Chile Relleno Casserole

If you like chile Rellenos, this easy-to-make chile relleno casserole is for you! This dish has all the flavor of a chile relleno without all the mess and fuss.

I grew up in SoCal, which meant that absolutely scrumptious Mexican food—the authentic kind—was always readily available. That was a treat, let me tell you. I was a lucky kid. We ate at great little Mexican food joints at least once a week.

Easy Chile Relleno Casserole Recipe

My mom used to make this recipe and it was one of my favorite dishes. In fact, this recipe was perhaps the most requested one in her entire dinner rotation—I would have eaten it twice a week, every week.

My mom likes the casserole plain, without all the extra toppings. But now, I served it my own way. My family likes this easy recipe topped with a little enchilada sauce that we pass on the side and a generous dollop of sour cream with chopped green onions. Plus, of course, fresh cilantro!

I adore authentic chile relleno Mexicanos, but honestly, any decent chile relleno recipe is pretty difficult to make. Charring and peeling the peppers takes a huge chunk of time—and sometimes the batter doesn’t adhere well to the pepper. That creates its own host of problems. Then there’s the frying… UGH.

No matter how accomplished you are as a cook, no matter how many times you’ve fried something, there’s still a massive mess to clean up after frying in your own kitchen. I’m talking about a whole kitchen mess—floors, walls, dishes, etc.

Plus, if the oil isn’t hot enough you end up with a greasy or soggy chile relleno batter. Let me tell ya…it ain’t a pretty picture!

This recipe avoids all that by making a delicious casserole dish similar to a baked chile relleno recipe. I use readily available whole canned Ortega chilies, and layer them with a cheese filling. Yuuuum.

Top that off with a fluffy soufflé-like egg batter for a perfectly textured dish. Order fried chile rellanos at a restaurant and make this simple casserole at home!

Looking for more Mexican-inspired dishes? Try my taco casserole, Mexican chicken casserole, and Dorito casserole!

Breakfast or Dinner?

Growing up my Mom always served this for dinner. It’s a light, yet hearty dinner. It’s meatless but even her meat-lovin’ family loved this and devoured it anyway.

That said, I realized this was great as a brunch or a breakfast dish. Thinking about chiles relleno, “breakfast casserole” is not what always immediately comes to mind. Yet when you consider the ingredients (eggs, milk, chiles, etc.), it’s not hard to see that the dish actually works pretty well served for breakfast.

So you decide when your family will enjoy this. My guess is they’ll request it at both. You’re gonna love this recipe!

Ingredients You’ll Need

• Canned Whole Green Chiles
• Monterey Jack Cheese
• Cheddar Cheese
• Eggs
• Whole Milk
• All-purpose Flour
• Salt
• Black Pepper
• Baking Powder

Optional Toppings:

• Pico de gallo or salsa
• Chopped Tomatoes
• Chopped Red, White, or Green Onions
• Cilantro
• Sour Cream or Mexican Crema
• Warmed Enchilada Sauce– Red or Green

Tips

• Chiles: Authentic chiles rellenos are made with either Anaheim or Poblano chiles. This recipe uses whole, canned Ortega chilies—those are Anaheim chilies. Conveniently, they come already charred and peeled in a can. Peeling and charring is one of the most time-consuming parts of a chile relleno dish, so having it pre-done is a real-time saver.
  • Anaheim chilies are the mildest of the chilies; they have a wonderful, slightly sweet taste. All you need to do is remove them from the can, pat them dry with a paper towel, and split them in half lengthwise to remove the seeds. Then… enjoy!
  • If you like things on the spicy side, feel free the leave the seeds in. My family likes sweet chiles without seeds, so that’s what I serve.
• Fresh vs. Canned: If you want to try this recipe with fresh chilies you absolutely can! You’ll just need to do that charring and peeling on your own. Traditionalists will insist on using fresh chilies in this recipe. But I just think using the Ortega chilies from a can yields a casserole that is just as delicious as one made with fresh chilies—and the canned chilies are way easier.
• If you want to go the fresh route, here’s the basic process:

1. 1. Place the chiles directly on an open flame, like a gas burner or a barbecue. You really need that open flame to correctly charr the chile. Turn the pepper every minute or so, never letting it sit too long on one side. The skin on the chile will begin to blacken and blister—you might occasionally hear a popping sound.
   2. When most of the skin is covered with black areas or blisters, place the chile in a plastic bag and seal it. As the peppers sit in the bag, the skin will steam and, after a few minutes, you can easily peel them. Using this method, you should generally only need your fingers for the peeling process.
   3. Once peeled, rinse the peppers under running water and pat them dry.
   4. Split the chilies in half lengthwise and remove the seeds (or leave them in for a spicier dish!)

What To Serve With Chile Relleno Casserole

Oh, this wonderful casserole goes with so many delicious dishes! Here are my absolute favorites: Mexican rice, drunken beans, Southwest salad, jalapeno cornbread, and Mexican street corn casserole.

Trust me, each and every one of these sides is absolutely fabulous with this casserole.

Storing + Freezing + Make-Ahead

• How Long Can You Keep This In The Fridge? Once cooked, this casserole will stay fresh in the fridge for 3-4 days. Just let it cool completely and cover tightly with wrap before sliding it into the fridge.
• Can You Freeze This?  Yes! Once completely cooled, hotel wrap first then aluminum foil to protect against freezer burn. Just slow thaw overnight in the fridge before reheating. I like to freeze individual pieces that we can grab one at a time as desired. The smaller pieces can be reheated in the oven or microwave.
  • Leftover casserole with eggs can last up to 2 months in the freezer.
• Make-Ahead Tips: You can assemble this the day before you need it and put it in the fridge, unbaked overnight, then bake it the next day.

Variations

Make Mine Meaty: You can use ground beef, turkey, or chicken. Here’s how to make a meaty version of this casserole;

1. In a large frying pan, brown and crumble 1 pound of ground meat seasoned with 1 teaspoon of salt, 1/2 teaspoon of ground black pepper, and 1 teaspoon of both ground cumin and oregano. Once ground meat is thoroughly cooked, drain.
2. Follow the recipe below through step #3
3. Begin step #4 on the recipe below. After layering the single layer of chiles and sprinkling with cheese, layer 1/3 of the browned and drained ground meat. Then repeat with two more layers. Pour egg mixture over chiles.
4. Bake as instructed.

More Mexican Favorites

• Carne Picada
• Pollo Asado
• Quick Mexican Chicken
• Mexican Corn Salad
• Easy Mexican Cream Cheese Crock Pot Chicken – (Another Viral Recipe)

If you make this yummy casserole, I’d it if you snapped a photo and tagged me on Instagram, @gonna_want_seconds, or please share this recipe on Pinterest, Facebook, or Yummly! I really appreciate your support, my friends, 🙋🏼‍♀️! BTW….are you receiving our free newsletter?

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Chiles Rellenos Casserole

If you like chiles Rellenos, this easy-to-make chile relleno casserole is for you! This dish has all the flavor of a chile relleno without all the mess!

Prep Time15 mins

Cook Time40 mins

Total Time55 mins

Servings: 4 -6 servings

Author: Kathleen

Ingredients

• ▢ 4 (7 ounce) cans whole green chiles, drained
• ▢ 8 ounces Monterey jack cheese, shredded
• ▢ 8 ounces cheddar cheese, shredded
• ▢ 5 large eggs
• ▢ 1 1/4 cups whole milk
• ▢ 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
• ▢ 1/4 teaspoon salt
• ▢ 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
• ▢ 1/2 teaspoon baking powder

Toppings:

• ▢ 1 cup enchilada sauce, warmed
• ▢ 1 cup sour cream
• ▢ 1 cup cilantro roughly chopped
• ▢ 1/2 cup green onions thinly sliced
• ▢ 2 medium tomatoes, diced

US Customary - Metric

Instructions

• Preheat the oven to 350°F. Spray a 9 X 13-inch baking dish with nonstick cooking spray.
• Remove chiles from the can (4 cans), split in half lengthwise, remove seeds, and rinse. Lay on paper towels and pat to dry.
• Add eggs (5), milk (1 1/4 cups), flour (1/4 cup), salt (1/4 teaspoon), pepper (1/4 teaspoon), and baking powder (1/2 teaspoon) to a medium bowl and beat until smooth.
• Arrange a single layer of chiles in the prepared baking dish, cover the bottom completely. Sprinkle 1/3 of each cheese evenly over peppers. Repeat with two more layers. Pour egg mixture over chiles.
• Bake, uncovered, 30-40 minutes, or until center is set. Let stand 10 minutes before cutting.

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Notes

1. Chiles: Authentic chiles rellenos are made with either Anaheim or Poblano chiles. This recipe uses whole, canned Ortega chilies—those are Anaheim chilies. Conveniently, they come already charred and peeled in a can. Peeling and charring is one of the most time-consuming parts of a chile relleno dish, so having it pre-done is a real-time saver.
   1. Anaheim chilies are the mildest of the chilies; they have a wonderful, slightly sweet taste. All you need to do is remove them from the can, pat them dry with a paper towel, and split them in half lengthwise to remove the seeds. Then… enjoy!
   2. If you like things on the spicy side, feel free the leave the seeds in. My family likes sweet chiles without seeds, so that’s what I serve.
2. Fresh vs. Canned: If you want to try this recipe with fresh chilies you absolutely can! You’ll just need to do that charring and peeling on your own.  Traditionalists will insist on using fresh chilies in this recipe. But I just think using the Ortega chilies from a can yields just as delicious as a casserole as fresh chilies—and the canned chilies are way easier.
3. If you want to go for the fresh route, here’s the basic process:

1. 1. Place the chiles directly on an open flame, like a gas burner or a barbecue. You really need that open flame to correctly charr the chile. Turn the pepper every minute or so, never letting it sit too long on one side. The skin on the chile will begin to blacken and blister—you might occasionally hear a popping sound.
   2. When most of the skin is covered with black areas or blisters, place the chile in a plastic bag and seal it. As the peppers sit in the bag, the skin will steam and, after a few minutes, you can easily peel them. Using this method, you should generally only need your fingers for the peeling process.
   3. Once peeled, rinse the peppers under running water and pat them dry.
   4. Split the chilies in half lengthwise and remove the seeds (or leave them in for a spicier dish!)

Nutrition

Serving: 1serving | Calories: 803kcal | Carbohydrates: 32g | Protein: 43g | Fat: 57g | Saturated Fat: 31g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 3g | Monounsaturated Fat: 15g | Trans Fat: 0.02g | Cholesterol: 383mg | Sodium: 2307mg | Potassium: 848mg | Fiber: 6g | Sugar: 12g | Vitamin A: 3381IU | Vitamin C: 81mg | Calcium: 1123mg | Iron: 5mg

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