Chile Rellenos are a wonderful Mexican comfort food that’s perfect for the changing seasons. Today Chef Tom fires up the flat top Fusion and puts it to work. We’ll show you how to do everything on the griddle, from roasting the peppers to browning chorizo and cooking a spicy tomato sauce, then frying up the chile rellenos.
WHAT YOU'LL LOVE
- Steaming the blistered poblanos in a zip-top bag loosens the charred skin, so it peels away cleanly instead of scraping stubbornly against the flesh
- Blending the tomato sauce smooth before simmering it with a cinnamon stick infuses warm spice into the sauce without leaving whole pieces of cinnamon bark in the finished dish
- Whisking the egg whites to stiff peaks before folding in the yolks and corn flour builds a light, airy batter rather than a dense, heavy coating
- Frying only two peppers at a time keeps the oil from cooling below temperature, so each batch still crisps and browns instead of absorbing excess oil in an overcrowded pan
Chile Rellenos
Tom Jackson
Rated 5.0 stars by 1 users
Category
Entree
Cuisine
Mexican
Servings
8
Prep Time
1 hour
Cook Time
20 minutes
Calories
509
Experience the vibrant flavors of Mexican comfort food with Chile Rellenos! Learn from Chef Tom how to roast the peppers, brown chorizo and cook a spicy tomato sauce, all on the griddle. Enjoy this classic dish, perfect for chilly fall and winter evenings!
Ingredients
- 8 poblano peppers
- 8 oz Mexican chorizo
- 4 oz chihuahua cheese
- 4 oz pepper jack cheese
- 1-2 cups corn flour, for dredging
- Sour cream
- 18 eggs, whites and yolks separated
- 1/2 cup corn flour
-
2 tbsp Cattleman’s Grill 8 Second Ride Carne Asada Seasoning
-
1 (28 oz) can Ciao Italian Tomatoes
- 1 cup yellow onion, medium dice
- 3 cloves garlic, smashed, peeled
-
2 tbsp Cattlemen’s Grill Mexicano Seasoning
-
2 tbsp Flavolcano Smoky Red Pepper Sauce
- 2 tsp powdered chicken base
-
2 tbsp Colonial Chile Infused Oil
- 1 cinnamon stick
For the batter:
For the Tomato Sauce:
Directions
Preheat your Fusion flat top griddle over high heat.
- Place your poblanos on the griddle and cook until blistered on all sides. Remove from the griddle and place in a zip top bag. Allow the peppers to steam for about 10-15 minutes. Peel the skins from the peppers. Gently slice the peppers open and rinse out the seeds under cold water.
- Turn the heat down to medium. Cook the chorizo on the griddle until browned, about 5 minutes. Remove from the griddle.
- To make the tomato sauce, combine the Ciao Italian Peeled Tomatoes, onion, garlic, Cattlemen’s Grill Mexicano Seasoning, Flavolcano Smoky Red Pepper Sauce and chicken base in a Vitamix blender pitcher. Blend until smooth.
Preheat a Lodge 12” Cast Iron Skillet over medium heat on Fusion. Add the Colonial Chile Infused Oil then the cinnamon stick. Pour the tomato sauce into the skillet. Bring to a simmer. Reduce heat to low. Simmer until reduced to desired consistency. Cover and keep warm off to the side of the griddle.
- To stuff the peppers, open them from the slit where you removed the seeds. Divide the cheese and chorizo and place inside each pepper. Do not overstuff. The pepper should be able to close around the filling.
- To make the batter. Place the egg whites in the bowl of a Kitchen Aid stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment. Whisk over high speed until stiff peaks are formed. Reduce the speed to low and add the yolks, one at a time. Add the corn flour and Cattleman’s Grill 8 Second Ride Carne Asada Seasoning and mix just until incorporated.
Preheat a Lodge 10” Skillet over medium-high heat on Fusion. Add a neutral flavored oil (peanut, grape seed, canola) to come up the side of the skillet about 1/2”. Bring the oil temperature up to 375ºF, monitoring the temperature with a digital instant read thermometer.
- One at a time, dip the stuffed pepper into the batter to fully coat. Carefully lay the battered pepper into the oil. Repeat with a second pepper (only fry two at a time, do not overcrowd the skillet). Cook until browned and crisped on the bottom, about 3-5 minutes. Carefully turn the Chile Rellenos over and continue cooking until golden brown all over. Remove and transfer to a paper towel lined plate.
- Serve the Chile Rellenos on top of the red sauce and finished with a drizzle of sour cream.
Recipe Note
Recipe FAQ
Why steam the charred poblanos in a zip-top bag before peeling them?
Letting them sit in the bag for 10-15 minutes loosens the blackened skin, so it peels away cleanly by hand rather than needing to be scraped off with a knife.
Why add a cinnamon stick to the tomato sauce instead of ground cinnamon?
Simmering the whole stick infuses warm spice into the sauce gradually, and it can be removed at the end, rather than leaving gritty ground cinnamon distributed throughout the finished sauce.
Why whisk the egg whites to stiff peaks before adding the yolks and corn flour?
Building volume into the whites first creates a light, airy batter once the yolks and flour are folded in, rather than a dense, heavy coating that whisking everything together at once would produce.
Why fry only two peppers at a time instead of the whole batch at once?
Limiting the batch size keeps the oil from cooling below its target temperature. Overcrowding the skillet would drop the oil temperature and cause the peppers to absorb excess oil instead of crisping properly.
What internal temperature should the chorizo actually reach?
This recipe only browns it on the griddle for about 5 minutes without a stated temperature check. Raw pork chorizo needs to reach a minimum internal temperature of 160°F to be safe. The chorizo does fry again inside the battered pepper for several more minutes, which should finish cooking it through, but it's worth confirming with a thermometer rather than relying on browning color alone.
How indoor-friendly is this recipe?
4 out of 5 — a stovetop cast iron skillet and a broiler for charring the peppers can replicate every step of this recipe; the flat-top griddle is mainly a convenience, not a requirement.
Recipe Highlights
Bag-steamed peppers: Makes the charred skin easy to peel cleanly.
Whole cinnamon stick: Infuses spice without leaving gritty pieces in the sauce.
Stiff-peak egg batter: Builds a light, airy coating instead of a dense one.
Small-batch frying: Keeps oil temperature steady for even crisping.
Recommended Recipes
Nutrition
Nutrition
- Nutrition Serving Size
- 15.11 oz
- per serving
- Calories
- 509
- Carbs
- 35 grams
- Protein
- 29 grams
- Fat
- 29 grams
- Sodium
- 2250 milligrams
