Diced Bell Pepper

One US cup of diced bell pepper weighs 149 grams (5.3 ounces). Going the other way, 100 grams is about 0.67 cups.

Also called chopped bell pepper, diced green pepper, diced red pepper, chopped green pepper, diced sweet pepper, bell pepper diced.

Chopped vegetables compared: cup weights side by side, the source behind each, and why they differ.

A cup of diced bell pepper weighs 149 g (5.3 oz). USDA weighs a cup of chopped sweet pepper at 149 g, the Culinary Institute of America gives 147 g for diced, and King Arthur 142 g. All three sit within 5% of each other, so this entry publishes USDA's figure, and King Arthur's agrees within tolerance.

Bell peppers are the sweet, mild members of Capsicum annuum, sold green, before they ripen, and red, yellow or orange once ripe. They are mostly water: USDA puts green peppers at 93.9% water and 4.6% carbohydrate, and red peppers carry a little more sugar. A pepper is a hollow fruit with a thin wall, so diced pepper is really a pile of small, flat squares cut from that wall rather than cubes. That shape matters for the cup: flat pieces lie against each other and leave less air than the layers of diced onion or the arcs of diced celery.

USDA SR Legacy "Peppers, sweet, green, raw" (FDC 170427) lists 1 cup chopped at 149 g, 1 tablespoon at 9.3 g, which scales to the same 149 g per cup, and 1 cup sliced at 92 g. USDA's red pepper record (FDC 170108) carries exactly the same portion weights, so colour does not change the figure in USDA's measurements; it is not counted as a separate source here. The Culinary Institute of America's conversion chart gives 1 cup diced bell pepper at 5.2 oz, 147 g. King Arthur gives 1 cup of fresh bell peppers at 5 oz, 142 g.

The physical check: tissue that is 94% water is roughly as dense as water, so a cup of dice at 149 g is about three fifths pepper and two fifths air between the pieces, a tight fill for chopped vegetables that fits the flat pieces. USDA's own tablespoon lands on the same density, which is a good sign the cup figure is not a fluke. Sliced strips leave far more air: USDA's 92 g per cup sliced, and a school portion guide's 1.75 oz per half cup of strips, about 99 g per cup, are a different measure and should not be used for diced pepper.

King Arthur's 142 g is the same 5 oz the chart gives for diced onions, celery and carrots and for sliced olives, a round working figure. For bell pepper it lands within 5% of USDA and the Culinary Institute and is accepted.

Frozen diced peppers are another case. Kroger, Food Club, Hanover and ShopRite print 3/4 cup at 83 to 85 g, at or just under the 85 g reference serving for vegetables with the nearest household measure beside it. That works out to 111 to 113 g per cup, but it is not a measured density, so it is not used here. Measure frozen dice straight from the bag and expect a lighter cup than fresh.

Practical guidance: use 149 g per cup for diced or chopped bell pepper, 75 g per half cup, 37 g per quarter cup and about 9 g per tablespoon. Pat washed peppers dry before dicing, since water clinging to small pieces adds weight and steams rather than sautés. For fajitas and stir-fries, where peppers are cut into strips, use about 92 g per cup, or better, count the peppers.