by Texas Homesteader ~
These single serve open-face baked chile relleno cups are a faster, easier ‘no fried‘ version of our favorite chile relleno meal. Come see what I did.
RancherMan & I both enjoy Tex-Mex food and we absolutely love chile relleno. But (and I can’t emphasize this enough, y’all)
I’m a lazy cook!
So I thought it would be great if I could use my silicone muffin pan to make an easier, quicker-cooking open-face chile relleno casserole into single-serve portions.
I gave it a try & RancherMan absolutely raved at this lazy-cook’s version of chili relleno. I must admit, it was absolutely delicious and so much easier than its fried counterpart.
Preparing The Chile Relleno Ingredients
I LOVE Hatch Chile season. I’ll use those freshly-roasted hatch chiles for my lazy-cook’s chile relleno.
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6 large freshly-roasted Hatch Chiles, skinned & deseeded
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6 cubes of cheese + more shredded cheese
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6 eggs
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1 cup milk
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All-purpose flour
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Baking powder
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I cubed about 6 ounces of cheese & shredded an additional cup of the cheese too. Then I mixed up the egg mixture and set it aside.
To prepare my peppers I cut a ‘T’ section along the length and the top of 6 chiles. This allows me to open it up and remove the seeds while still keeping the chile intact.
I like to leave the stem as they often do in the authentic Mexican restaurants. But feel free to remove the stem if you like.
In just minutes everything was ready to begin assembling my casserole. A lazy-cook’s dream!
Assemble Chile Relleno In Jumbo Muffin Cups
I place my silicone jumbo-muffin pan on a cookie tray. This helps support the muffin pan while putting it into and taking it out of the oven.
Then I add about a tablespoon on enchilada sauce into the bottom of each cup.
In the past I’ve substituted the enchilada sauce with salsa verde, a spoonful of salsa or even leftover packets of taco sauce from fast-food places. You know my motto: #usewhatchagot!
Now let’s assemble the chile relleno cups! I spread out a cleaned-out pepper into each muffin cup.
Then to give me the melty-cheesy filling we love I stuffed each pepper with cubes of cheese. Pepper jack or cubed cheddar both work well here, but use what you like!
Finally I poured the egg mixture over and around each pepper. I was careful to fill each muffin cup only about 2/3 of the way because those eggs will really puff up in the oven!
I baked my casserole cups in a 350-degree oven until the egg was set and the tops were lightly brown – about 30 – 40 minutes or so.
Chile Relleno Filling Options
Most of the chile relleno recipes I see are filled only with cheese. And make no mistake, it’s delicious that way! But RancherMan loves hearty meals that include meat.
So it’s not uncommon for me to layer my open-face pepper into the muffin cup, add a few spoonful’s of cooked ground meat/onions, Leftover Meatloaf or leftover shredded chicken before topping with the cheese and egg mixture.
After the chile relleno cups are cooked I can serve them as-is. But sometimes I’ll top them with something fun.
Topping Ideas For Chile Relleno
Want to top your lazy cook’s chile relleno with something to give it a little more pop? Here are a few ideas:
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A couple of slices of jalapeno
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Dollop of homemade Pico de Gallo
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Spoonful of chunky salsa
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Some Creamy Hatch Chile Sauce
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So many options! But RancherMan loves ’em all.
What Sides Go With Chile Relleno?
If you’re looking for great sides to go with your chile relleno cups, here are some ideas:
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Cilantro-Lime Rice
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Texas-Style Spanish Rice
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Whole Kernel or Mexican Corn
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Homemade Ranch-Style Beans
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Instant Pot Pinto Beans
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Refried Beans
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My chile relleno cups were delicious & as I mentioned, RancherMan absolutely RAVED about this dish.
And these little muffin cups would have frozen beautifully as part of my ‘Cook-Once, Eat-Twice’ method of cooking.
But let me tell ya they never got that far! They were GONE in a short amount of time! They never even got the chance to hit the freezer.
Now when your man raves this much, I’d consider this Lazy-Cook’s Chili Relleno Cups meal a screaming success, y’all.
You can bet your boots I’ll be planting plenty of poblano peppers in the garden this year…
Did you make this dish? Please rate the recipe in your comment below!
Lazy Cook's Chile Relleno Cups
A simplified single-serve version of chile relleno. Poblano peppers, beaten egg and cheese make these chile relleno cups fast and easy, yet delicious!
Ingredients
Ingredients:
- 6 Poblano Peppers seeded
- 6 oz cubed Pepper-Jack Cheese
- 1 10 oz can Enchilada Sauce
- 6 large Eggs
- 1 Cup Grated Pepper-Jack or Cheddar Cheese
- 1 Cup Milk
- 3 Tablespoons All-Purpose Flour
- 1/2 teaspoon Baking Powder
Instructions
Instructions:
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Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
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Fill each pepper with cubed cheese.
Pour a small amount of enchilada sauce in the bottom of each muffin cup. (You may have enchilada sauce leftover, that's ok you can use it to flavor Mexican-Rice side dish!)
Place 1 (or 2 if small) cheese-stuffed poblano peppers into each muffin cup space.
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In a large bowl, beat eggs until frothy. Add in the grated cheese, milk, flour and baking powder and stir until fully mixed.
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Gently pour the egg mixture over the peppers in each muffin cup, filling about 2/3 of the way.
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Bake until the egg is set in the center and golden brown, about 30 - 40 minutes.
Recipe Notes
Note: The egg mixture will expand while in the oven, and partially collapse when you bring the dish out of the oven. This is normal.
Filling Options:
Crumbled leftover meatloaf or leftover cooked & shredded chicken make the chile rellenos even more hearty.
~TxH~
Our Favorite Tex-Mex Recipes
- MYO Taco Seasoning
- Carnitas Tacos
- MYO Crispy Taco Shells
- Easy Corn Tortillas
- Mix-n-Pour Tortilla Recipe – No Kneading, No Rolling
- Pulled-Pork Enchiladas
- Cheesy Enchilada Casserole
- Lazy Cook’s Chile Relleno Cups
- SW Chicken w/Herbed Rice
- Cheesy Chile-Chicken Casserole
- Quick & Easy Taco Soup
- Chicken Tortilla Soup
- Homemade Pork Tamales
- (w/Instant Pot Shortcut Option)
- Spicy Jalapeno Cornbread
- MYO Pinto Bean Seasoning Mix
- Creamy Hatch Chile Sauce
- Quick Southwest Quesadillas
See All Our Recipes
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When my friend was moving she gave me the contents of her freezers and fridges. Guess what I have a BIG bag of in my freezer? Yup! Gonna make these this weekend–my son and the Redneck will LOVE THEM!
PERFECT, Evelyn! ~TxH~
Thanks for this recipe. I still have peppers in this freezer from this past summer and husband has already started the seeds for this years Pepper plants.
I planted poblano last year Rhonda, but none of my peppers did worth a hoot for some reason. I’ve got heirloom poblano seeds now to plant for this year’s garden. Fingers crossed! ~TxH~
These looks delicious! I love chile rellenos, but my husband doesn’t. This looks like the perfect way to freeze small lunch servings just for me. Thanks for sharing!
You’re guaranteed to enjoy ’em Miss B. I’ll admit they were delicious! ~TxH~