresh basil in the dressing which seemed to give it more flavor than the fresh basil, and added grated lemon zest. The first time I made the salad I used a feta cheese that wasn’t very salty. This time I chose a much saltier feta and it made a big difference. Delicious!

    • A further note to my review – This salad makes an excellent filling for a tortilla wrap, either at room temperature or slightly warmed in the oven or microwave. It’s best to drain it well so that the wrap doesn’t get soggy. It also helps to line the tortilla with bibb lettuce. Sprouts add a bit of crunch.

  • I found this recipe last year and made it for every gathering we had, which was several. It is absolutely delicious and so different from most other salads. Packs a lot of wonderful flavor. I just came on pinterest to find the recipe so I could make it for this weekend and thought I should finally rate it. Thanks for a great recipe.

  • Absolutely amazing!!! Highly recommend!!

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