Baked chile rellenos is a great, easy Mexican-inspired dinner. Roasted
poblano peppers, a blend of melty white cheese, tomatoes and
green onion make up the filling, with garlic and cilantro for some
extra kick, topped with crunchy breadcrumbs.
inspiration
If chile rellenos is on the menu at a Mexican place, I order it, no questions asked. Traditionally, it’s a poblano pepper stuffed with cheese or meat and fried in a fluffy egg batter.
I’ve known for a while that I wanted to do a chile rellenos recipe, but didn’t know exactly what I wanted to do. Did I want to stuff it with meat? With cheddar and cream cheese and bacon, like a giant jalapeno popper? (Don’t worry, I’ve got that idea on the list still.) But then it hit me, and I knew exactly what I wanted these chile rellenos to be.
There is a hole-in-the-wall Mexican restaurant in Flagstaff, Arizona where I spent a good chunk of time in my teenage years. It was near a Target and a Bookman’s, so it was a regular stomping ground for me and my friends, and a staple for Friday night dinner. Despite the fact that I’ve tried most of the things on their menu, the thing I remember most is the cheese quesadillas. They weren’t even complicated—just tortillas, cheese, tomatoes, and green onions—but they were so good. So as soon as I remembered them, I knew that’s what I wanted to stuff these with.
why i love this recipe
There’s a lot to like about chile rellenos, but I don’t really like frying things, so I wanted to do a baked version instead. It’s a lot more hands-off than the fried version, which I always love! And it’s definitely just as delicious. These take about 45 minutes, and most of that is down time.
Baked chile rellenos is an easy, Mexican-inspired dinner. Roasted poblano peppers are usually mild, especially if you remove all of the seeds. The jack and white cheddar melt beautifully, and you get a lot of flavor from the tomatoes, green onions, garlic, and cilantro. And, of course, breadcrumbs are always a good addition.
details
When cooking with peppers, it’s important to roast them, steam them, and remove the skin, which would get tough and bitter during baking. Fortunately, this is very easy—all it takes is 10 minutes under the broiler and 5 minutes of steaming with some foil. Removing the skin can be a bit of a project, but just do your best. It’s okay if there’s a little here and there.
Stuffing the peppers is also pretty quick, and goes even quicker if you mix the stuffing ingredients in a bowl beforehand. Then all you have to do is cut a slit in the pepper, remove the seeds, and start stuffing. The amount of stuffing you’ll need depends on the size of your peppers. If yours are very small, use a bit less, and a bit more if they’re very large. Once the peppers are plump and stuffed, just pack on the oil-and-breadcrumb mixture. All of this took me about ten minutes.
Then you just pop them on a foil-lined baking sheet and stick them in the oven for 20 minutes. There’s no babysitting or flipping. Just scroll through tik tok until the timer goes off!
I like to plate these over some fresh salsa and drizzle with sour cream or lime crema, and then load on some more tomatoes and cilantro and green onions. Spanish rice goes great with these! Make sure to serve them hot, while the cheese is still melty.
notes
Cheese: I love pre-shredded cheese as much as the next person, and totally won’t blame you if you use it, but this recipe is definitely better with block cheese that you grate yourself. The flavor is stronger, so be aware that if you use pre-shredded cheese, the chile rellenos will be milder.
Poblano peppers: Poblanos are a large, dark green pepper. They’re typically on the mild side of the spectrum, but the seeds are spicy. Walmart often carries them!
Looking for more Mexican recipes? Here are a few more: cheese quesadillas, guacamole, crunchy beef and bean dip tacos, and perfect pico de gallo.
baked chile rellenos
Ingredients
Method
- Steam peppers and remove skin. Line a baking sheet with foil and lay peppers on it. Broil for 5 minutes on each side until the skin is blackened. Tent some foil over the peppers for five minutes to steam them, and then remove the foil and remove the skin. Be careful to get as much as possible, and handle the peppers carefully—they’ll be hot! Don't discard the foil or the baking sheet.
- Assemble the peppers. Preheat oven to 375. Combine cheeses, diced tomato, diced onion, garlic, and cilantro in a medium bowl. Salt well. Cut a slit down the middle of each pepper and divide the filling between them, stuffing the filling inside. Brush peppers with olive oil and sprinkle the top with breadcrumbs.
- Bake and serve. Bake peppers on the foil-lined baking sheet for 20 minutes. Serve over salsa and drizzle with lime crema.
Notes
- Baked chile rellenos will keep for 3-4 days in the fridge. Store tightly covered.
- To reheat: Preheat oven to 350F. Bake rellenos for 10-15 minutes, or until warmed through.