Roasted Chile Relleno with Black Beans

This Roasted Chile Relleno Recipe – is a traditional Mexican dish, made healthier by roasting the poblano chilies rather than frying them in an egg batter, and is lightened up with the addition of black beans with an easy homemade rancheros sauce.

My husband Brian loves a good Chile Relleno. The problem is I love them too, but they don’t look quite as good on me. 😉  Typically they are battered and fried, oozing with cheese, and often greasy and heavy, dripping with fat and calories. This lightened up Roasted Chile Relleno recipe calls for roasting, not frying, with the addition of cholesterol-lowering black beans instead of using all cheese.

I’ve even included a vegan version if you want to eliminate the dairy all together which surprisingly got a huge thumbs up from my husband as well. The nice thing is you can make some vegan, some with cheese and even “beef” some up with meat for heartier eaters. Keep in mind, this is NOT a traditional recipe by any means, but a healthier take on Chiles Rellenos. OK??? 😉

But what I love MOST about this recipe, is the sheet-pan roasting method, where the peppers are roasted, along with the Salsa Ranchero Sauce ingredients.  It saves a huge step. So easy, and much quicker than traditional Chiles Rellenos while being much lighter and super delicious!

Roasted Chile Relleno! | 45-second video! 

What are chiles rellenos made of? 

Essentially, Chilies Rellenos are a traditional Mexican dish made from whole poblano chilies that are stuffed with cheese, battered in an egg batter and fried until golden brown and the cheese is melty, and served with Rancheros Sauce.

How to make “healthier” Roasted Chile Relleno: 

• Roast the poblanos and the ranchero sauce ingredients on a sheet pan.
• Once the chilies are roasted, slit them vertically and stuff with a mixture of cheese ( or vegan ricotta) and black beans.
• Blend the rancheros sauce ingredients.
• Bake the stuffed peppers with the sauce in a baking dish.

TIPS:

• Get the biggest Poblano Chilies you can find. The peppers you see in the photos were abnormally large poblanos (like 8 inches long!).  One pepper was one serving.  If you only have smaller ones available, ( like 4-inch ones) get double the amount, you may need to serve 2 as a serving.
• Poblanos (vs Pasilla or Anaheim peppers) are the easiest to work with- they are sturdier! They will most likely take 30 minutes to roast while the others roast much quicker, so if using Pasillas or Anaheims – check after 10-15 minutes or they may get too soft to handle, and hard to stuff.
• You can also blacken the peppers on a gas grill or on a stovetop gas burner (easiest)  rotating with tongs until charred on all sides, then wrap up in a paper bag, or foil for 8-10 minutes to allow them to steam and soften before seeding and peeling under cool running water.
• Two products that come in handy at home- that I try to always keep in my pantry:  Tomato Paste in a tube– because so rarely do we use the whole can, and the rest often goes to waste. And seasoned Black Beans- a faster way to add more flavor to meals- these have onion, garlic and green chilies in with them.

Here Poblanos are stuffed with a black bean and cheese mixture and placed over the ranchero sauce in an extra-large baking dish. These poblanos are HUGE by the way. One is one serving.

Here below is the vegan version in a mini cast iron skillet. My point being, you can bake them all together, or separately if you choose. This way it’s easy to adapt them for vegans and non-vegans.

This vegan version is made with a combination of black beans and herbed tofu ricotta – it’s really flavorful!

Or bake them all together in a large skillet until golden brown.

Keep them lean like you see below or add melty cheese to the top, up to you!

Even the bean and cheese stuffed chilies are relatively low in calories when made this way.

MEAT: If cooking for mixed households you can easily add browned, seasoned ground meat to some while keeping others vegan or vegetarian. If adding meat, this Mexican Turkey chorizo is nice, as well as cooked shredded Chicken Carnitas.

The Roasted Salsa Ranchero Sauce is really yummy and flavorful too- use it with enchiladas or Mexican Pizza or in this Enchilada Casserole!

Have a beautiful fall weekend!

Sylvia

Roasted Chiles Rellenos with Black beans

★★★★★ 4.9 from 132 reviews

• Author: Sylvia Fountaine
• Prep Time: 20
• Cook Time: 60
• Total Time: 1 hour 20 minutes
• Yield: 4
• Category: Main - GF & Vegan Adaptable
• Method: Roasted
• Cuisine: Mexican
• Diet: Vegetarian

Print Recipe

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Description

A healthy, vegan adaptable, Roasted Chile Relleno Recipe – that is lightened up with the addition of black beans. Simplified by roasting (instead of frying) the peppers with the Salsa Ranchero Sauce ingredients – all baked together on one sheet-pan – saving a step!

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Ingredients

• 4–6 extra-large poblano peppers, leave whole with stems on. (see notes)
• 6 ripe, medium tomatoes, ( roma, or vine-ripened)
• 6 fat garlic cloves
• one large onion, sliced into ½ inch wedges or slices
• 2 small jalapeños
• 2 tablespoons olive oil

FILLING:

• 14 ounce can black beans, drained and rinsed -seasoned (see notes)  or Cuban Style are nice
• 6 ounces grated jack cheese or Mexican queso fresco (or 1 cup vegan Herbed Tofu Ricotta )

SAUCE ADDITIONS:

• 2 teaspoons cumin
• 1 teaspoon coriander
• 1 teaspoon chili powder
• 1 teaspoon dried oregano
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 tablespoon tomato paste (optional, but good)
• ¼ cup fresh cilantro plus more for garnish
• 1/4–1/2 cup water or broth  ( to the desired consistency)

Serve with cilantro lime rice, sour cream, hot sauce, avocado, toasted pumpkin seeds, cilantro

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Instructions

1. READ DIRECTIONS ALL THE WAY THROUGH
2. Preheat oven to 45oF
3. ROAST Poblanos and Sauce ingredients: Cut the tomatoes in half and arrange them on the sheet pan. Add the sliced onions to sheet pan, along with the whole garlic cloves, halved jalapeños and whole poblano peppers, making sure they are not overcrowded. You may need to use two sheet pans. (You can also char the peppers on a gas burner, see notes) Drizzle all with olive oil, sprinkle with salt and pepper and place on the middle rack and check after 15 minutes. (If your oven runs hot, you could turn it down to 425 if needed.) If the peppers are tender remove them (pasilla peppers will cook much faster than poblanos- please see notes) and check the garlic, removing it if tender. Otherwise continue roasting with the tomatoes and onions another 15-20 minutes, until peppers and onions are tender and tomatoes are juicy.
4. In the meantime make the filling: Mix the canned beans (drained, rinsed) with the cheese. OR If going vegan, mix the beans with 1 cup of vegan herbed tofu ricotta.  Season the mixture with salt and pepper. If using plain black beans, add a teaspoon of cumin and chili powder.
5. When the poblanos are just tender, take the sheet pan out of the oven (leave the oven on) and let it cool.
6. Add ⅓ of the onions, chopping them up, and add into the filling mixture and stir.
7. Blend up the Roasted Ranchos Sauce: Place the remaining onions into a blender along with the tomatoes, pan juices, jalapeño,  garlic,  cumin, coriander, chili powder, oregano, salt, tomato paste and fresh cilantro, adding a little water (or broth if needed) to thin it out, and blend until smooth. Set aside.
8. STUFF POBLANOS: Carefully cut a slit in the poblano peppers from stem to pointy end and using your fingers, gently remove seeds while rinsing them under cold running water. If the thin skins slip off, let them, but don’t worry about actively peeling them, especially poblanos – their skins are quite thin -leaving some of the skin on is perfectly fine.  Pasillo peppers have thick skin and should be peeled. In a large greased baking dish (or oven-proof skillet) pour a little of the roasted tomato ranchero sauce to coat the bottom (use about half the sauce). Place the peppers over top of the sauce, slit side up, then spoon the black bean filling into each one. Pour the rest of the flavorful ranchero sauce over top. At this point, you could add more shredded cheese to the top, or leave it off.
9. Cover with foil and bake 20-25 minutes in a 425F oven- or until the filling is warm and melty, uncover and bake 5 more minutes.
10. Garnish with cilantro leaves, toasted pumpkin seeds and sour cream if you like.

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Notes

If you have an electric oven, or your oven runs hot, lower heat to 425F

PEPPERS: Get the biggest Poblano Chilies you can find. The peppers you see in the photos were abnormally large poblanos (like 8 inches long!).  One pepper was one serving.  If you only have smaller ones available, ( like 4-inch ones) get double the amount, you may need to serve 2 as a serving. Poblanos (vs Pasilla peppers) are easiest to work with- they are sturdier! They will most likely take 30 minutes to roast while pasillas roast much quicker, so be sure to check pasillas after 10-15 minutes or they may get too soft to handle, and hard to stuff.

You can also blacken either of peppers on a gas grill or on a stovetop gas burner (easiest)  rotating with tongs until charred on all sides, then wrap up in a paper bag, or foil for 8-10 minutes to allow them to steam and soften before seeding and peeling under cool running water.

MEAT: If cooking for mixed households you can bake these individual baking dishes or even in mini cast iron skillets like you see here – which is especially nice if cooking for both vegans and meat-eaters. You can easily add browned, seasoned ground meat to some while keeping others vegan or vegetarian. If adding meat, this Mexican Turkey chorizo is nice, as well as cooked shredded Chicken Carnitas.

Keywords: chilies rellenos, healthy chilies rellenos, chilies rellenos recipe, vegan chilies rellenos, baked chilies rellenos, chilies rellenos healthy

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Hey, I'm Sylvia! Professional chef, former restaurant owner and caterer, here is where I share hundreds of seasonal, globally-inspired, VEGGIE-DRIVEN recipes.Let's start cooking together! Subscribe to my latest recipes and get my free, PLANT-BASED RECIPE GUIDE.

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