Real Chiles Rellenos Recipe - Allrecipes.com
Real Chiles Rellenos Recipe
  • READY IN ABOUT 2½ hrs

Real Chiles Rellenos

Read Reviews (75)

"Just like your favorite Mexican restaurant! This unique, flavorful sauce and light, crispy batter will make it worth the little effort and time to prepare this cheesy classic at home. The steps are easy, and you can find Mexican oregano and comino in the Mexican spice section of any grocery store. Stuff and freeze the peppers in advance to save time! " —  

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Original recipe makes 4 stuffed peppers Change Servings
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Directions

  1. Preheat the oven's broiler and set the oven rack at about 6 inches from the heat source. Line a baking sheet with aluminum foil, and place the peppers onto the prepared baking sheet.
  2. Cook under the preheated broiler until the skin of the peppers has blackened and blistered, 8 to 10 minutes per side. When the peppers are about 80 percent blackened, place them a plastic bag, seal, and allow the peppers to steam as they cool, about 20 minutes. Once cool, remove the skins and discard. Cut a slit lengthwise into the side of each pepper, and remove seeds and veins. To reduce spiciness, rinse out any remaining seeds with water. Pat the peppers dry with paper towels.
  3. Mix together the shredded mozzarella, Monterey Jack, and Cheddar cheese in a bowl until thoroughly blended. Divide the cheese into 4 portions, and squeeze each portion lightly in your hands to make a cone shape. Insert a cone into the slit in each pepper, and pin the openings closed with toothpicks. Dredge each pepper in flour, dust off the excess, and place on a small baking sheet lined with parchment paper or waxed paper. Place the peppers in the freezer for at least 30 minutes.
  4. To make sauce, blend the stewed tomatoes in a blender until pureed, and set aside. Heat 1 tablespoon of vegetable oil in a saucepan over medium heat, and cook and stir the onion until translucent, about 5 minutes. Add the garlic, cook and stir for about 30 seconds, and pour in the pureed tomatoes, chicken broth, vinegar, oregano, cumin, black pepper, hot pepper sauce, and cinnamon. Reduce to medium-low, and simmer the sauce until reduced by half and thickened, about 20 minutes, stirring often.
  5. Preheat an oven to 200 degrees F (95 degrees C), and warm a platter in the oven.
  6. To make batter and finish the chiles rellenos, mix 1/3 cup flour with salt in a bowl. In a separate bowl, beat the egg whites with an electric mixer until the whites form stiff peaks. Lightly mix the egg yolk and flour-salt mixture into the egg whites to make a fluffy batter. Remove peppers from freezer and coat them in flour again; shake off excess flour, and dip each pepper into the egg batter, using a spoon to gently but completely coat each pepper with batter.
  7. Heat frying oil in a heavy cast iron skillet over medium-high heat until the oil shimmers. Gently lay the coated peppers into the hot oil, and fry on both sides until the batter is golden brown and the cheese filling is hot, about 5 minutes per side. Remove peppers to warmed platter while you finish frying. To serve, ladle a generous spoonful of sauce onto plate, and place pepper on sauce. Serve peppers hot with a dollop of sour cream.
Kitchen-Friendly View
  • PREP 45 mins
  • COOK 45 mins
  • READY IN 2 hrs 20 mins

Footnotes

  • Cook's Note
  • As written, this recipe is very mild. Try different cheeses, pepper jack, Oaxaca, quesadilla cheese, etc., or even fill with meat, beans, sour cream or rice! Be sure your egg whites are at room temperature so they will beat up nice and fluffy. Freshly shredded cheeses will stick together best when forming filling.
  • Editor's Note
  • The nutrition data for this recipe includes the full amount of the breading ingredients. The actual amount of the breading consumed will vary. We have determined the nutritional value of oil for frying based on a retention value of 10% after cooking. The exact amount will vary depending on cooking time and temperature, ingredient density, and the specific type of oil used.
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Reviews More Reviews

Most Helpful Positive Review
Sep 23, 2012

Oh, it is me again, Ellie May! I LOVE this recipe, it is a pain to do it all right but SO worth it! If you are going to do 4 chiles, go ahead and do 8-12, depending on size; eggwhites in the original recipe will allow for this. I make this 2-5 times a year, but mostly when Hatch, NM chiles are in harvest. We roast 20-40 lbs. of green chiles on our grill then freeze them, setting aside BIG fleshy/straight ones for this recipe so we can cook these all year. Best tip: cheese/flour them on all sides and freeze individually on cookie sheets. Once they are frozen, dump in a freezer bag so you can finish anytime in the winter when fresh isn't available. Cover again w/flour right before dipping in eggwhite then frying. I cook them slightly frozen so the cheese won't melt in the frying pan! I usually cook the sauce and only put in the food processor AFTER cooking it all together, so it will be smooth. And I save THAT too, in a freezerbag! When defrosting sauce, I may add fresh lime juice, or other spices to spark it up. MOST IMPORTANT, make sure egg whites are ROOM TEMP before whipping, and oil in frying pan is so hot in an iron skillet, that it is SCARY! Stay on top of it and turn with tongs; drain oil off on paper towels. Serve with sour cream and/or avocados for those that cannot take the heat, plus some hot sauce from MEXICO to keep authentic for those who want more! Nothing is better with this than a slice of lime, and a Negro Modelo Beer in a frosty glass. Enjoy!

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Most Helpful Critical Review
Nov 22, 2011

I was so excited to make these after reading all the reviews. I kept trying to tell myself that all the mess and effort would pay off, but in the end, I was disappointed. The sauce was delicious on its own, and I plan to keep that part of the recipe for other things, but the finished relleno was missing something, and didn't really have the flavor of a restaurant chile relleno. A lot of effort that I don't plan to expend again...next time, will just go out for these.

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May 04, 2010

I use the side of a spoon to scrape/remove the charred skin from the chilis & it works great without tearing the soft chili! Be sure your oil is hot when you start to batter the chilis so you can lay them directly into the pan. The batter is kinda delicate, treat it gently :o) You can also remove the 1 egg yolk completely & just use the egg whites...I like it either way. Have fun!

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Jul 09, 2010

This is an excellent recipe: very clearly written with step by step directions that won't let you fail. And the final dish??? Superb and very authentic. It's not a super difficult recipe, but will take some time and probably suited for at least the intermediate cook. But definetly try this one. Make your sauce while the chiles sit for a bit in the freezer. I usually tweek recipes that I read, and the only thing I did differently here was to use long cubes of mexican melting cheese (queso quesadilla) instead of the shredded mix, because that is what I had in the frig. But really, I wouldn't change a thing. This recipe is PERFECT!

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Mar 18, 2011

THIS RECIPE IS FABULOUS! I have made it at least seven times and it comes out perfectly. The red sauce is so tasty, I always double the recipe on the sauce so I can use it in other recipes during the week! I also have added some ricotta to the cheese/stuffing mixture to help hold it all together. I have also found success in using a deep bowl to batter the chilis before fryiing, dipping the chili all the way in and using a spoon to drege the batter up the chili. Try this recipe, you won't be disappointed!

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Jul 09, 2010

I eat this at nearly every Mexican restaurant we go to, and this recipe was excellent! Although it took quite awhile to prepare, it was worth it. The fluffy egg white batter made a nice, thick and crispy crust. The freezer part was really smart because of the type of batter; it would have been hard to coat the peppers if they were soft. I used some quesdilla and cotija cheese that I had on hand, but it did not melt very well, after just 5 minutes of frying on each side, so perhaps I will deep-fry next time as someone suggested. I was too worried to leave them frying longer because I wanted to keep the light golden brown crust. Zapped leftovers in the microwave the second day, and still good. Served with some red beans and rice on the side to round out the meal.

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Jun 28, 2010

My husband would order Chiles Rellenos every time we went to any Mexican resturaunt. After tasting "mine"... this recipe...we no longer have to go OUT for his favorite dish. I will stage peppers frozen so they can be cooked at any notice.

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May 15, 2011

Great recipe! Don't pass this up because of the length of the ingredient list (you will have most of them in your cupboard) or the length of instructions. They are just very detailed so the recipe is fool proof. Not that it isn't time consuming; I will be taking the advice to make the peppers ahead of time and freezing them to cut down on prep time the day of. Worth the effort!

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Nutrition

  • Calories
  • 418 kcal
  • 21%
  • Carbohydrates
  • 33.9 g
  • 11%
  • Cholesterol
  • 89 mg
  • 30%
  • Fat
  • 22.9 g
  • 35%
  • Fiber
  • 4.9 g
  • 19%
  • Protein
  • 21 g
  • 42%
  • Sodium
  • 880 mg
  • 35%

* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2,000 calorie diet.

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