Chile Relleno Casserole
Our Chile Relleno Casserole is a delicious, spicy blend of tender roasted poblanos, melty cheese, seasoned ground beef, and a savory egg batter to hold it all together. Perfect for any meal!
Why You Will Love This Recipe
Almost everybody has had chiles rellenos from their favorite Mexican restaurant. And while delish, it’s not a dish most want to take on at home.
All that battering and frying … well, we’ve never done it at home. It can be some work. This easy chile relleno casserole solves that issue.
You get all the flavors without all that work.
Also, do you ever get tired of the same old casseroles? We do. Even variations on a theme can get tired after a while.
That is why this chile relleno casserole really shakes things up. It brings a vibrant spiciness and flavor that wakes up the taste buds.
Plus, by doing it right and not cutting corners, you’re still putting this casserole down on the table in an hour.
Our recipe uses fresh poblanos and block cheese, making this about as clean as you can get it. We are not fans of “pre” anything and do our best to avoid that kind of stuff.
This recipe makes a great breakfast casserole but can be served at any mealtime without missing a beat.
You’re gonna get melty cheesy goodness, seasoned flavorful ground beef, the spiciness of that tender poblano, with that savory egg mixture holding it all together to make a perfect bite every time.
And since this is a casserole dish, you only have one pot to clean after.
If you want to serve up some sides with this, check out our Cilantro Lime Rice or our very tasty Mexican rice. Either would be great with this.
Ingredients Needed
The Main Ingredients – Poblano peppers, ground beef, diced onion, and pepper jack cheese.
The Egg Mixture – Eggs, milk, flour, spices (onion powder, garlic powder, salt, pepper, etc.).
keto?
Are you on the keto diet? Just sub the milk with almond milk, and you have yourself a delicious keto chile relleno casserole, just like that.
Garnish – Whatever you like. We go for chopped cilantro. Pico de Gallo and/or sour cream would also be good. All optional.
Nothing too out of the ordinary here. Just one more reason that this delicious chile relleno casserole recipe rocks!
How To Make Chile Relleno Casserole
When preparing this dish, you’re really looking at only 10-15 minutes of prep work. Even though there are some steps, you can be doing some while the others are working.
The first thing we need to do is to roast up the poblanos.
Place your poblanos on a parchment-lined or aluminum foil-lined baking dish and place them in the oven and broil them. Optionally, if you’re able, roasting these over an open flame works just as well.
You will want to turn them approximately every couple of minutes.
While the poblanos are roasting, add the ground beef to a skillet over medium-high heat to start to brown. Add the diced onion.
If you’re seeing a lot of fat coming off of the beef as it is browning, go ahead and drain it off.
We’re looking for a relatively dry mince on the beef, but by all means, break up the meat the way you prefer it.
When the poblanos are sufficiently roasted, remove them from the oven. They should have some good char on them and have blistered skin. They also should be pretty soft.
Place the peppers into a plastic bag and let them sweat for 5-10 minutes. This will allow the skin to be removed from the pepper easily. You can also place them in a bowl and cover them with plastic wrap.
Meanwhile, continue to cook the ground beef until browned. Next, add the taco meat spice mixture (or use the taco seasoning packet from the store) and 1/3 cup of water.
Mix to combine well until it’s absorbed and remove from the heat.
When the poblano peppers have sweated sufficiently, remove them. Remove the stems and outer skin from the peppers.
Slice the peppers in half lengthways and remove the seeds. It’s ok if they kind of fall apart on you. No big deal.
Next, create a layer of poblanos on a greased 9×13 baking dish. Sprinkle half of the ground beef over the peppers. Then top with half the shredded pepper jack cheese.
Create one more layer following the same steps.
In a medium-sized bowl, add the milk and flour. Whisk well to combine.
Next, add the eggs and baking powder, salt, pepper, onion powder, and garlic powder. Whisk this well to combine until no lumps remain.
Pour this egg mixture over the casserole and place into the preheated oven, and bake for approximately 40-45 minutes.
The chile relleno casserole is done when you see some golden brown goodness, and when you give it a shake, you detect very little jiggle in the center.
Remove from the oven and allow to set up for at least 10 minutes before serving.
When ready to serve, cut into individual portions and serve it up. Garnish with whatever garnish you like with your Latin flavors.
We always go for cilantro, but as mentioned earlier, sour cream, perhaps some pico de Gallo, works great!
This chile relleno casserole recipe brings all the flavor that the whole family will enjoy.
Tips And Variations
- When putting the roasted poblano peppers into the baking dish, hit them with some salt. This will bring the flavor of that poblano out. Not doing this, you may find that the pepper is rather bland.
- Mix the flour and milk together first before adding the eggs. If you add the eggs to the flour, you will have lumps.
- Feel free to omit the ground beef to keep this meal vegetarian. Works great.
- Add Mexican chorizo instead of ground beef for a variation of flavor.
- Mix up the cheeses; Monterey jack cheese is great for a slightly milder experience. Cheddar cheese is just as good.
- We prefer to work with whole green chiles but to speed up the process, you can use canned poblano peppers. Stick with fresh peppers if you can, though.
- You can substitute poblano chiles for other chile peppers, such as anaheim peppers, or hatch green chiles for a slightly more spicy experience.
FAQs
If you have leftovers, allow it to cool and store in an air-tight container and refrigerate for up to 3-4 days.
Chile Rellenos, also known as “stuffed peppers” in English, is an authentic Mexican dish featuring roasted poblano peppers filled with cheese, wrapped in an egg batter, and fried until golden brown.
Other Delicious Casseroles
Chile Relleno Casserole
Ingredients
Main Ingredients
- 8 Poblano peppers
- 1 lb Ground beef
- 12 oz Pepperjack cheese shredded
- 1/4 cup Onion diced
Egg Mixture
- 6 Eggs
- 1 1/2 cup Milk
- 3 tbsp Flour
- 1 tsp Kosher salt
- 1 tsp Baking powder
- 1/4 tsp Garlic powder
- 1/4 tsp Onion powder
- 1/4 tsp Black pepper
Ground Beef Seasoning (or you can use a packet of Taco Seasoning Mix)
- 1 tbsp Chili powder
- 1 1/2 tsp Cumin
- 1 tsp Kosher salt
- 1 tsp Black pepper
- 1/2 tsp Paprika
- 1/4 tsp Oregano
- 1/4 tsp Red pepper flakes
- 1/4 tsp Onion powder
- 1/4 tsp Garlic powder
- 1/3 cup Water
Instructions
- Place your poblanos on a parchment lined or aluminum foil lined baking dish and place them in the oven and broil them. Turn every couple of minutes.8 Poblano peppers
- While the poblanos are roasting, add the ground beef to a skillet over medium high heat to start to brown. Add the diced onion.1 lb Ground beef, 1/4 cup Onion
- Drain fat, if needed, while browning.
- When the poblanos are sufficiently roasted, remove them from the oven. Place the peppers into a plastic bag and let them sweat for 5-10 minutes.
- Meanwhile, continue to cook the ground beef until browned.
- Add the taco meat spice mixture (or use the taco seasoning packet from the store) and 1/3 cup of water.1 1/2 tsp Cumin, 1 tsp Kosher salt, 1 tsp Black pepper, 1/2 tsp Paprika, 1/4 tsp Oregano, 1/4 tsp Red pepper flakes, 1/4 tsp Onion powder, 1/4 tsp Garlic powder, 1/3 cup Water, 1 tbsp Chili powder
- Mix to combine well until it’s absorbed and remove from the heat.
- When the poblano peppers have sweated sufficiently, remove them. Remove the stems and outer skin from the peppers. Slice the peppers in half lengthways and remove the seeds.
- Next, create a layer of poblanos on a greased 9×13 baking dish. Sprinkle half of the ground beef over the peppers. Then top with half the shredded pepperjack cheese.12 oz Pepperjack cheese
- Create one more layer following the same steps.
- In a medium sized bowl add the milk and flour. Whisk well to combine.1 1/2 cup Milk, 3 tbsp Flour
- Next, add the eggs and baking powder, salt, pepper, onion powder, and garlic powder. Whisk this well to combine until no lumps remain.6 Eggs, 1 tsp Kosher salt, 1 tsp Baking powder, 1/4 tsp Garlic powder, 1/4 tsp Onion powder, 1/4 tsp Black pepper
- Pour this egg mixture over the casserole and place into the preheated oven and bake for approximately 40-45 minutes at 350 degrees F.
- Remove from the oven and allow to set up for at least 10 minutes before serving.
- When ready to serve, cut into individual portions and serve it up. Garnish with whatever garnish you like with your latin flavors.
Hello, in tripling your recipe here, what size pan do you think would do… I am thinking the 11X22?
Best judgement rules supreme here. If you find you’re running out of room in the pan you decide to use, just make more layers.
I can’t find where it says either the serving size or number of servings. Thanks!
It’s in the recipe card under COOK TIME. Servings:8. I hope this helps.
Less meat would be better
If that is a person’s preference, absolutely, you can prepare less meat for the dish.
Hi Brad!! We had our chef make this today and she has it fully cooked and in the fridge (looks delicious!)- how would you recommend reheating for optimal results? I’d assume in the oven but we don’t want to overcook it! Maybe at a low temp for like 30 mins? Thank you!!
Hey Kami, gotta say, never tried reheating this entire casserole dish before. BUT, with that said, I’d treat it like most others. I’d reheat at 325, covered with tin foil, until the desired temp is hit in the center. I’d figure that’d take about 30 minutes.
Super easy and delicious weeknight meal. I used ground turkey because that’s what I had. I was surprised how much flavor it had with so few ingredients. The roasted poblano and some kick from taco seasoning were perfect with the fluffy egg mixture.
Thanks, Tom!! Glad you liked it!
I made this recipe exactly, and my family really enjoyed this. I won’t change anything, except maybe increase the number of servings. Delicious!!
how to freeze for meal prep?
Hey Athena. For meal prep, allow the casserole to cool to room temperature, then cut it into your preferred portion size. Wrap each piece in plastic wrap the aluminum foil, and they’ll keep for about three months.