White pepper consists of the seed of the pepper plant alone, with the darker colored skin of the pepper fruit removed. This is usually accomplished by a process known as retting, where fully ripe red pepper berries are soaked in water for about a week, during which the flesh of the pepper softens and decomposes. Rubbing then removes what remains of the fruit, and the naked seed is dried. Sometimes alternative processes are used for removing the outer pepper from the seed, including removing the outer layer through mechanical, chemical or biological methods.

Ground white pepper is sometimes used in Chinese cooking or in dishes like salad, light-colored sauces or mashed potatoes, where black pepper would visibly stand out. White pepper has a slightly different flavor from black pepper due to the lack of certain compounds which are present in the outer fruit layer of the drupe but are not found in the seed.