Sometimes the heart wants what it wants, and it just so happens that this heart wants chiles rellenos. Are vegan chiles rellenos even possible? Yes they are my friends! At first, I was doubtful, I wasn't sure of this was going to work, but after a couple of tries, the result was truly fantastic! They are crispy, melty, and spicy. Everything a chile relleno should be.
I just want to be crystal clear and honest with you, and tell you that they are not healthy. They are fried in oil, lots of it! However, they are still 100% vegan. A couple of weeks ago I told you that I was trying to drop oil from my diet, and I am still trying (very unsuccessfully). How weird is it that I had an easier time giving up dairy?
Like I said before though, sometimes there are special occasions and moments in our lives that call for a special dish and nothing else will do except a chile relleno. However, if you are looking for a healthy option you can try this chile relleno stuffed with quinoa, zucchini, and corn that is topped with a chipotle cream sauce.
The Recipe: Vegan Chiles Rellenos
For this version I have stuffed the chiles with two types of cheeses. I am not a fan of the processed vegan cheeses, but I finally found one that I actually like Chao vegan cheese. The other one is stuffed with my macadamia nut queso fresco. Both of the cheeses worked very well with the dish.
The Follow Your Heart cheese is very much like a traditional cheese, you can grate it, slice it, and melt it. The macadamia nut cheese behaves like a queso fresco, you can spread it but not melt it. I think it worked very well in the chiles rellenos. I like both of them, but be sure to try them and let me know which one is your favorite. Enjoy!
Vegan Chiles Rellenos
Ingredients
- 4 Poblano peppers roasted, peeled
- 10 oz. Vegan cheese*
- 3 Tomatoes large
- 2 cloves Garlic chopped
- ½ Onion peeled, chopped
- 2 -3 cups Vegetable oil
Batter
- ¼ cup Flour all-purpose
- ¼ cup Chickpea flour
- ½ cup Cornstarch
- ½ tsp. Kosher salt
- ¾ cup Soda water cold
Instructions
- Once your poblano chiles are roasted and peeled, using a knife, make a vertical cut from the stem to the tip of the chile.
- Fill with your favorite vegan cheese, close the chile, and secure with toothpicks. Set aside.
To make the sauce
- Place the tomatoes, garlic, and onion in the blender and process until smooth.
- Heat a medium sauce pot to medium heat and add the tomato sauce. Simmer for 7 – 10 minutes or until the sauce begins to thicken. Season with salt and pepper. Set aside.
To make the batter
- Combine the flour, chickpea flour, cornstarch, and salt in a large bowl. Pour in soda water gradually and whisk, until the batter reaches the consistency of a thin pancake batter.
- Heat three inches of oil in a high sided pan to 360°F. Dip each chile into the batter, letting excess drip off, then place in oil and fry until golden, about 5 minutes on each side.
- Remove the chiles and place on a plate lined with paper towels to absorb excess oil.
- Serve the chile on top of a plate of the tomato sauce
This is a go-to recipe in our house. Such great flavor and texture of the breading. For vegan cheese I love to mix miyoko's liquid cheese with Daiya's new grilling/frying cheese. Great combo, just be careful not to go too heavy on the cheeses.
What is the 1/2 cup in the first section of ingredients for?
*1/2 cup of flour
Hi Amanda, there isn't 1/2 cup flour in the first section of the ingredients. Here are the ingredients in order as they appear in the recipe
Ingredients
▢4 Poblano peppers, roasted, peeled
▢10 oz. Vegan cheese*
▢3 Tomatoes, large
▢2 cloves Garlic, chopped
▢½ Onion, peeled, chopped
▢2 -3 cups Vegetable oil
▢1/2 cup Flour
Batter
▢1/4 cup Flour, all-purpose
▢1/4 cup Chickpea flour
▢1/2 cup Cornstarch
▢1/2 tsp. .Kosher salt
▢3/4 cup Soda water, cold
Hi,
But there is clearly 1/2 cup flour listed in the top half of the ingredients, the very last item before the batter ingredients is 1/2 cup flour!
I am just going to make this recipe, so will let you know how it goes 😊
Hi Emma, I apologize, I don't know how I missed it. I have removed that 1/2 cup from the recipe, it was an error. Thank you
These were so good! We miss our local Mexican restaurant (we haven't been due to the pandemic), and these are my husband's favorite. He didn't even notice it was vegan cheese ;)
This was delicious! It has been years since I've had a chile relleno. Such a simple recipe. I will definitely be making more of this and for my family!
Amazing! I’ve never made chili rellenos before. These were delicious. I will definitely make this again. And I will be trying other recipes too. Excited to find your blog!
I couldn’t figure out why flour is listed twice in the recipe, so I only used the flour that’s listed to go in the batter and that seemed the right consistency to me for a batter. Maybe you could update the directions as to what the first listing of flour is for or if both measurements of flour go in the batter or what. I looked through the comments to see if it was clarified, but didn’t find the answer.
Haven't tried this yet. What do you think about using aquafaba instead of batter?
I did a test with aquafaba and I had a hard time getting it to stick to the chile, and as soon as it hits the oil it dissolves
Would this work with gluten free flour?
I have never tried it with GF flour.
This was hands-down one of my all-time favorite vegan meals EVER!!! You are BRILLIANT! Thank you for an utterly delicious recipe. My family enjoyed this very much and I will definitely be making it again :)