Chili Relleño’s were my favorite food for decades. I even made Chili Relleño’s every day for 30 days trying different techniques to make them healthier. However, the only ingredient in a chili relleño that is WFPB is the pepper, and possibly the ranchero sauce.

The traditional way that I learned was cheese stuffed into a pepper which was then dipped into whipped eggs and fried. Then topped with a simple tomato, onion and cumin sauce. However, that seems to be the American version as a chili relleño can be stuffed with meat, raisins, nuts and just about anything.

With this version, the peppers are stuffed, coated with a corn masa dough I would use for tamales then baked. It is the best of both worlds. A stuffed pepper turned tamale and still WFPB.

A great hack is to soak some corn husks and use these instead of aluminum foil if your peppers start drying out.

 

Image of plated chili relleno

Masa Crusted Chili Relleno

I got the idea of crusting my stuffed peppers with a polenta-masa dough to mimic the fried crust I would get in a restaurant. Usually I make peppers and just bake them with no crust at all... just chili or a salsa. The masa dough made these much like a giant tamale. They were bueno!
Print Recipe
CuisineMexican
Prep Time15 minutes
Cook Time1 hour
Total Time15 minutes
Servings2 Cup

Ingredients

  • 2 Poblano chili's
  • 1 Can Black beans
  • 1/2 Onion
  • 4 Tbsp Nopales Cactus
  • 2 Tbsp Hatch chili salsa
  • 2 Tbsp Mexican Spice blend
  • 6 Mushrooms
  • 1 Cup Red Enchilada Sauce See notes
  • 4-5 Corn husks Optional - see notes

Polenta-masa dough

  • 1 Cup Polenta
  • 3 Cups Water To cook polenta in
  • 1 Tbsp Mexican Spice Blend
  • 1/4 Cup Organic blue corn masa flour See notes
  • 3 Tbsp Lime Juice
  • 3 Tbsp Hot water To thin dough

Mexican Spice Blend

  • 1 Tbsp Garlic Powder
  • 4 Tbsp Ground Cumin
  • 4 Tbsp Smoked Chipotle Powder
  • 2 Tbsp Ancho Chili Powder
  • 2 Tbsp Mexican Oregano May sub Marjoram
  • 1 Tbsp Jalapeno Powder Optional
  • 1 Tbsp Black Pepper

Instructions

  • Prepare your Polenta-Masa dough and Spice Blend.
  • Roast peppers over your cook top flame or Bake them at 400 ° F for 15 minutes to cook the skins. Place in a brown bag and close it up to allow the peppers to sweat.
  • Chop onion into a small dice. Add to a bowl.
  • Roughly chop your nopales, add to mixing bowl.
  • Wash and slice mushrooms, add to mixing bowl.
  • Add hatch chili salsa to the mixing bowl.
  • Drain a can of black beans and add to your mixing bowl. Stir to incorporate.
    Image of black bean filling
  • Remove peppers from the bag and use a sharp knife to carefully remove the skin.
  • Make a 4" slice into the pepper, lengthwise, careful not to slice all the way through. Remove the membrane and seeds as much as possible without tearing the pepper. Rinse with water and allow to drain.
    Image of roasted and skinned poblano peppers.
  • Scoop about half of your polenta into a baking dish and spread it to line the bottom of your pan.
  • Carefully stuff the peppers with the bean filling. Make certain to force the mixture into each end of the pepper then fill in between the ends.
    Image of stuffed peppers before the masa dough coating
  • Place onto the bed of masa dough in the baking sheet.
  • Spoon masa dough onto the pepper and spread to coat. Tip: Use a wet corn husk to help get an even layer over the pepper. The dough will not stick to the wet corn husk.
    Image of Masa dough crusted peppers before baking
  • Place a lid over the peppers or top with a layer of wet corn husks.
    Image or corn husks serving as a lid to the chili's
  • Bake at 325 ° F for 30 minutes. Remove from oven, Remove corn husks and top with enchilada sauce. Return to oven an additional 30 minutes. See notes.
  • Use a large spatula to move a pepper to the plate being careful to include the bottom crust.
  • Top with more sauce if desired. Serve with a Pico De Gallo or salsa of choice.

Mexican Spice Blend

  • Combine ingredients and mix together well.
  • Store in a shaker bottle.
  • Please note, no salt was added. Season your dish with Himalayan salt to your taste when you prepare your dish.

Polenta-Masa dough

  • Bring 3 cups of water to a boil. Add polenta and spice blend. Stir and allow polenta to cook. I use Bob's Red Mill and it cooks in about five minutes.
  • Add Masa flour and lime juice. Stir to incorporate. Set aside.
  • Add hot water as necessary if the polenta if the polenta is too thick to spread easily.

Notes

 
A Snap Pea Sheep recipe
 
I use organic blue corn, masa flour because it is one way I can guarantee my corn product is not GMO. Since it is organic, it may not have the pesticides that we find in regular corn. 
I made my own red enchilada sauce but you can use store bought. Before I was so picky about labels, my favorite store bought sauce was Old El Paso, Medium red enchilada sauce. Now I often use Trader Joe's Red Enchilada Sauce. I have yet to find any sauce on the market that does not have oil. I try to at least find one without dyes or "natural" flavors. 
In this recipe, I chose to add my sauce and bake an additional 30 minutes. You could also remove the husks halfway through the cooking process and pour on heated enchilada sauce at serving time if you prefer a crisp coating. 
Instead of aluminum foil or parchment, I use wet corn husks when I need a lid for my food. The wet corn husk hold the moisture in the food and I generally have them on hand.
Print Friendly, PDF & Email