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Chile Relleno with Cheese on a plate, cut in half with a Mexican rebozo in the background

Chile Relleno with Cheese

Roasted poblano stuffed with cheese, battered and fried until golden. Served in a light tomato sauce...it's a small piece of heaven!
5 from 1 vote
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Prep Time 6 minutes
Cook Time 34 minutes
Course Main Course
Cuisine Mexican
Servings 4

Ingredients
  

For the chiles:

  • 4 roasted poblano peppers with blackened skins removed (see note 1)
  • 3 eggs whites and yolks separated
  • 1/2 lb cheese cut into strips (about 2oz or 50g per pepper), see notes
  • 1/4 cup flour
  • 1 cup vegetable oil

For the sauce:

  • 1 cup water or broth
  • 5 medium roma tomatoes cut into large chunks (~650g or 1.5 pounds)
  • 1/2 medium white onion cut into large chunks
  • 3 cloves garlic
  • 1 bay leaf
  • Salt to taste

Instructions
 

For the chiles:

  • Slice each pepper on one side to create a pocket, remove seeds
  • Dry each pepper and place a strip of cheese inside, pin close with a toothpick
  • Lightly flour each pepper and set aside
  • Heat oil in a large skillet over medium heat, about 3 minutes
  • Meanwhile, in a stand mixer fitted with a whisk, whisk egg whites on high speed until mixture forms stiff peaks, about 3 minutes
  • Add egg yolks to whites and continue whisking on high speed until combined, another 20-30 seconds
  • Holding the pepper by the stem, coat completely with the egg mixture and place immediately into the hot oil
  • Fry 1-2 minutes per side or until egg coating is golden
  • Remove the pepper to a paper towel-lined plate and repeat the previous 2 steps for each remaining pepper

For the sauce:

  • Place water, tomatoes, onion and garlic in a blender and blend on high for about 1 minute or until sauce is smooth
  • Place tomato sauce and bay leaf in a large, shallow pan.
  • Heat sauce to boiling over medium-high heat, about 5 minutes, then reduce heat to low, cover and allow to simmer until sauce begins to darken slightly, another 7-8 minutes.

Putting it all together:

  • Check sauce for salt and add water or broth to achieve desired consistency.
  • Place chiles in tomato sauce and heat until warmed through, about 3-5 minutes

Notes

  1. See my tutorial on How to Roast Poblano Peppers
  2. In Mexico, I use queso cincho, a salty, high-melting point cheese; however, this cheese may be hard to find outside of Mexico. My next best option would be panela (a milder flavored, but still high-melting point Mexican cheese) and if that can't be found, try with muenster. Any cheese will work, depending on personal preference and what is available in your area. Just know that a lower melting point cheese will make an oozier, runnier filling than a cheese with a high melting point.
  3. The amount of cheese used per pepper will depend on the size of the pepper
Keyword Authentic, Traditional, Vegetarian