A Mexican favorite, chile relleno are stuffed poblano peppers with cheese and fried with a light batter. The chile rellenos are served with a flavorful and savory ranchero sauce.
I promised Joe I would make him his favorite Mexican dish ever...chile relleno. It's rare I let the poor guy order it when we go out, so I thought a treat for this party would be fun. Of course I did my research and put several things together as well as my own twist. The boys that work in the kitchen at the restaurant Joe works at always whip up some Mexican grub and they happened to make some ranchero sauce. Joe brought home a sample and I tasted my way through its ingredients. It was deep red with a primary tomato base and had chunks of green pepper and onion. I knew where I was going with this.
Now I can't offer you a Mexican classic without first embarrassing myself and showing you a picture of my first trip to Mexico. About 3 years ago Joe and I flew down to Cancun and visited Chichen Itza as well as I jumping onto my very first horse. His name was "Singer" and we galloped through the Mexican waters together.It was a moment I will never forget. Don't laugh.
Method:
1) Make ranchero sauce first. In a large and deep skillet, saute onion, bell pepper and jalapeno in olive oil until it begins to break down. About 10 minutes.
2) Add garlic and spices and cook for another 2-3 minutes until garlic begins to brown.
3) Add tomatoes with its juice and bay leaf and bring to a boil. Then reduce and cover on a simmer while you prepare the chile. Remove bay leaf before serving.
*Note: I made this earlier in the day and saved it for dinner. I thought the consistency and flavors pulled together more during those few hours of "sitting". So if you have the time to make this ahead, please do.
4) Make chile: Take the egg whites and using a stand mixer, whisk until stiff peaks form. Lightly whisk together the yolks in a separate bowl and fold in yolks with egg whites until light yellow. Set aside.
5) Place chiles on a foil lined baking sheet and roast in oven at 450 degrees for about 20 minutes or until all sides are blistered. Meanwhile, heat a large pan or cast iron with ½ inch canola or vegetable oil.
6) When chiles are done, remove and wrap with plastic wrap or place in plastic bag and remove outer charred skin. Use a small knife to cut an opening on one side of chile and discard seeds. Fill with crumbled queso fresco and secure with a toothpick.
6)Dredge the chile in flour and then in the egg mixture. Gently drop coated chile in heated oil and fry until all sides are golden brown. About 1-2 minutes per side.
*Note: I had some minor difficulty when I wanted to coat with the egg mixture. I quickly found out that this was due to the intense heat wave we've been having (try 100+) and because of that my egg mixture was quickly melting before my eyes. Make sure to evenly coat the pepper and if you need to use an extra spoon to coat, that will help too.
7) Serve chile atop of ranchero sauce and garnish with fresh cilantro and queso fresco.
Looking for more Mexican recipe inspiration? Try my slow cooker chicken chili verde recipe!
Chile Relleno with Ranchero Sauce
LittleFerraroKitchen.com
Ingredients
Chile Relleno
- 4 pasilla chile
- 8 oz queso fresco plus more for garnish
- ½ c flour
- 4 eggs separated
- Canola oil for frying
Ranchero Sauce
- 1 32 oz can chopped tomatoes
- 1 green bell pepper chopped
- ½ onion chopped
- 1 jalapeno diced (with or without seeds)
- 2-3 garlic cloves chopped
- ½ teaspoon cumin
- ½ teaspoon dried oregano
- ½ teaspoon paprika
- Salt and pepper to taste
- Olive oil for drizzling
Instructions
- Make ranchero sauce first. In a large and deep skillet, saute onion, bell pepper and jalapeno in olive oil until it begins to break down. About 10 minutes.
- Add garlic and spices and cook for another 2-3 minutes until garlic begins to brown.
- Add tomatoes with its juice and bay leaf and bring to a boil. Then reduce and cover on a simmer while you prepare the chile. Remove bay leaf before serving.
- Make chile: Take the egg whites and using a stand mixer, whisk until stiff peaks form. Lightly whisk together the yolks in a separate bowl and fold in yolks with egg whites until light yellow. Set aside.
- Place chiles on a foil lined baking sheet and roast in oven at 450 degrees for about 20 minutes or until all sides are blistered. Meanwhile, heat a large pan or cast iron with ½ inch canola or vegetable oil.
- When chiles are done, remove and wrap with plastic wrap or place in plastic bag and remove outer charred skin. Use a small knife to cut an opening on one side of chile and discard seeds. Fill with crumbled queso fresco and secure with a toothpick.
- Dredge the chile in flour and then in the egg mixture. Gently drop coated chile in heated oil and fry until all sides are golden brown. About 1-2 minutes per side.
- Serve chile atop of ranchero sauce and garnish with fresh cilantro and queso fresco.
Pam @ The Meltaways says
These look great! The sneak peek at the filling just makes me want one right now!
Sheila Fretz (@CookUnderwriter) says
I"m impressed you did a fabulous job!
Erin @ Dinners, Dishes and Desserts says
My husband would love these. Chili relleno's are one of his favorites!
Sheila says
This sounds great! I can't wait to try it!
diabeticFoodie says
I think I'm losing my mind ... I don't see a horse photo here!
Samantha says
Really? There's a pic of my on a horse! haha Its right before "Method". Just checked and its there?
Chung-Ah | Damn Delicious says
Awesome horseback riding photo! And I'm so grateful to be living in la with the best Mexican food! You and I need to go out and get some tacos (after we have lunch this weekend of course :). And this dish is absolutely amazing. You've really outdone yourself here!
Tara Noland says
I have never had big chilies like this. They look so amazing I am going to have to make this!!
Bea says
This looks amazing!
Angie @ Big Bear's Wife says
I wish we had rode horse when we were there! Love this recipe too!
Paula @ Vintage Kitchen says
I never had a chile relleno but these sound amazing and easy! Have a great sunday!
Jen @JuanitasCocina says
Girl, are you sure you aren't Mexican???
These are FAB-U-LOUS!!!
Katie says
1 - I'm jealous that you got to go horseback riding in the water! It's definitely on my list of things I want to do!
2 - these rellenos look delish!
Renee says
These look so great and I can imagine the cheesy middle and the crispy outside. Yum!
Cindys Recipes says
Never had these, sounds interesting!
Laura Hunter says
Heck yeah the best Mexican food is found in California! I miss it so much. I think the last time I had chilie relleno was 3 years ago when I last visited home. Now I am not only hungry for more Mexican food and am feeling slightly homesick.