Chile Relleno Casserole

Classic chiles rellenos are green chiles, blackened and outer skin removed, stuffed with either cheese or a pork sausage picadillo, dipped in batter, fried in oil, and often served with a thin tomato sauce.

I grew up loving the chiles rellenos my mother made for us. The only problem is that they are a bit tricky to make; they can sometimes get soggy with the oil. And they can be a bit rich with all that frying.

This recipe for a chile relleno casserole skips the steps of dipping in batter and frying, and instead bakes the stuffed chiles in an egg batter. The recipe is based on one from Sunset Magazine; our main adjustment to the original is to include a tomato sauce base to the casserole. To us, chiles rellenos taste better with a light tomato sauce, and they do in this casserole as well.

Chile Relleno Casserole Recipe

Feel free to play around with the stuffing, Mexican chorizo is great for this, but we've also used hot Louisiana pork sausage. Or you can skip the pork all together and just use a jack cheese stuffing. Note that this casserole serves 8; you can easily cut the ingredients in half and use an 8x8 dish for the casserole.

Ingredients

• 8 poblano chiles
• 2 Tbsp olive oil
• 1 cup chopped onion
• 4 cloves garlic, minced (about 4 teaspoons)
• 1 28-ounce can tomatoes
• Salt
• 1 pound Mexican chorizo (or other spicy sausage)
• 1 cup Cotija cheese, crumbled (can sub feta)
• 1 teaspoon fresh oregano, minced
• One dozen eggs
• 1/3 cup flour
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 1/2 cup Monterey jack or mild cheddar cheese, shredded

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