Chili Rellenos

5 Poblano Chili Peppers stacked on a butcher block counter top.

The Best Chili Rellenos

One of my favorite recipes to prepare, serve and eat has got to be stuffed peppers. They come in all shapes and sizes, prepared differently all around the world including Asian, Indian and European cultures. The Germans have great stuffed Bell Pepper recipes and so do the Cajun’s, here in the United States.

I’ve seen and tried recipes stuffed with meats varying from ground pork, veal, beef, lamb, chicken and even shrimp. Also rice, legumes, potatoes and quite often the addition of cheese. One of the most famous stuffed pepper recipes in the world, however, is the Chili Relleno made with Poblano Chili Peppers and, if you don’t know already, it comes from Pueblo Mexico.

2 Roasted Poblano Chili Peppers, sitting on a paper towel with black blistered skins, ready to be peeled.

Why this Recipe intimidates People

Making Chili Rellenos can be quite tedious, especially if you’re making them for the first time it can be difficult and seem intimidating. That’s why I waited so long to share this recipe with you. I spent a lot of time over the years trying to come up with a fool proof method that will make anyone feel comfortable making this dish and it all starts with roasting the Chili’s until the skin blisters up, evenly around the whole body of the pepper.

One roasted and peeled Poblano Chili Pepper, with a table knife, on a white flower printed plate.

Once the Chili Peppers have been roasted they’re placed in a bag or bowl where they can be covered and steamed with their own heat. This helps the flesh of the pepper lift and blister, for easy removal, as the pepper continues to cook and soften a bit more.

After 10 minutes or so, the skin is removed. this can be done by peeling with your fingers, rubbing or pulling with a paper towel but I find that it works best using the small serrated edges of a table knife by gently scraping the scorched skin off. Realize these peppers are getting soft so, if you don’t want to rip and tear your Chili Rellenos before they’re even made, be careful.

Grated Monterey Jack, Colby Jack and Queso Fresca Cheese.

The next step to making perfect Chili Rellenos is creating a small incision down the side of each roasted and skinned Poblano Pepper. You can, at this point, choose to remove the seeds, if you so desire, but it really isn’t necessary. Besides, it’s just another opportunity to rip and tear a perfectly good pepper so, why risk it. Now, just stuff the Pepper with grated Monterey Jack cheese, seal the incision back together, temporarily, with tooth picks and roll each one in flower.

2 stuffed, roasted, skinned Poblano Peppers, sealed with tooth picks and rolled in all purpose flour.

Rolling the Poblanos in flour is a very crucial step. In fact it’s one of the reasons why the skin is removed; it helps the flour stick and adhere to the pepper better which in turn, like most frying, grasps the egg wash batter for deep frying.

What’s the other reason the skin is removed, you say? I believe that it gives the peppers an unpleasing texture like trying to eat the outside layers of a cooked unpeeled onion. I’ve tried it this way before, out of pure laziness, and it left one to be desired so, roast, peel and flour your stuffed Chili Relleno Peppers.

One smothered Chili Rellenos Pepper, with Colby Jack Cheese, Chili Sauce and Pico De Gallo.

My Chili Rellenos

As far as I’m concerned, you can do what ever you want with this dish as far as the filling goes. It doesn’t have to be stuffed with just cheese. You can fill these Poblanos with meat or any of the other ingredients I mentioned above. I’ve seen sautéed onions and mushrooms and even tomatoes on the inside of these peppers with cheese.

According to the history of the original recipe, that dates back to the 1850’s, Nun’s were absolutely stuffing their Chili’s with meat so, go crazy if you want to. In it’s simplest form, however, I cook my Chili Rellenos stuffed with Monterey Jack, then bake under a broiler in a Red Chili Sauce with Colby Jack, then I top it off with cold Pico De Gallo and crumbled Queso Fresca.

YouTube video tutorial on How to make Chili Rellenos by PoorMansGourmet.
Chili Rellenos Ingredients: Makes 8 to 12

Chili Relleno’s Ingredients:

8 to 12 Poblano Chili’s, roasted
1 lbs Monterey Jack Cheese, grated
1 lbs Colby Jack Cheese, grated
1/2 lbs Queso Fresca Cheese, crumbled
2 cups Pico De Gallo
2 cups Red Chili Sauce

6 to 8 eggs
3 tbsp flour
1/2 tsp salt

Oil for frying

Just follow the instructions in the short video tutorial and I’ll show you exactly how to make these wonderful Chili Rellenos.

Green Enchilada Sauce

Jalapeno Main Pic

The Best Green Enchilada Sauce

This is my Green Enchilada Sauce recipe.  It’s as good as it gets!  I had several requests to make it after I posted the Red Enchilada Sauce and since I’m planning on making Chili Verde for my next Video recipe, I thought I better get on this so you can have all the sauce ingredients to make that as well.

What’s the Secret?

I made this with fresh Tomatillo Tomatoes and Anaheim Peppers.  It has Onions, Garlic and a few dry ingredients that real help lift the natural flavors in this sauce.  There’s only a few minutes of prep and only 10 minutes of cook time, so you can crank this sauce out fast.  It goes great with Chili Verde and it makes fantastic Chicken Enchiladas and I’ll post that recipe link down below along with the Red Enchilada Sauce I mentioned.

CLICK HERE for Chicken Enchiladas!

CLICK HERE for Red Enchilada Sauce!

Green Enchilada Sauce Ingredients:

3 Anaheim Peppers
8 Tomatillo Tomatoes
2 Green Onions
1 Jalapeno (optional)
Chicken Broth, just enough to cover veggies
2 Garlic Cloves
1 tbsp Cumin
1 tsp Mexican Oregano
1/2 tsp Black Pepper

Be sure to watch the short video tutorial and I’ll show you exactly how to make this amazing Green Enchilada Sauce.

Seafood and Crab Enchilada

Seafood and Crab Enchiladas

The Best Seafood and Crab Enchilada

This is one of my favorite dishes to order when I go out for Mexican.  It isn’t always on the menu because I’m not entirely certain it’s authentic.  But whatever it is, it’s delicious and one of the most important steps is making the Seafood and Crab mix correctly.  Yes it’s imitation crab, but if you buy the right stuff you will see that the ingredients involve mostly white fish like pollock, cod and I believe whiting if I’m not mistaken.  Then there is always some small portion of real crab meat to help the flavor.  So the “Seafood and Crab” description is accurate if someone wants to argue the point.  But I discovered, long ago, that the secret to making a great mix is in the mayonnaise.  A dab of minced or chopped garlic helps too, but you’ve got to make sure that the mayo get’s fully absorbed into the mix with plenty left on the outside to keep it moist.  This means a lot of stirring.

I always break up the meat as much as possible before I add the other ingredients, but really that’s all there is to it.  But, I’m telling you, if you skip this simple step, your Seafood and Crab mix in your Enchilada will be so-so and you won’t like it near as much.

This dish can be fabulous if you take a few extra minutes to prepare it right.  Also it’s important to have a good Enchilada Sauce to fully coat your tortilla’s.  Lucky for you I just posted my recipe for that, just before this one, and I’ve added to the end of this instructional tutorial.  Oh, and yes this recipe does call for flour tortilla’s.  It’s the way it is served in Mexican restaurants, no matter where I order it.  So, use a doughy restaurant grade flour tortilla.  You can find them in the refrigerated section in normal grocery stores, often near the chorizo and mexican cheese, or you can get them at your local Mexican market.  They are usually thinner tortillas but that’s what you want.

Here’s a link to a Bean and Cheese Burrito video where I actually show you what they look like and how they make a difference.  I also have a Chicken Enchilada’s Recipe made with Verde if you are interested, CLICK HERE for that.

Seafood and Crab Enchilada’s Ingredients:

Flour Tortilla’s
1 cup Seafood and Crab mix for each Tortilla (do the math)
3 oz Enchilada Sauce
1/2 cup Cheddar Cheese, grated

Seafood and Crab Mix (Original Post)

2 cups Imitation Crab meat
2 chopped Green Onions
1 chopped Garlic Clove
1 cup Mayonnaise
1 tbsp Olive Oil
Salt and Pepper to taste

Enchilada Sauce (Original Post)

12 Large Dehydrated Chili’s, seeded
1 qt Chicken Broth, approximately
1/2 tsp Cumin
1/2 tsp Onion Powder
1/4 tsp Salt, adjust to taste
2 garlic Cloves

Be sure to watch the short video tutorial and I’ll show you exactly how to make this tasty Seafood and Crab Enchilada.