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Chiles Rellenos Recipe (Easy and Delicious)

This Chiles rellenos recipe is one of my favorite meals. They are the Mexican version of stuffed peppers.

They are delicious and aren’t as difficult to make as they seem.

Chiles rellenos can be filled with a variety of ingredients such as beans, chicken, picadillo etc. I usually stick to cheese.

It is the easiest option and also the yummiest in my opinion. I mean who isn’t obsessed with cheese?

With some rice on the side and a delicious tomato sauce for the chiles you have the perfect weeknight meal. Sometimes I’ll even make some refried beans if I have the time. But they’re not needed.

Chile relleno

I wish I could have gotten a better photo of the poblano peppers. I love taking photos of produce. They photograph so beautifully.

Maybe I’m weird but I think fruits and veggies are so pretty especially radishes and they have the prettiest color! Take a look

bunch of radishes

Ok back to the peppers. I always use poblano peppers but some people use Anaheim. You can use either one.

I usually try to make between 6-8 chiles rellenos so that my husband has some leftovers to take for lunch the next day.

I wish I could have showed y’all step by step how to make these but I was doing it by myself and it gets kind of messy.

Usually my husband helps me when it’s a messy recipe but he was working. And I’m stubborn and wanted to photograph and eat my chiles rellenos immediately and so yeah that’s what I did. So I wasn’t able to get as many photos. But that’s ok this is so easy you wont even need them!

Chiles Rellenos Recipe Steps

The first step is to blacken the poblano peppers. I do this in the stove under the broiler.

Then the peppers are placed in a plastic bag to sweat. This makes peeling the charred skin off easier.

Be very careful when peeling the skin off the peppers. The peppers are very soft and can tear easily.

Once you get all the skin off make a slit with your hands or a knife on one side of the pepper. Remove the seeds. It’s ok to leave a few behind I am never able to get all of them.

blackened poblano pepper

The next step is to stuff the peppers with cheese. Believe me sliced cheese is so much easier than using shredded cheese.

Shredded cheese tends to fall out of the pepper. Sliced cheese stays in place so much better.

I like to use monterrey jack but you can use whatever cheese you like best.

As you can see in the photo below the cheese slices are all different sizes. You can slice thin or thick slices depending on how cheesy you want your chiles rellenos to be.

sliced cheese

The next step is to coat the peppers in the flour and then dip them in the beaten eggs and fry. That’s all!

We usually top our chiles rellenos with a delicious tomato sauce. I’ll give the recipe for the sauce down below.

See they’re really easy! I truly hope you enjoy this recipe as it is one of our favorites!

I would really like to hear how you make your chiles rellenos. We all have our own way of cooking and I truly do enjoy hearing how others cook because many times I learn things that I never would have thought of before.

Chiles Rellenos Recipe Tips

  • After blackening the chiles transfer them to a plastic bag to sweat.
  • Peel the charred skin off the chiles with care. The chiles are very fragile and will easily tear.
  • If making chiles rellenos for the first time it’s better to stuff them with cheese rather than meat. The sliced cheese stays in place so much easier. Later after practicing you can experiment with meat.

I hope you enjoyed this chiles rellenos recipe. Thanks for visiting and I’ll be back soon!

Chiles Rellenos are the Mexican version of stuffed peppers. They make an amazing weeknight dinner and are easier than they look!

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Chile relleno
4.5 from 10 votes
Print

Easy and Delicious Chiles Rellenos

Easy and delicious chiles rellenos! They are the perfect Mexican comfort food!

Course Main Course
Cuisine Mexican
Keyword chiles rellenos recipe
Prep Time 1 hour 10 minutes
Cook Time 45 minutes
Total Time 1 hour 55 minutes
Servings 6 chiles rellenos
Calories 341 kcal
Author Carissa

Ingredients

For the chiles rellenos

  • 8 poblano peppers
  • 8 oz. block monterrey jack cheese
  • 5 eggs
  • 1 cup of flour

For the Tomato sauce

  • 16 oz. can of tomato sauce
  • 1/2 cup water
  • 1/4 of a white onion diced
  • 1 garlic clove
  • 1/4 tsp cumin
  • 1 tbs vegetable oil

Instructions

For the chiles rellenos

  1. Put peppers on a baking sheet and put under the broiler.
  2. After 10 minutes flip the peppers over and return to broiler for another 10 minutes.
  3. Remove from oven and let rest a few minutes.
  4. Transfer peppers to a plastic bag to sweat for about an hour.
  5. Peel the skin off the peppers.
  6. Make a slit in the peppers and remove the seeds.
  7. Take out the cheese and cut 6-8 slices (thin or thick depending on how cheesy your want your chiles rellenos to be).
  8. Put the slices into the peppers. Be very careful not to tear the peppers.
  9. Measure one cup of flour and pour into a mixing bowl. Season with a little salt and lots of black pepper.
  10. Crack the eggs into another bowl and beat the eggs with a mixer for a few minutes.
  11. In a large skillet heat up enough oil for frying on medium high heat.
  12. Dip one pepper into the flour. Make sure the pepper is coated with flour.
  13. Then dip the flour coated pepper into the beaten eggs.
  14. Then fry the pepper until browned.
  15. Fry no more than 2 at a time.

For the tomato sauce

  1. pour water, tomato sauce and garlic clove into a blender. Blend for a minute.
  2. Over medium heat add 1 tbsp of vegetable oil to a pot.
  3. When hot add the diced onion and saute until for a couple of minutes.
  4. Pour the blended tomato mixture in the pot and add 1/4 tsp of cumin. Stir well. Bring to a boil and reduce heat to low.
  5. Let simmer for about 10 minutes.
  6. Serve sauce on top of the chiles rellenos and enjoy!
Nutrition Facts
Easy and Delicious Chiles Rellenos
Amount Per Serving
Calories 341 Calories from Fat 153
% Daily Value*
Fat 17g26%
Saturated Fat 10g63%
Cholesterol 170mg57%
Sodium 657mg29%
Potassium 638mg18%
Carbohydrates 28g9%
Fiber 4g17%
Sugar 7g8%
Protein 18g36%
Vitamin A 1405IU28%
Vitamin C 133.3mg162%
Calcium 331mg33%
Iron 3.2mg18%
* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.
Recipe Rating




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Wayne Grinnell

Friday 14th of April 2023

Big Jim peppers are the better choice - a tad more heat and flavor, and often sourced from a good Mexican food restaurant - roasted, peeled, and sized right. Poblanos, and Anaheims, are far too mild to be good. Chopped Serrano peppers beat Jalapeños any day (Little ones, less than 2" long) Bigger chiles of many kinds are set for mild flavor, so are contraindicated. Need a good salsa sauce - it can be mild (But not too!), and not taste heavily of tomato. Cheese is an excellent choice; keep it mild, and not too sharp.

Why remove seeds? They do not contribute heat; that is the job of the membranes. The food is called "chiles relleno" (never just "rellenos") as we do not treat adjectives to a plural as we do nouns. I have lived in El Paso TX and far southern New Mexico all my adult life (and cooking for 60 years) very near the Chile Pepper Institute at New Mexico State University. Only one of its kind in the world, and a great resource.

Marcia

Monday 18th of February 2019

This was delicious! Even my not-so-crazy -about-meatless- meals husband loved it. I also added some chopped jalapeño peppers inside a couple of the poblano peppers and that was really good as well. FYI - Ifid not need as many eggs as you suggested. Thanks so much for the recipe.

Carissa

Tuesday 19th of February 2019

Thank you Marcia! I'm so glad you both liked it. The chopped jalapeno is a really good idea for those who like it spicy.

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