Northern Style Chile Rellenos Cooking Class

Carmen Pacheco
Aug 10
4 min read

Saturday, August 9, 2025

Led by Carmen Pacheco (Carmen's Salsa, LLC, owner)

www.carmenssalsa.com

In this class we will make Northern Style Chie Rellenos, starting from scratch, it will be served with Mexican-style rice, frijoles de la olla, and mixed greens. I learned this recipe from my grandmother from Durango, Mexico, Nana Consuelo. While all my cousins were playing outside,

I was observing my Nana’s transform raw green chilies into the most delicious, sweet, and smoky Chile Rellenos. Nana Consuelo’s Chile Relleno recipe planted a seed in me to reproduce her flavors and document her techniques for others to learn. The roasted tomato salsa was my addition to complete chiles rellenos flavor profile.

Menu

Chile Rellenos

Roasted Tomato Salsa

Mixed Greens

Mexican Rice & Frijoles de la Olla

Northern Chile Rellenos

Ingredients:

12 Anaheim Chiles (Hatch or poblanos chiles will work too)

1 pound of Mexican Cheese (el Mexicano brand is a good one)

6 eggs

1 small bottle of Sunflower oil (or high cooking oil will work not Olive Oil)

2 cups of all-purpose flour (use rice flour if gluten is an issue)

Equipment:

Comal (flat pan or griddle)

Large frying pan (skillet, nonstick preferable)

Spatula

Metal bowl

Batter mixer

Flat plate

Baking dish (lasagna pan) 8.9 inch x 13.2 inch - metal or glass (pyrex) or similar

Instructions:

Preparing the Chiles:

Dry roast the Anaheim chiles by putting them on a very hot flat pan or comal. Keep turning them until the skin is ready to peel off. About 80% roasted but not burnt. Put them all into a bowl and cover. Wait for 5 min, during this time the chiles get steamed, which helps the skin separate from the chiles. Peel all the chiles carefully, be gentle with the flesh of the chile. Keep the stems on the chiles.

Preparing the cheese and stuffing the chiles:

Cut the Mexican cheese into small bars (~ 2 in x ½ inch) and set aside. Open the chiles but carefully making a slit through the top part of the chiles, and begin stuffing the chiles with cheese, until the Chile is full. May use toothpicks to seal the slit, optional. In a flat plate put 1 cup of flour and spread across the plate. Put 3 chiles there and lightly coat all over.

Preparing the Egg Batter:

Making the egg batter. Separate the eggs whites from the yolks. Save the yolks for later. With a mixer, beat egg whites, in a metal bowl, until white and fluffy. Then return the yolks into the egg batter and continue to mix. The egg batter should look yellow, soft and fluffy.

Cooking the Chiles:

Heat a large skillet (frying pan), put enough oil to cover the flat surface about 3 tablespoons of oil. A lot of oil is needed for the chiles to cook well. Use medium heat. Oil needs to be hot but not very hot that the oil is burning. Take flour coated chiles, Holding the chile firmly, submerge them into the egg batter and quickly then put into the hot skillet. Cook no more than 3-4 in the skillet. Wait until the bottom is cooked (1-2 min) and hold the chile by the stem turning once, Use a spatula if needed. The chiles should be looking golden brown. Put the cooked chiles in a glass baking dish. Cover with foil to keep them warm. Can be served with a side of Mexican rice and fresh roasted tomato salsa over the chiles. Frijoles de la Olla (beans from the pot) can be served as a side dish as well.

Chile Relleno Broth

Mexican Rice Ingredients:

2.5 cups long grain white rice

4.5 cups of cups of chicken stock

1/2 cup of tomato sauce or fresh tomato puree

1/2 of onion, slice in half

2 garlic cloves, peeled

1 tablespoon of cooking oil

Instructions:

In a saucepan, put in small amount of oil. Once hot over medium heat, add rice and stir and add onion, garlic and stir occasionally until rice is lightly golden. Then pour in the tomato sauce and chicken stock, stir and leave it alone. After boiling reduce to low heat. When the water evaporates, turn off the heat.

Roasted Tomato Salsa

Ingredients: (for 6 people)

5 roma tomatoes

4 assorted chile peppers (jalapeños, banana, serrano, poblano, Anaheim)

1 garlic clove, peeled chopped

¼ cup finely diced onion

¼ cup of chopped cilantro

1 teaspoon of kosher salt

Instructions:

Use a comal to dry roast all chiles and tomatoes. Peel, seed and chop roasted chiles by hand. Peel roasted tomatoes. Put all tomatoes in blender and just pulse a couple of times to maintain texture. Pour into a bowl and add the remaining ingredients and mix.

Ingredients:

½ pound Pinto beans (black beans are good too_) ¼ Onion, 2 dried red peppers for flavoring the oil.

1-2 tablespoons salt, ¼ teaspoon of dry oregano

1 tablespoon of flavored oil

Frijoles de la Olla

One day before, soak the beans in cold water for 8 hours. Discard the soaking water. In a pot, put the beans and add twice as much water, add a piece of onion. Boil in medium low for 2-3 hours. Be sure that the beans don’t dry. Add boiling water as necessary. When bean cooked (soft), add salt to taste, flavored oil and simmer for another 15 minutes. For cooking in slow cooker, after beans have been soaked and rinsed, put in slow cooker cover it with water and cook on low for 8 hours or high for 4 hours.

Serve the Chile Rellenos with the roasted tomato salsa on top, with rice and beans on the side & queso fresco sprinkled on top. Offer fresh corn tortillas. Enjoy! Buen Provecho!