Easy recipe, you can make the sauce and cook the meat ahead of time to have it ready to go in order to make the recipe even quicker and easier.
Prep Time: 30 minutes (this will vary depending on the protein of choice and how you decide to cook it) | Cook Time: 30 minutes (this is only for the casserole, the cooking of the protein is covered in prep time) |
Even my kids love this recipe, rather than having a traditional chile relleno with everything that goes into making it, especially if you are stuffing it with some sort of protein, use this quick and easy alternative with plenty of options for personalizing it to make it your own.
Modification Suggestions:
Instead of grilled cubed chicken use shredded chicken
Rather than chicken, use another protein option like steak, pulled pork, ground beef/turkey
Don't use any protein at all and just have a chile relleno casserole without the stuffing
You could probably use poblano peppers rather than canned whole green chiles, but I would suggest roasting them first for a little while to at least to make them softer and easier to cut through
I came up with this recipe while searching for ideas to help me use up the extra green chiles I had left over after making my regular chile relleno recipe. One recipe I came across is very similar, and also where I got the recipe for the sauce, but it seemed like more of a breakfast type casserole. Basically I used that recipe to inspire this one because it felt more like a dinner recipe to me. I hope you enjoy it as much as my family does!
Chicken Stuffed Chile Relleno Casserole
Ingredients:
Canned Whole Green Chiles - (Will need 12 whole chiles)
2 tablespoons of cream cheese - (room temperature)
3 chicken breasts
Shredded Cheese - (I use a colby/jack mix)
1 recipe chile rellano sauce - I do not use the lemon juice (thank you to fussfreeflavours.com)
Equipment:
11 x 7 baking dish
Directions:
Preheat your grill and while that's heating up add some fajita seasoning to the chicken breasts, season to your liking.
Once the grill is going, cook the chicken breasts as you normally would. (I personally turn my grill down to the lowest setting with all 4 burners going and cook them for 20 minutes, flipping every 5 minutes.
While the chicken is cooking go ahead and make the chile relleno sauce recipe so it's ready to go.
When the sauce is ready, ladle a small amount to really just coat the bottom of a 11 x 7 baking dish.
Take 6 of the whole green chiles and tear them open on one side so they can lay flat on the bottom of the baking dish with the inside of the pepper facing upwards. It should look something like the image below (No kidding, it doesn't look pretty at this point).
Spread the 2 tbsp of cream cheese among the bottom chiles.
Once the chicken is done cooking, dice it up and spread it throughout the baking dish.
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees, while the oven is heating up sprinkle some shredded cheese over the top of the chicken.
Next, put another thin layer of the sauce on top and cover with the other 6 chiles using the same method as before, only have the inside of the pepper facing down this time.
Cover the chiles with more of the sauce and top with shredded cheese.
Use foil to cover the baking dish and bake at 350 on the middle rack for 30 minutes.
Once the casserole is done cooking, take it out of the over, remove the foil and cut into squares.
Now the dish is ready to serve as is, or with your favorite toppings. Serve it up with some Spanish rice and street corn for a well balanced meal.
Topping Ideas:
Sour Cream
Guacamole
Salsa
Shredded Lettuce (I usually do it as a bed of lettuce underneath the casserole on the plate)
Cilantro
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