Chile Relleno Recipe
This cheesy Mexican-style Chile Rellenos recipe is made with roasted poblano peppers, homemade salsa, and a light egg batter. Delicious & vegetarian!
Servings: 4 servings (1 pepper each)
Ingredients
- 1 yellow onion diced $0.78
- 1 Tbsp olive oil $0.19
- 1 tsp salt $0.02
- 1 tsp freshly cracked black pepper $0.23
- 1 tsp ground cumin $0.08
- 4 poblano peppers $2.64
- 1 28 oz. crushed tomatoes 1 can $1.52
- 1 10 oz. diced tomatoes with green chiles 1 can $0.96
- 5 cloves garlic minced $0.21
- 1 cup shredded queso cheese $0.98*
- 3 eggs $1.23
- ½ cup all-purpose flour $0.08
- ½ cup vegetable oil $0.45
- 2 Tbsp fresh cilantro for garnish $0.08
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 400℉.
- Dice onion and sauté on medium heat with olive oil, salt, pepper, and cumin until softened, about 4 minutes.
- Meanwhile, on a lined baking sheet, place 4 poblano peppers. You want them to bake as-is (no oil or seasoning) for 10 minutes. Then, flip and bake for another 10 minutes.
- Once finished in the oven, transfer peppers to a heat-safe bowl and cover with plastic wrap so they will steam, loosening up the skin even further. You will peel them later once they have cooled.
- To the sautéed onions, add canned crushed tomatoes, diced tomatoes with green chiles, and minced garlic. Stir and turn the heat down to low and simmer for 15-20 minutes.
- Optional step: Once the sauce has simmered for 15-20 minutes, purée it until smooth in a blender. Then, pour the sauce back into your original sauté pan and simmer on low.**
- After the peppers have steamed for 10 minutes or so, gently peel them and cut a slit down the middle of each with a knife. They will be very tender, so be careful to not cut through to the other side. You want the pepper to function as a vessel for the cheese in the next step!
- Carefully seed each pepper. This step is a bit tricky, so be careful! It’s easy to do with a little patience and a spoon.
- Carefully tuck ¼ cup of shredded queso cheese inside each pepper, being careful to not tear them.*** Set the stuffed peppers aside.
- Separate the egg yolks into a small bowl and the egg whites into a medium mixing bowl.
- Whip egg whites until they form stiff peaks using a hand mixer. Then, add one yolk at a time until well combined and fluffy.
- Dip the stuffed peppers in flour and then in the egg mixture. Do this to all of them while ½ cup vegetable oil heats in a second pan. They will be kind of foamy-looking and very messy, but it makes the fry batter nice and light!
- Fry each poblano pepper for about 2-3 minutes per side or until it’s gold and crispy. Do this in batches as they are fragile.
- Serve immediately on top of the warm salsa. Garnish with fresh cilantro and additional cheese if you have more on hand. Enjoy!
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Notes
*Slices of queso or cheddar would also work, but I went with shredded because I found it melts better despite it being a bit messier to work with!
**This step is optional. You do not have to puree the sauce. If you like it chunky and don’t want to clean a blender, you can totally skip this step!
***Be careful not to overfill your peppers, but if you can fit a little more than ¼ cup in each, go for it! You want the sides of the cut on each pepper to slightly overlap when you close them up.
Nutrition
Serving: 1serving | Calories: 694kcal | Carbohydrates: 41g | Protein: 26g | Fat: 50g | Sodium: 1201mg | Fiber: 8g