You'll love this easy Chile Relleno recipe! Poblano peppers are stuffed with leftover smoked brisket (or use smoked pulled pork, ground beef, or cheese). The chile rellenos are served over salsa rojas, a made-from-scratch spicy red sauce.
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Making Chile Relleno isn't as hard or complicated as some might think! As a matter of fact, I learned how to prepare Chile Relleno many years ago when I barely knew how to cook.
Chile Relleno is one of Scott's favorite Mexican dishes, so I learned how to make it early in our relationship. So, if a young, inexperienced 25-year-old Hilda can make Chile Relleno, so can you!
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Why You'll Love This Recipe
- This authentic Chile Relleno recipe is easy to prepare if you take it in steps.
- The recipe can be altered to suit your taste simply by using a different filling. Choose from smoked brisket, seasoned ground beef, cheese, shredded beef, or pulled pork. You can also use this bottom round roast recipe!
- The poblano peppers can be stuffed ahead of time, then fried right before serving.
- This Chile Relleno recipe can be served as a main dish or as a side dish.
Ingredients & Substitutions
- Poblano Peppers: When choosing poblanos, choose large ones because they are easier to stuff. Also, keep in mind that sometimes poblano peppers are mislabeled and actually sold as pasilla peppers. Some poblanos can be quite spicy; removing the seeds can help lessen the heat. If you absolutely need to, you can use Anaheim peppers instead.
- Beef Brisket: Be sure to shred the smoked brisket finely before stuffing the peppers. If you don't have smoked brisket on hand, you can use Instant Pot pulled pork instead.
- Cheese: You can use various cheeses to stuff the poblanos, including Monterey Jack cheese, Asadero cheese, mozzarella, or Oaxaca.
- Chipotle Peppers: Chipotle peppers give the Salsa Rojas (spicy red sauce) a little kick. For a milder sauce, you can leave them out.
- Eggs: A good rule of thumb is to use one egg per poblano pepper.
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How to Make Chile Relleno
Prepare Spicy Tomato Sauce (Salsa Roja)
Step 1: Heat olive oil in a skillet, then sauté onion and garlic for a few minutes. Pulse diced tomatoes and chipotle peppers in a blender, then add to the pan, along with the remaining ingredients. Simmer, covered, for 10 to 15 minutes.
Char and Stuff Poblano Peppers
Step 2: Char the poblano peppers over an open flame or in a hot cast-iron skillet. Add charred peppers to a gallon-sized ziplock bag and seal until the peppers are cool enough to handle. Peel charred skin either by scraping it with a small knife, rubbing it off with a napkin, or just peeling it gently.
Pro Tip: The poblano peppers can be charred in various ways, including over a gas range, in a pan, or you can broil them in the oven.
Step 3: Make a 3" slit in the middle of each pepper. You can leave the seeds intact if you don't mind the extra heat (some poblanos are quite spicy). If you would like to remove them, scrape them out with a small spoon.
Step 4: Mix shredded brisket, cheese, and garlic into a bowl, then carefully stuff each poblano pepper. Set two tablespoons of flour aside to use in the egg batter. Roll peppers, one at a time, into the flour until coated. Gently shake off excess flour and set aside.
Prepare Egg Coating
Step 5: Separate the egg yolks from the egg whites. Add egg whites and salt to a mixing bowl. Whip at high speed until stiff peaks form. Adjust the speed to low. Add egg yolks and 2 tablespoons of flour, mix until incorporated.
Heat oil to 350 degrees F.
Step 6: Hold stuffed peppers by the stem and gently dip them into the egg mixture to coat. Carefully place battered peppers into hot oil and fry until golden brown before flipping to the other side. It should take 2 to 3 minutes per side. Do not overcrowd the pan. Drain fried chiles on paper towels.
Step 7: Spoon salsa rojas onto plates and top with chile rellenos. Serve while hot.
Serving Suggestions
Once fried, these authentic chile rellenos are served over a simple and delicious spicy red sauce known as Salsa Rojas. This Chile Relleno recipe also goes great with a side of Mexican rice, chipotle chorizo beans, green tomato salsa, this Mexican black beans recipe, and Mexican pickled carrots!
Recipe FAQs
"Chili Relleno" is Spanish for "stuffed chili."
The tough outer skin of poblano peppers is usually roasted/charred and then peeled off. This is done for a number of reasons. First, roasting the peppers makes them more delicious and gives them a smoky flavor.
Another reason the skin is peeled is that it is not pleasant to eat. Finally, the skin should be removed to allow the flour and batter to adhere to the peppers.
Poblano chilis can be eaten raw; however, their flavor improves when roasted and used in a variety of recipes, including chili relleno and poblano soup.
Pro Tips
- When buying poblanos, make sure they have a stem. You will leave it intact and hold it as you dip the stuffed chile into the egg batter.
- Instead of smoked brisket, you can use pulled pork or seasoned ground beef. Sometimes raisins are added to the ground beef filling, giving the Chile Rellenos a sweet and spicy flavor.
- To make this a vegetarian Chile Rellenos recipe, stuff the peppers with your favorite cheese.
- If you can't find poblano chiles, Hatch green chiles may be used.
- If the skin does not come off easily, it usually means the peppers are not charred enough, or they need more time to sweat.
- Do not rinse the chiles to remove the charred skin. You want to retain the pepper's flavor and the sticky texture to help the flour and the batter stick to them better.
- Many recipes suggest securing the opening in the stuffed poblanos with toothpicks. I've never found this to be necessary because the egg batter seals the filling inside the peppers.
- Make sure the oil is between 350 and 375 degrees F. If the oil is not hot enough, the chiles will soak up too much oil. If it's too hot, the egg batter will burn.
- One way to serve this Chile Rellenos recipe is to top the chiles with chopped cilantro, crumbled queso fresco (or your favorite Mexican cheese), and sour cream.
More Mexican Recipes
If you enjoy this Chile Relleno Recipe, check out these other tasty Mexican dishes!
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Recipe
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Ingredients
Equipment
Method
- Heat olive oil in a skillet, then sauté onion and garlic for a few minutes. Pulse diced tomatoes and chipotle peppers in a blender, then add to the pan, along with the remaining ingredients. Simmer, covered, for 10 to 15 minutes.
- Char the poblano peppers over an open flame or in a hot cast-iron skillet. Add charred peppers to a gallon-sized ziplock bag and seal until the peppers are cool enough to handle. Peel charred skin either by scraping it with a small knife, rubbing it off with a napkin, or just peeling it gently.
- Make a 3" slit in the middle of each pepper. You can leave the seeds intact if you don't mind the extra heat (some poblanos are quite spicy). If you would like to remove them, scrape them out with a small spoon.
- Mix shredded brisket, cheese, and minced garlic into a bowl then carefully stuff each poblano pepper. Set two tablespoons of flour aside to use in the egg batter. Roll peppers, one at a time, into the flour until coated. Gently shake off excess flour and set aside.
- Separate the egg yolks from the egg whites. Add egg whites and salt to a mixing bowl. Whip at high speed until stiff peaks form. Adjust the speed to low. Add egg yolks and 2 tablespoons of flour, mix until incorporated.
- Hold stuffed peppers by the stem and gently dip them into the egg mixture to coat. Carefully place battered peppers into hot oil and fry until golden brown before flipping to the other side. It should take 2 to 3 minutes per side. Do not overcrowd the pan. Drain fried chiles on paper towels.
- Spoon salsa rojas onto plates and top with chile rellenos. Serve while hot.
Nutrition
Notes
- When buying poblanos, make sure they have a stem. You will leave it intact and hold the stuffed chile by the stem as you dip it into the egg batter.
- Instead of smoked brisket, you can use pulled pork or seasoned ground beef. Sometimes raisins are added to the ground beef filling giving the Chile Rellenos a sweet and spicy flavor.
- The poblano peppers can be charred in various ways, including over a gas range, in a pan, or broiled in the oven.
- To make vegetarian Chile Rellenos, stuff the peppers with your favorite cheese.
- If you can't find poblano chiles, hatch green chiles may be used.
- If the skin does not come off easily, it usually means the peppers are not charred enough, or they need more time to sweat.
- Do not rinse the chiles to remove the charred skin. You want to retain the pepper's flavor and the sticky texture to help the flour and the batter stick to them better.
- Many recipes suggest securing the opening in the stuffed poblanos with toothpicks. I've never found this to be necessary because the egg batter seals the filling inside the peppers.
- Make sure the oil is between 350 and 375 degrees F. If the oil is not hot enough, the chiles will soak up too much oil. If it's too hot, the egg batter will burn.
- One way to serve the chile Rellenos is to top them with chopped cilantro, crumbled queso fresco (or your favorite Mexican cheese), and sour cream.
Patricia Proa-Flores says
I made this recipe today with a few alternations. I used cooked ground beef with diced potatoes. I also opted for no egg coating. The recipe is delish. I also discovered I could char the peppers in our ninja air fryer on the roast feature. That was so much better than using the cast-iron griddle "comal".
Hilda Sterner says
Thank you for your review and comment, Patricia!