Classic Chiles Rellenos Recipe

Chiles rellenos have everything that is good in this world packed into one dish. Gooey melted cheese, spicy stuffed peppers, crispy deep-fried crust, and fresh salsa — doesn't that just make your mouth water? While the classic pepper dish is an absolute staple at Mexican restaurants, they're just as good when made at home, especially if you go all-out and commit to a bit of a laborious cooking process.

By laborious, we mean that chiles rellenos are a labor of love (so if you see them on a menu, get them). The chiles first need to be roasted to remove the skins, then stuffed, sealed, and battered in whipped egg whites. After all of that, the chiles need to be carefully fried and drained (so as not to lose the cheese), and then paired with a salsa or sauce. It's kind of an all-day affair, but the results are well worth the effort. This recipe by Michelle McGlinn walks through a classic cheesy chile relleno, showcasing the delicious simplicity of fresh (and fried) ingredients.

To start, grab a few wide, flat peppers. The easiest peppers to work with are poblanos, which are both wide and mild. You can also use Hatch, Anaheim, or pasilla chiles, which are similar in size and flavor. To stuff these peppers, you'll need plenty of meltable cheese. Queso Oaxaca is most commonly used because of its thick, creamy texture, but you can also use cheddar, Monterey jack, fontina, Chihuahua, or Asadero cheese. From there, you'll just need canola oil for frying, eggs and flour for the batter, and guajillo chiles, tomatoes, onion, garlic, and salt for the salsa.

To make the guajillo chile sauce, add guajillo chiles to a saucepan and cover with water.

Boil chiles until soft, about 10 minutes.

Blend until smooth, then set the sauce aside.

Heat the broiler to high and arrange a rack 5 inches beneath the broiler.

Place the peppers on a foil-lined sheet tray.

Transfer the peppers to a bowl and cover tightly with plastic wrap to steam.

After 5 minutes, remove the plastic and scrape away as much of the skin as possible.

Add oil to a deep cast iron skillet over medium heat.

While whipping, add the yolks one at a time, incorporating until smooth.

Combine the flour and 1 teaspoon salt in a shallow bowl.

Stuff the poblano peppers with cheese using the small slit made in step 6.

Seal the peppers closed using toothpicks.

Roll the peppers in the flour-salt mixture, coating completely.

Dredge the flour-coated peppers in the egg batter, coating completely.

Transfer the fried chiles rellenos to a paper-towel lined tray to drain.

Chiles rellenos are a little trickier than the average fried food because the texture of the crust is more delicate than most buttermilk and beer batters. Instead of a thick, milky batter, chiles rellenos are coated in fluffy, light egg whites, which can break very easily when submerged in oil. If your batter slides off immediately once you start frying, it is likely because your oil is not hot enough yet. Heat the oil for a few more minutes, turning up the flame if needed, until the batter begins browning soon after being added to the pan. This will prevent the egg from sliding off of the chile right away.

With such a delicate batter, it's normal for some to slide away during frying. Luckily, it's also fixable. Keep the batter nearby and use a small spatula to patch any spots that dissolve or slide away during frying. Once patched, flip the chile into the oil to re-fry the raw batter. It's also important to note that the batter is light and wispy, maintaining an almost-soggy texture even after draining. While it shouldn't be wet, chiles rellenos also won't feel as dense and crunchy as your average fish and chips. As long as the chiles are golden brown, they'll be good.

This recipe for chiles rellenos is neither vegan nor gluten-free due to the inclusion of cheese in the peppers and a coating of egg and flour on the outside of the peppers — but that doesn't mean that you can't make some swaps to make dietary magic happen. "Chiles rellenos aren't too hard to make gluten free — all you have to do is swap the all-purpose flour for a gluten free alternative," McGlinn explains. "The easiest way to do this would be to use a 1-to-1 gluten free flour blend, but you can also use something like white rice flour, which has a similar reaction to being fried."

As for making the dish vegan, that's a bit more of a challenge, but one that is still doable. "The best way to fill vegan chiles rellenos is with vegan cheese. You can also add corn, vegan chorizo, or beans to help fill it out," McGlinn says. The batter is trickier, as you'll need to omit the eggs and substitute some sort of liquid in their place — McGlinn suggests sparkling water or oat milk. "Start with about ½ cup of liquid and stir in more until the batter is about the consistency of yogurt or slightly thinner," she explains. From there, you can follow the recipe as-is.