Easy Chicken Chile Relleno Casserole Recipe

Thanks so much to Sargento® for sponsoring this layered Chile Relleno casserole recipe. This is one of the best casseroles I’ve made lately, and I think you’ll love it too. Read on for the easy yet delicious recipe!

Ooh, you guys, I’m so excited to be doing the Sargento Chopped at Home Challenge! I’ve seen these contests before, but this is the first time I was invited to participate. I LOVE ingredient challenges. To be honest, they aren’t exactly a challenge as far as I’m concerned. When I have a list of ingredients I need to use in my recipe, it makes my job easier by giving me a starting point. For this challenge, I was asked to use Sargento cheese (obviously), chicken thighs, corn tortillas, and poblano peppers and make a delicious recipe that is fun to make. Having this list of ingredients created half the recipe for me.

Make sure to prepare your kitchen tools and your belly as you make this mouth-watering recipe. A dish that you will not regret making. I’m sure you will also keep making this as I have. Enjoy your meal with this!

Comfort Food: Chicken Chile Relleno Casserole

With that list, I came up with an easy dessert! Just kidding. I made you a layered Mexican dinner! At first, I was going to make taquitos, but then I decided that was too obvious. I was a little stumped because poblanos and cheese sounded like Chile Relleno, but I didn’t know how to incorporate tortillas. After much thought, I decided to just use the chile Relleno flavor in the dish instead of actually stuffing the peppers. That also made the recipe way easier, and you know I’m all about easy. With this easy way of doing it, you will be able to spend less time to prepare the dish wont compromise the flavor. It’s a perfect dinner for you and your family. I highly recommend you giving it a try.

OK, confession time. I haven’t actually eaten a chile Relleno before. I don’t know why exactly because peppers and cheese are such a great combination. Now that I can’t eat wheat, I would be afraid to order thm in case the breading contained flour. If you are like me and haven’t tried this traditional Mexican dish, just make this simple casserole instead! It is loaded with all the flavor from the Mexican cheese and poblano peppers, plus chicken, green salsa and spices.

Chile Relleno Recipe Tips, Tricks and Modifications

I love this recipe because it is very straight forward and easy to make. It does require about 15-20 minutes of active prep and cooking but it really is not too bad. It also lends itself to some fun tweaks depending on your personal preferences.

• Poblano peppers are what are traditionally used for Chile Rellenos. Poblanos have a nice early flavor and mild heat, more kick than a green bell pepper but not close to as hot as a jalapeno. They also have a thick skin, so they work really well for stuffing and frying. For this dish, they give a subtle spiciness and still add some texture and crispness to the casserole. If you want to substitute Poblanos, I recommend using Anaheim peppers if you want a little more heat or green bell peppers if you want something completely mild. You can always add more kick with a pinch of cayenne or a dash of hot sauce.
• Green Salsa gives this dish a nice mild tomatillo flavor with great acidity. It also helps ensure the dish is the right color. Since Chile Rellenos are stuffed poblanos you want to have a greenish dish, not one that is bright red. You can also use green enchilada sauce instead of green salsa.
• Recommended Additions to this recipe are canned corn, canned black beans, or pinto beans. All these can be added to the dish with each layer.
• Recommended Toppings and garnishes include fresh cilantro, sour cream, additional green salsa or red salsa, and guacamole.
• You can give this recipe some crunch by adding crushed corn tortilla chips to the top of the casserole when you remove the foil and then bake for 5-10 more minutes. I love this trick as it gives the casserole a little bit of that crispy “fried” texture without frying anything.

Layered Chicken Chile Relleno Casserole

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This layered Mexican casserole is the definition of comfort food. Plus, it’s gluten free!

• Total Time: 1 hour
• Yield: 6

Ingredients

• 2 teaspoons olive oil
• 1 medium onion chopped
• 1 large poblano pepper cut into 2″ long strips
• 1 pound boneless, skinless chicken thighs cut into bite-sized pieces
• 1 teaspoon chili powder
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
• 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
• 8 ounces sour cream (reduced fat is fine)
• 8 ounces green salsa (I like Herdez brand)
• 7 corn tortillas cut in half
• 8-12 ounces Sargento 4 Cheese Mexican Blend
• green onions sliced (optional)

 

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Instructions

1. Heat oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add onion, poblano pepper, chicken, chili powder, cumin, garlic powder, and salt. Stir and cook for approximately 8 minutes or until chicken is cooked through.
2. While chicken cooks, preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Spray an 8 x 11″ baking dish with cooking spray. In a medium bowl, whisk together sour cream and salsa.
3. Now you’re ready to assemble! Place a single layer of tortillas in the bottom of the prepared baking dish. Spread half of the chicken and peppers over the tortillas. Drizzle about a third of the sour cream mixture over the chicken, and then spread a handful of cheese over the sour cream.
4. Repeat the layers in step three once more. Finally, arrange one more layer of tortillas on top. Spread the rest of the sour cream over the tortillas, and spread another handful of cheese over that.
5. Cover casserole with foil, and bake in preheated oven for 30 minutes. Remove foil, increase heat to 400 degrees F, and bake an additional 5-10 minutes until top is brown and bubbly. (You can optionally spread a little more cheese over the top for this final baking step.)
6. Allow to set for a few minutes before cutting and serving. Garnish with sliced green onions if desired.

Notes

If you don’t have an 8 x 11″ pan, you can use a 9 x 13″ pan. The casserole will just be a bit flatter.

• Author: Andi
• Prep Time: 20
• Cook Time: 40