My husband and I have a thing for southwestern cuisine. We love it all! I think I could serve my husband southwestern food every day of his life and he would never get tired of it……..and neither would I. We’re a match made in heaven, I guess.
We both love Chile Rellenos, which is what I originally considered making with these beautiful poblano peppers. But the idea of frying something didn’t really appeal to me, so I came up with this slightly healthier alternative – Stuffed Poblano Peppers. These peppers are stuffed with a mixture of tomatoes, green chiles, zucchini, cilantro, rice, garlic, onions, Mexican spices and Monterey Jack cheese. They are baked in the oven and garnished with sour cream and more fresh cilantro.
In the mood for some southwestern cuisine? Give these a try!
Stuffed Poblano Peppers
Serves 3-6
Ingredients:
3 poblano peppers
1 can Rotel (tomatoes and green chiles)
1 can green chiles
2 large cloves garlic, chopped
1 yellow onion, chopped
1 zucchini, sliced
1/2 cup fresh cilantro
2 Tablespoons chile powder
1 teaspoon cayenne pepper (more or less depending on how spicy you like it)
1 Tablespoon cumin
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
2 cups Monterey Jack cheese
2 cups cooked white rice, prepared according to package directions
Garnish – Sour cream and cilantro
Directions:
Preheat oven to 425 degrees.
Cook white rice according to package directions. Cut poblano peppers in half, lengthwise. Remove seeds and white parts. Place in a baking dish.
Meanwhile, over medium heat, saute onion, zucchini, garlic, chile powder, cumin, cayenne and salt and pepper. Once onion is cooked add Rotel, cilantro and the extra can of green chiles and cook until most of the moisture has cooked out.
Add vegetable mixture to cooked white rice and stir to combine. Add one cup of cheese and combine.
Spoon rice mixture into each poblano pepper half. You want plenty of rice in each one, so make sure it’s mounded up pretty high.
Next, add the remaining cheese on top of each pepper.
Place peppers in oven for 30-35 minutes. If for some reason your cheese starts to get too brown, just place some foil on top and finish cooking. Mine ended up just right, but every oven is different.
Peppers are complete once they are easily pierced with a knife and cheese is golden brown.
Serve one pepper or two (if you have hungry adults). My husband and I both ate two, but we are pretty big eaters and didn’t have a lot of side dishes.
Serve with a dollop of sour cream on each pepper and a sprinkling of fresh cilantro. If you have salsa on hand, that would be great too! You can add additional side dishes – we had warm buttered tortillas, but some refried beans would be another good idea.
Cottage Mama’s Note: This dish is a great way to sneak some veggies into your non-veggie lovers. I used zucchini because that’s what we had on hand. You could use sliced carrots, corn or even add in some black beans for extra fiber. Watch the cayenne pepper if you plan to serve this to little kiddos. Luckily my little ones like some spice, but if they aren’t used to it, ease them into it slowly.
Lindsay Wilkes is the owner and designer behind The Cottage Mama. She creates timeless, vintage inspired sewing patterns for children’s clothes. She is also a fabric designer for Riley Black Designers / Penny Rose Fabrics, author of the book ‘Sew Classic Clothes for Girls’ and can be seen teaching nationwide and online in her video series ‘Lessons with Lindsay’ sponsored by Baby Lock Sewing and Embroidery machines.
Lindsay – this looks seriously divine! I have been so hungry since hitting the second trimester, and southwestern flavors have really been hitting the spot!
this looks wonderful! My husband and I both love Southwestern food too.
I can’t wait to try this.
Is there a way to print your posts?
As of right now, I don’t have a way to make the recipes “printer-friendly”…….I will work on that. I would just cut and paste into word – that should work for at least the ingredients portion. Sorry for the inconvenience!
Lindsay
These look delicious! We make a simple stuffed poblano that goes on the grill – you just fill with crumbled cooked sausage and cheese, wrap the pepper in bacon and throw on the barbeque. Can’t wait to try your version:)
I always love your thoughts, crafts, and recipes!!- so much so that I have nominated you for the versatility blogger award!
Oh yum. I need to add these to our meal plan.
I’m definitely going to have to make these once our poblanos come in! And it makes for a good gluten free/wheat free addition to my blog. Mind if I use and send some link love your way?
I am about to make these right now, thanks.. exactly what I was looking for, since I don’t eat meat. Very excited!
These look delicious! I’ve been wanting to try making stuffed poblanos and I love the ingredients you used! I will definitely be making these for our family soon! Thank you!
Here in the midwest with our dry summer, my poblanos never came in! Nevertheless, I purchased (coincidentally) 3 poblanos the other day with a view toward making chili rellenos. Decided on something lighter and found your recipe. Unfortunately I had neither cilantro (which I love) nor sour cream but I did add some carrots and broccoli to the zucchini/onion mix and they were delicious! Will prepare a little next time but it’s great having a recipe you can adjust to what you have on hand! 🙂
I just made these and they were great – the best stuffed peppers we have had yet! The only thing is…I cut the spices and salt down to about half the amount, and it was still pretty salty (probably because the Rotel and chilies have added salt). Next time I’d just put the spices in to taste, and maybe just a dash of salt. They were delish and we can’t wait to have the leftovers. Thanks for the recipe!!
Oh yeah, we also added corn and black beans. A very healthy and delicious meal!
I made these tonight for my husband who always craves the poblano peppers from our local Mexican Restaurant. They passed the test with flying colors!! Thanks so much for this recipe!
Beth
This is one of my all time favorite recipes! I add a tomatillo sauce to it and we love it! Thanks for posting!