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Herbs & spices

Caper

Capparis spinosa

A caper is a bud used as a spice. Cooks pickle capers and use them to season or garnish dishes. Capers are sold canned.

  • Plant-based
  • Gluten-free
  • No listed allergens

About the plain ingredient, not packaged products; general information, not medical advice. Details

Part used
Bud
Family
Capparaceae
Cooked most in
The Americas, Europe
Top country
Italy
Caper, whole

Photo: James F. Carter · CC BY-SA 2.5 · Wikimedia Commons

In the kitchen

How to use caper

Typical ways to cook or use it

  • Garnish
  • Pickle
  • Season

Preparing it

After picking, cure the buds in salt or pickle them in a salt-and-vinegar solution, then drain.

Shopping

Choosing and storing caper

Sold as
Canned

Nutrition

What 100 g of caper holds

Per 100 g, canned. Averages from USDA; real values vary by variety, season and growing conditions.

Protein 29%Fat 11%Carbohydrate 60%of the macronutrients by weight

Nutrition per 100 g of caper, canned
Energy23 kcal · 96 kJ
Protein2.4 g
Fat0.86 g
of which saturated0.23 g
Carbohydrate4.9 g
of which sugars0.41 g
Fibre3.2 g
Sodium2,348 mg
Cholesterol0 mg
Nutrition per 100 g of caper, canned: minerals and vitamins
Potassium40 mg
Calcium40 mg
Iron1.7 mg
Magnesium33 mg
Zinc0.32 mg
Vitamin C4.3 mg
Vitamin A (RAE)7 µg
Folate23 µg

Source: USDA FoodData Central (food 172238), public domain. Minerals and vitamins are listed only where USDA measured a non-zero amount.

On the table

Dishes made with caper

1 of the 2 catalogued dishes that use it, spread across the countries they come from.

  • Hallaca

    Venezuela

Dish lists come from Wikidata; a dish counts when its recorded ingredients include caper.

Good to know

Diet and allergens: caper in detail

These notes describe the plain ingredient. Packaged and prepared products vary, so read the label; for allergies and medical diets ask a doctor or dietitian.
Allergens
None of the 15 listed allergens foundChecked and not found: soy, eggs, fish, milk, lupin, wheat, celery, sesame, mustard, peanuts, molluscs, sulphites, tree nuts, crustaceans, gluten cereals.
Animal origin
No animal ingredients foundChecked and not found: egg, fish, meat, dairy, honey, insect, gelatin, poultry, bone char, shellfish, other animal, animal fining, animal rennet.
Gluten
None
Alcohol
None
Caffeine
None
Pork
None

Around the world

What caper is called

Names in 26 languages, from Wikidata.

  • Spanish

    alcaparra

  • French

    câpre

  • Italian

    cappero

  • Portuguese

    alcaparras

  • German

    Kapern · Kapernäpfel

  • Dutch

    kappertje

  • Russian

    каперсы

  • Polish

    kapary

  • Hebrew

    קפריס · קפריסים · קפריסין

  • Japanese

    ケッパー

  • Catalan

    tàpera

  • Czech

    kapary

Show all 26 languages

  • Esperanto

    Kaporo

  • Estonian

    Kappar

  • Galician

    alcaparra

  • Ido

    Kapero

  • Irish

    capras

  • Kurdish

    Kewer

  • Kurdish (Arabic)

    کەوەر

  • Kurdish (Latin)

    Kewer

  • Latvian

    kapera · kapers

  • Luxembourgish

    Kaperen · Capparis spinosa

  • Norwegian Bokmål

    kapers

  • Romanian

    caper

  • Sicilian

    Chiàppara

  • Slovenian

    kapra · kapre

  • Swedish

    Kapris

  • Welsh

    caprys · Ffrwyth y caprysen · cepyrs

Sources and credits

Data

Wikidata item: Q3229775

Photos

Photo: James F. Carter · CC BY-SA 2.5 · Wikimedia Commons