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. 

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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 a jumbo-sized muffin pan to make an easier, quicker-cooking open-face chile relleno in 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 delicious and so much easier and I presume healthier & lower-fat than its fried counterpart.

Chile Relleno Ingredients

I’ll use freshly-roasted poblano peppers for my lazy-cook’s chile relleno.

• • • 6 large freshly-roasted poblano peppers, skinned & deseeded

    • 6 cubes of cheese + more shredded cheese for the tops 

    • 6 eggs

    • 1 cup milk

    • All-purpose flour

    • Baking powder

Roasting & Preparing Poblano Peppers For Chile Relleno

Since I only needed 6 peppers I roasted them quickly on my gas stovetop. 

When the peppers were blistered and black I placed them in a bowl and covered them with a towel. The steam will help the black skin to slip off easily.

Then I removed the skin & cut each pepper carefully so I could fold back the face of the pepper. 

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.

Once the peppers were de-seeded they’re ready to be stuffed. In just minutes everything was ready to begin assembling my chile relleno cups. A lazy-cook’s dream!

How To Assemble Chile Relleno In Jumbo Muffin Cups

I place a silicone jumbo-muffin pan on a cookie tray. This helps support the muffin pan while moving it in & out of the oven.

Then I add about a tablespoon of enchilada sauce into the bottom of each cup.

Kitchen Tip: 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. 

I cubed about 6 ounces of cheese & shredded an additional cup of the cheese too. 

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 mixed up the egg mixture and poured it 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.

Hearty 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 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 they are. 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:

• • • A couple of slices of jalapeno

    • Dollop of homemade Pico de Gallo

    • Spoonful of chunky salsa

    • Some Creamy Hatch Chile Sauce

So many options! But RancherMan loves ’em all.

What Sides Go With Chile Relleno?

If you’re looking for great side dishes to go with your chile relleno cups, here are some ideas:

• • • Cilantro-Lime Rice

    • Texas-Style Spanish Rice

    • Whole Kernel or Mexican Corn

    • Homemade Ranch-Style Beans

    • Instant Pot Pinto Beans 

    • Refried Beans

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 these Chile Relleno Cups? Please rate the recipe in your comment below!

~TxH~

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Our Favorite Tex-Mex Recipes

Homemade Seasoning Mixes & Sauces

• MYO Taco Seasoning
• MYO Pinto Bean Seasoning Mix
• Creamy Hatch Chile Sauce

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• Lazy Cook’s Chile Relleno Cups
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