This Stuffed Chile Relleno Recipe stuffs ground beef Picadillo inside roasted poblano peppers and smothers them with melted cheese to make a flavorful, zesty, and cheesy Mexican dinner.
With a few simple ingredients, you can have a delicious, zesty Mexican dinner on the table in just over 30 minutes.
Stuffed Poblano Peppers
If you love Tex-Mex and Mexican Food Recipes, then you will love this Stuffed Chile Rellenos Recipe with its picadillo stuffed poblano peppers with melted cheddar cheese on top!
Unlike standard Chile Rellenos recipes, for this one, we do NOT fry the poblano peppers. Instead, like our Chile Relleno Casserole, we roast the poblano peppers in the oven, and then stuff it with my Picadillo Con Papas, or ground beef Picadillo with potatoes, and then melt cheddar cheese all over the top of it.
Sprinkle some chopped cilantro or chopped green onions, or drizzle some Mexican Crema or Sour Cream over the top, and you have a restaurant quality Mexican dinner that you can be proud to serve to your family!
Start By Making Picadillo
The first thing I do is make a batch of my Picadillo Con Papas Recipe, which is like a Mexican Ground Beef Hash, and can be used as a filling for tacos, enchiladas, empanadas, or in this case, Stuffed Chile Rellenos. Click on the link above to take you to the recipe that has step by step instructions and photos.
I like to make a batch at the beginning of the week and then use it in several different recipes during the week. Once the Picadillo Con Papas is ready, then we can start making our Stuffed Chile Rellenos or Stuffed Poblano Peppers.
Why Do You Roast Poblano Peppers
Before stuffing the poblano peppers, you have to roast the poblano peppers to soften them up and give them that earthy roasted flavor. If you don’t do this, the poblano peppers would not be soft enough to eat easily. Before roasting, slice the poblano peppers in half and remove any seeds. See the printable recipe card below for roasting instructions. After roasting the peppers, the skin may become blistered. Allow the the poblano peppers to cool and then peel the skin off of the poblanos before stuffing them.
How To Make Stuffed Chile Rellenos
Below I discuss the ingredients and possible substitutions in case you don’t have a specific ingredient on hand. However, if you are looking for the specific measurements of each ingredient, be sure to scroll down to the bottom of this article, just above the comments, for the printable recipe card, which includes all the ingredients and the specific amounts of each one.
Ingredients
- Poblano Peppers – Look for fresh, firm poblano peppers with a dark green color. These peppers have a mild flavor and are not hot like jalapeños. Don’t get red poblano peppers because those are much hotter than the green poblano peppers.
- Prepared Picadillo Con Papas – See my Recipe for Picadillo With Potatoes.
- Shredded Mexican Blend or Cheddar Cheese – For convenience, you can use a shredded Mexican Blend cheese. However, if you have time, for the best results shred a block of cheddar cheese for the best flavor and texture.
- Sour Cream – I use Mexican Crema or Sour Cream as a garnish. I like to drizzle it over the top of the Stuffed Chile Rellenos for a nice presentation.
- Chopped Cilantro or Green Onions – I use either chopped cilantro or chopped green onions to sprinkle over the top of the Stuffed Chile Rellenos just before serving. It gives it a nice contrasting color and makes a pretty presentation.
High Level Directions
Making this recipe requires the steps below. For the full detailed directions, scroll down to the bottom of the blog post, just above the comments, for the printable recipe card.
- Make a batch of Picadillo Con Papas. See link above.
- Roast and peel the Poblano Peppers.
- Stuff the Picadillo inside the Poblano Peppers.
- Top with shredded Mexican cheese.
- Bake the Stuffed Poblano Peppers.
What To Serve With Stuffed Chile Rellenos?
- Serve the Stuffed Poblano Peppers with Mexican Crema, or sour cream, and chopped cilantro or green onions.
- For sides, serve with my Mexican Rice Recipe or Mexican Cauliflower Rice, and either refried beans or pinto or black beans.
- For a beverage, try my Spicy Peach Margarita to make it feel like a Mexican Fiesta!
Recipe Tips
- To Make Ahead, make a batch of the Picadillo Con Papas a day or two ahead of time, and then about 1 hour before you want to serve, roast and stuff the poblano peppers, cover with shredded cheese, and bake for 20 to 25 minutes. I prefer making the Picadillo ahead of time because it allows time for all those wonderful flavors to fully develop and will make for an even tastier Stuffed Poblano recipe.
- Poblano Peppers are wonderful peppers for stuffing. They have a mild spice to them, are nice and big and full of flavor. Broil the skin to blacken it and remove it, but do not wash them once they are baked. So much of their wonderful flavor will be lost.
- Thin Out Sour Cream. To thin out the sour cream to make it more like Mexican Crema, stir in a little milk with the sour cream and then drizzle over the top of the Stuffed Chile Rellenos.
More Recipes You’ll Love
- Chicken Fajita Stuffed Peppers
- Chicken Nachos Stuffed Poblanos
- Buffalo Chicken Stuffed Shells
- Baked Green Chile Chicken Empanadas
- Tex Mex Enchiladas
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Stuffed Chile Relleno Recipe
Ingredients
- 4 poblano peppers (rinsed, halved and seeded)
- 5 cups Prepared Ground Beef Picadillo
- 2 cups shredded Mexican Blend Cheese
- Sour Cream for garnish (optional)
- Chopped Cilantro or Green Onions for garnish (optional)
Instructions
- Turn on the broiler and line a cookie sheet with parchment paper.
- Wash and half poblano peppers and remove seeds. Place the poblano peppers skin side up on a cookie sheet and place directly under a broiler for 5 to 10 minutes or until skin is blackened. Flip the peppers over and move to a middle rack. Cook for an additional 5 minutes.
- Remove the poblano peppers from the oven. Set oven temperature to 350° F.
- Let the peppers cool for 5 minutes, then gently remove any loosened skin from poblanos. Do this gently so you don’t tear the poblanos. Do not wash the poblano peppers or you will remove their delicious flavor.
- Turn poblano peppers open-side up and fill with the picadillo con papas.
- Sprinkle stuffed poblanos with cheese and place in the preheated oven. Bake for 10 minutes.
- Remove the stuffed poblano peppers from the oven, and just before serving, drizzle with sour cream and chopped cilantro or green onions to garnish.
Notes
- To Make Ahead, make a batch of the Picadillo Con Papas a day or two ahead of time, and then about 1 hour before you want to serve, roast and stuff the poblano peppers, cover with shredded cheese, and bake for 20 to 25 minutes. I prefer making the Picadillo ahead of time because it allows time for all those wonderful flavors to fully develop and will make for an even tastier Stuffed Poblano recipe.
- Poblano Peppers are wonderful peppers for stuffing. They have a mild spice to them, are nice and big and full of flavor. Broil the skin to blacken it and remove it, but do not wash them once they are baked. So much of their wonderful flavor will be lost.
- Thin Out Sour Cream. To thin out the sour cream to make it more like Mexican Crema, stir in a little milk with the sour cream and then drizzle over the top of the Stuffed Chile Rellenos.
Greybeard says
This looks good, but 5 cups of picadillo for 4 peppers? How big are your poblanos?? The biggest ones I get here take less than a half cup per pepper. The recipe I’ve been making calls for a pound of ground beef and 1 Russet potato; I make half that, fill six peppers, and still have about half the filling left over. What am I missing? (Not that leftover picadillo is a bad thing!)
Michele says
Hi there,
The poblano peppers you are using do sound like that are smaller than the ones I used. However, I wouldn’t worry about it. If your poblanos are smaller then you’ll have leftover picadillo, which you can use in tacos, enchiladas, quesadillas, and more.
Thanks,
Michele