Who can resist cheese-stuffed poblano peppers that are battered and fried until golden brown, and served with a savory tomato sauce scented with cinnamon and coriander? Instead of the fluffy egg batter that’s typically used in Mexico, we made a simple beer batter to create a crispy finish.
| Level: | Intermediate |
| Total: | 1 hr 45 min |
| Prep: | 1 hr |
| Inactive: | 10 min |
| Cook: | 35 min |
| Yield: | 6 servings |
Ingredients
- 6 poblano chiles
- 8 ounces Oaxacan-style string cheese, mozzarella, or Monterey Jack
- 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for dredging
- 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1 teaspoon ground cumin
- 1 teaspoon fine salt, plus more for sprinkling
- 1 (12-ounce) bottle or can lager-style beer
- Vegetable oil, for deep-frying
- Mexican Tomato Sauce, warm, recipe follows
- 2 pounds ripe tomatoes, cored and roughly chopped
- 1/4 medium yellow onion
- 6 cloves garlic
- 5 sprigs fresh coriander (cilantro)
- 1 serrano chile (with seeds)
- 1 tablespoon kosher salt
- 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon (preferably Mexican)
Instructions
- To prepare the chiles:
- Position a rack on the upper most shelf of the broiler element and preheat. Put the chiles on a foil-lined broiler pan and broil, turning occasionally with tongs, until the skin is charred, about 10 minutes. Transfer the chiles to a bowl, cover, and cool for 10 minutes.
- Carefully rub the charred skin off the chiles. Using a small knife, make a lengthwise slit along the side of each chile to form a pocket. Carefully cut out and discard the seeds.
- Cut the cheese into 6 (1/4-inch-thick) slabs, about 3/4 the length of each chile (your chiles probably vary in length, so tailor the cheese to the chiles). Slip the cheese pieces into the pocket of each chile so they’re 2/3 full. (If the cheese protrudes from the chiles, just cut a little off.) “Sew” each chile shut with a wooden skewer or long toothpick. (The skewers should be longer than the chiles, so they can be easily pulled out after frying.)
- Whisk the flour, baking powder, cumin, and salt in a large bowl. Stir in the beer to a make a smooth batter.
- In a large, wide, heavy-bottomed pot, pour in the oil to a depth of about 3 inches. Heat over medium heat until a deep-fry thermometer inserted in the oil registers 365 degrees F.
- Put the flour for dredging on a plate. Working in 2 batches, dredge the chiles in the flour (the dampness of the chiles creates a light paste with the flour that seals over any tears), dip in the batter, and carefully add to the oil. Fry, turning the chiles once, until golden brown and crispy, about 4 minutes per batch. Using tongs, transfer the chiles rellenos to a dry paper towel-lined baking sheet to drain. Sprinkle with salt, to taste. Gently pull out and discard the skewers.
- Heat the sauce. Spoon some of the sauce on a plate and set 1 chile relleno on top. Repeat with the remaining sauce and chiles. Serve.
- In a blender, combine all the ingredients and puree until smooth.
- Transfer the tomato puree to a medium saucepan and bring to a boil. Lower the heat and simmer until slightly thick, about 10 minutes.
- Yield: about 3 cups
Nutrition Facts
| Serving Size | 1 of 6 servings |
| Calories | 789 |
| Total Fat | 63 g |
| Saturated Fat | 10 g |
| Carbohydrates | 38 g |
| Dietary Fiber | 4 g |
| Sugar | 7 g |
| Protein | 16 g |
| Cholesterol | 35 mg |
| Sodium | 895 mg |
Reviews
Very good. Takes patience and time, but worth it. As others have said the sauce is really good too. Use the biggest peppers you can find, as the ones I used from our garden were small due to end of season and hard to stuff and seal. i also added chicken sausage and onions that I mixed and cooked together. Made the stuffing better than just cheese. Hardest part was securing the peppers, but the batter really did help solve any spots that did not seal good with the toothpicks! Love that batter, very crispy.
Want to try this recipe! No eggs!
These are great! Much easier than separating the eggs, etc. They are crispy on the outside, melted on the inside. I used Ialian mozzarella which held up where there were openings in the Chile. Thanks!
I have no idea why chile rellenos recipes for New Mexico always have poblanos. We don’t use them, we use Sandia, Big Jim, or other locally grown chiles. If you have a gas cooktop, just stick the chiles over the flames, or use your barbecue grill to roast the chiles.
This sauce is delicious! The sauce could be made on its own to go with other Mexican dishes and be perfect. From a person who has failed miserably several times to roast and peel poblanos well, this method worked the best for me for sure. I think I was just looking for more flavor in the batter itself. I would make it again, but add a little more spice and more of the cumin to it. It was super crunchy and lovely overall, but I think I was looking for it to taste like more especially with the beer.
The best Chile relleno recipe I’ve tried!
My wife grew up in Texas eating crispy chiles rellenos, but had not been able to find them in any restaurant since. I also love crispy rellenos. I hoped this recipe would be the one, and IT IS! I made the recipe with hot Hatch chile, but kept everything else the same, and had awesome results! The trick is to get the batter thin enough to easily coat the peppers, but thick enough to make an even coating. Having the frying fat hot enough helps to not soak up grease. All in all, this recipe is excellent!
I liked this batter better than the more traditional egg one. I don’t like that at all. Dredging the chiles in flour before battering was a bad idea though. I never understand why this is recommended in breading and battering. Flour is hydrophobic, it resists water. The batter didn’t want to stick to the flour. Also, I prefer charring the chiles over a gas burner. The idea is to char the outside without over cooking the inside, so it doesn’t fall apart before frying. The broiler just cooks the chiles too much.
Chili rellenos are one of my favorite Mexican dishes but I had never tried making them before. Because I had no experience making chili rellenos, I was worried the peppers would rip open too much when removing the seeds and inserting the cheese. Then I worried they would fall apart when I dipped them in the batter. But I followed the directions and had neither of those problems.They turned out great! I have never liked rellenos battered in eggs so I was very pleased with this recipe and the batter fried up nice and crunchy. The cheese melted perfectly after about 4 minutes in the oil. I will be making these again!
My husband loved these. I have never made them before. I liked them and I am not a rellenos fan. I admit I was short on time and skipped the sauce. I used Coors light and added 1 tsp of chilli power to the batter. It was messy, but I left my faucet running very slowly for a quick rinse of my fingers. The chiles were too fragile for tongs or fork dipping. Also I used both cheddar and Monterey Jack cheeses. Our little town doesn’t carry much in the way of international foods. It was yummy. I ate 1 1/2!