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Chile Rellenos

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roasted pepper stuffed with cheese, fried, and served with tomato sauce

Ingredients

Scale
  • Peppers
  • 1/2 pound pepper jack cheese, cut into wedges
  • 1/2 pound cheddar cheese, cut into wedges
  • 6 poblano chiles (can also use anaheim chiles)
  • 5 eggs, separated
  • 1 tablespoon flour + extra for dusting
  • Sauce
  • 1/2 medium onion
  • 3 medium roma tomatoes
  • 3 cloves garlic
  • 1 serrano or jalapeno pepper
  • 1 tablespoon cilantro
  • 2 tablespoons tomato paste
  • 1 tablespoon oil
  • 1 tablespoon flour
  • 1 cup chicken broth (possibly more)
  • 1 teaspoon lime juice
  • 2 teaspoons oregano
  • 1 teaspoon chipotle pepper
  • 2–3 tablespoons chile powder
  • 1 teaspoon sugar
  • salt and pepper to taste
  • 1 cup cheddar cheese, shredded

Instructions

  1. Peppers
  2. If using fresh peppers, roast them by setting your oven on broil and placing the peppers on a baking sheet in the top part of your oven. Roast 10-15 minutes turning the peppers as they blacken. Once completely roasted, place in a plastic or paper bag and let sweat for about 10 minutes. The skins should peel right off of them. Once peeled, open up the peppers, remove the seeds and membranes for stuffing.
  3. Stuff the peppers with the wedges of cheese. Place seam side down on a baking sheet. You can use tooth picks to keep the peppers together.
  4. Lightly coat the peppers in flour. This helps the egg batter stick to the peppers.
  5. Separate the egg yolks from the whites. Beat the egg whites until stuff like meringue and then fold the yolks and 1 tablespoon of flour back into the whites.
  6. Heat oil a large frying pan over medium-high heat until hot, about 4 minutes. Here’s a great tip to check if the oil is hot: submerge the handle of a wooden spoon or a wooden chopstick until it touches the bottom of the pan—the oil should bubble vigorously. If you’ve put toothpicks in the chiles, remove them before you start frying.
  7. Working with 1 chile at a time, drop 1/2 cup of the egg batter into the oil and use a spatula to spread it to about the same size as the stuffed chile. Lay the chile seam-side down on top of the batter.
  8. Drop another 1/2 cup of batter on top of the chile, spreading it with the spatula to cover the sides and encase the chile.
  9. Cook until the bottom of the chile is golden brown, about 2 to 3 minutes. Using a spatula and a fork, carefully flip the chile over and cook until the other side is golden brown, about 2 to 3 minutes. Remove the chile from the oil and place in a casserole dish.
  10. Sauce
  11. In a blender or food processor, puree the onion, tomatoes, garlic, serrano pepper, cilantro, and tomato paste. In a medium saucepan, add the oil and cook over medium-high heat. Add the flour and whisk until combined. Cook for 1-2 minutes. Add the pureed tomato mixture to the pan, reduce heat to low. Slowly whisk in the chicken broth. Season with lime juice, chipotle powder, chile powder, oregano, sugar, and salt and pepper to taste. Cook for about 10 minutes or until thickened. I set my stove to low and let the sauce cook while I fried the chiles.
  12. Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Once the chiles are all fried and in the casserole dish, cover with the tomato sauce. Sprinkle shredded cheese over each chile relleno. Bake at 375 degrees for 20-25 minutes until cheese has melted and sauce is bubbling.
  13. Serve and enjoy.

Nutrition

Find it online: https://prairiecalifornian.com/chile-rellenos/