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Chile relleno literally translates to stuffed pepper. That's it. And yet somehow this dish became one of the most iconic, most beloved, most "I will absolutely drive 40 minutes for a good one" meals in all of Mexican cuisine. This vegan chiles rellenos recipe is truly a banger and it's hyper-easy to make!
Recipe tips tailored to what matters most to you:
Swap the all-purpose flour in the batter for a 1:1 gluten-free blend, same ratio, adjust with a splash more milk if it's too thick.
Don't stress about homemade salsa tonight, a good store-bought red salsa works just fine here.
Grab the basic Maseca masa harina instead of the fancy Masienda stuff I love, works just fine and costs way less.
Skip the deep fryer, air fry at 400°F for 12-15 minutes flipping halfway, way less oil and still crispy.
No masa harina in the house? Regular cornmeal works in a pinch, just a touch coarser texture.
Pale and lightly spotted is not the vibe here on the charred peps. Go pretty much full blackened, all over, no shy little grill marks. This makes the skins actually peel off without some part of the pepper remaining bare.
Seal them up and walk away for 10 full minutes, I don't care how hungry you are. Skipping this step means the skin is basically glued on and you will be standing at your counter carefully peeling a pepper for 25 minutes like some kind of sad goof.
It should pour easily and coat the chile in a smooth even layer, not glob on like cement or slide off like water. If it seems too thick add a tiny splash more milk. If it seems too thin add a little more flour. Easy fix either way so just pay attention before you start frying.
Oodles more tips, step-by-step recipe photos, info on weird ingredients, and FAQs are all still here. I just tucked 'em out of the way so you can start cooking sooner.
Chiles rellenos have been around since the early 1800s, originating in Puebla, Mexico -the same city behind mole poblano, and Cinco de Mayo, which commemorates the Battle of Puebla which popped off on May 5, 1862. Most of the folks in my neighborhood are from Puebla, and I knew my chiles rellenos had to be bangin' if I was gonna be able to invite my neighbors over for lunch and dinner (which I do, and spoiler: they love this recipe). Anyway, in the traditional mexican dish, poblano peppers get fire-roasted, peeled, stuffed with cheese or picadillo, dipped in an egg batter, and fried until golden. It's a whole thing. A very yummy, but sadly, absolutely not vegan thing.
And that's where my vegan version comes in, guns blazing. Like a wild AF plant-based Pecos Bill. The batter we are gonna rock uses masa harina alongside a little garlic and nooch, giving us such a heavily tasty crust,your jaw will probs drop a wee bit.
We're stuffing these with vegan pepper jack, drowning them in salsa roja, and finishing with a cilantro lime crema, fresh herbs, and minced red onion. It's gonna be your next favorite thing.
Serve the whole thang alongside a bowl of vegan pozole verde, sopa de fideo, or sopa de lentejas and nobody's getting up from that table anytime soon.
I had to wait to make this until my garden produced poblanos. But it was worth it. I haven't made chiles rellenos in a long time because I couldn't get the batter to stay on the roasted chiles (that, and vegan cheese has been sad for many decades). The batter for this version worked perfectly - it's so thick that it also covered the slit in the peppers, so I didn't need toothpicks to hold them together! I stuffed them with a combo of Rebel Gruyère and their smoked paprika chevre, not sad at all! I made the cilantro lime crema - yum, and also the wrong salsa (verde - tomatillos, serranos, and garlic from the garden, though!). It was all so delicious. I'm happy to be back in the chiles rellenos game.
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🥰 Why you'll adore this vegetarian chiles rellenos recipe
🧄 The Cilantro Lime Crema = Your New Personality: Technically optional. Realistically the thing you'll be putting on everything you eat for the next 2 weeks.
✊ Vegan AF: The egg batter and dairy cheese flavor got the boot, and what replaced them in all my vegan Mexican recipes are honestly so good it's a little embarrassing for the original.
Tested and Approved Worldwide: My 1,000+ squad of home cooks across the globe (shhh… don't tell the flat-earthers) put all my vegan Tex-Mex recipes through their paces before they get published on this site. The photos they sent back of this chile relleno recipe were so good I had to take a walk.
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🌶️ Vegan Chile Relleno Ingredients
Poblano Peppers
Fresh poblanos are literally just ancho chiles before they get dried, so expect that they are quite mild. They get their name from Puebla, Mexico where they're a total staple in the area's cuisine.
Hatch chiles can pinch hit here, though the heat level is more unpredictable. But if you have some that fall apart on you when flame roasting, you can chop them up to use in a batch of hatch chile salsa or to throw into a vegan Frito pie.
Masa Harina
Masa harina is finely ground nixtamalized corn flour and it's the secret that makes this batter taste like an actual Mexican kitchen and not just a random fried thing.
While basic-ass brands like Maseca will get the job done, my absolute fave is Masienda's masa harina. I use their white and yellow in my vegan cornbread and jackfruit tamales, and their blue masa in my blue corn pancakes. If you absolutely have to, just swap it for regular cornmeal, although it's a bit coarser.
Nutritional Yeast
Most people think to use nooch only for delicious vegan queso or vegan nacho cheese but it is lowkey incredible in batters too. Flakes or powder both work great here and there's no substitute I'd really stand behind so pls just don't skip it.
Vegan Pepper Jack or Vegan Mozzarella
Miyoko's or Daiya are the best bet for filling these. Pepper jack, or Daiya's Jalapeño Havarti gives you heat, you can make this more plain with vegan mozzarella, which I teach how to make in my Plant-Based Cheese School cooking class.
The Red Sauce
Salsa roja is the traditional way to go, but red chile sauce is the move if you want a New Mexico style vegan chili relleno.
Salsa ranchera and chile de arbol salsa are both there if you want to seriously turn up the heat. A good store-bought red salsa also works fine if you're not trying to make 47 things from scratch tonight.
*See the recipe card at the bottom of the page for exact quantities, nutritional info, and detailed cooking directions.
📖 How to make vegan chiles rellenos
Before you go rogue and just start charring peppers with reckless abandon, read through these steps. There are tips in here that'll save you from a genuinely tragic outcome. Printable recipe card is waiting at the bottom when you're ready.
Step One
Burny Sanders:
Place the poblano or hatch chiles on a wire rack directly over a gas burner or under a broiler. Turn regularly until the skins are evenly charred and blistered on all sides, 5-6 minutes.
Step Two
Steam Player:
Transfer the charred chiles to a bowl and cover tightly. Let the warm peppers steam inside the bowl for 10 minutes to loosen the skins.
Step Three
Skin City:
Peel away the skins, then make a small slit along one side of each chile and remove the seeds, keeping the chiles as intact as possible.
Step Four
Cheese Witherspoon:
Carefully stuff each chile with the vegan cheese, pressing gently to close the slit.
Don't stress too much about it sealing completely. As long as the batter fully covers the pepper before you fry it, the cheese shouldn't all gush out on you.
I mean, think about it- even when you make vegan jalapeño poppers, which are fully open on one side before getting coated, the cheese doesn't escape. Remain calm, and trust the process.
Step Five
Batter Call Saul:
In a large bowl, whisk together the all-purpose flour, masa harina, garlic powder, nutritional yeast, and salt. Gradually whisk in the plant-based milk, stirring until a smooth batter forms with a thick, pourable consistency.
Step Six
Hot Oil Summer:
Heat the frying oil in a deep skillet over medium heat. After 3-4 minutes, test the oil by dropping a small amount of batter into it; it should sizzle immediately.
Step Seven
Netflix and Chile:
Dip each stuffed chile into the batter, coating it fully, then carefully place it into the hot oil. Fry in batches over medium heat for 3-4 minutes per side, turning once, until golden brown and crisp.
Step Eight
Wire Rack-Ack-Ack-Ack, You Oughta Know By Now:
Transfer the fried chiles to a wire rack suspended over a baking pan to drain excess oil.
Step Nine
Do you Re-Crema The Time?
To prepare the optional crema, combine the plant-based milk, garlic, cilantro, lime juice, lime zest, avocado, vegan yogurt, and salt in a blender. Blend until smooth.
Step Ten
Rojo Jo, and a Bottle of Rum:
Warm the salsa rojo or red chile sauce in a saucepan over medium heat for a few minutes until hot.
Step Eleven
Chile Bobby Brown:
To serve, spoon the warm sauce onto a plate, place the chiles rellenos on top.
Drizzle with cilantro lime crema and garnish with minced red onion, and cilantro leaves.
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💡Serving Ideas
If you're trying to go full send on a Mexican food fest (and I hope you are), these chiles rellenos play incredibly well with vegan taco soup, a vegan tamale pie, vegan enchiladas, or a pile of jackfruit carnitas.
Vegan tostadas or lion's mane fajitas really turn this from a yummy snacky to a legendary hearty meal that will make you gallop into the sunset like a wild pony in the mist.
👉Top tips
- Char the Peppers Until They Look Actually Burnt: Pale and lightly spotted is not the vibe here. Go pretty much full blackened, all over, no shy little grill marks. This makes the skins actually peel off without some part of the pepper remaining bare.
- Let Them Steam and Do Not Rush This: Seal them up and walk away for 10 full minutes, I don't care how hungry you are. Skipping this step means the skin is basically glued on and you will be standing at your counter carefully peeling a pepper for 25 minutes like some kind of sad goof.
- Cut a Small Slit and That's It: Seriously resist the urge to go wild with the knife here. A tiny opening is all you need to get the cheese in. Cut it too wide and you're just deep frying loose cheese in a pan which sounds fun but is not the goal.
- Get the Batter Consistency Purrrrfect: It should pour easily and coat the chile in a smooth even layer, not glob on like cement or slide off like water. If it seems too thick add a tiny splash more milk. If it seems too thin add a little more flour. Easy fix either way so just pay attention before you start frying.
🤷♀️ Recipe FAQs
Yeppers, you can bake or air-fry them!
When using air fryer, preheat to 400°F (200°C) and cook for 12 to 15 minutes flipping halfway. To bake, preheat to 425°F (220°C), set them on a wire rack over a baking sheet, and bake for 20 to 25 minutes flipping once.
Poblano peppers are the classic choice because they are large, mild, and sturdy enough to hold stuffing without tearing. Hatch chiles are a great seasonal alternative with a slightly sweeter, smokier flavor profile. Bell peppers are just too darn big for this tho.
🧊 Refrigeration
Store cooled chiles rellenos for next time in an airtight container lined with paper towels to help absorb excess moisture. They will keep well in the refrigerator for up to 4 days.
🔥 Stovetop reheating
Reheat in a lightly oiled skillet over medium-low heat until warmed through, turning gently to avoid breaking the coating. This method helps restore some crispness to the exterior, while making sure the insides get nice and melty again, which is key.
🫙 Oven Reheating
Preheat to 375°F (190°C) and place the chiles on a wire rack over a baking sheet. Reheat for 10 to 12 minutes until warmed through and the exterior has crisped back up a bit.
✌️You'll also love these vegan Tex-Mex recipes:
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Vegan Chiles Rellenos Recipe
Ingredients
For the Chiles Rellenos:
- 6 poblano peppers or large hatch chiles
- 1 ¼ cup all-purpose flour
- ⅓ cup masa harina white or yellow
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1 tablespoon nutritional yeast
- 1 teaspoon salt or to taste
- 1 ½ cups unsweetened plant-based milk
- 7 oz. vegan pepper jack cheese or vegan mozzarella, cut into strips
- ⅔ cup canola oil vegetable oil, or sunflower oil for frying
For the Optional Cilantro Lime Crema:
- ¼ cup unsweetened plant-based milk
- 1 clove garlic
- ¼ cup cilantro chopped
- 2 tablespoons lime juice
- 1 teaspoon lime zest
- 2 tablespoons avocado meat
- ½ cup unsweetened vegan yogurt
- ¼ teaspoon salt or to taste
To Serve:
- 3 cups salsa roja or red chile sauce
- Minced red onion
- Cilantro leaves
Instructions
- Place the poblano or hatch chiles on a wire rack directly over a gas burner or under a broiler set to 500°F (260°C). Turn regularly until the skins are evenly charred and blistered on all sides, 5-6 minutes.
- Transfer the charred chiles to a bowl and cover tightly. Let them steam for 10 minutes to loosen the skins.
- Peel away the skins, then make a small slit along one side of each chile and remove the seeds, keeping the chiles as intact as possible.
- Carefully stuff each chile with the vegan cheese, pressing gently to close the opening.
- In a large bowl, whisk together the all-purpose flour, masa harina, garlic powder, nutritional yeast, and salt. Gradually whisk in the plant-based milk, stirring until a smooth batter forms with a thick, pourable consistency.
- Heat the frying oil in a deep skillet over medium heat. After 3-4 minutes, test the oil by dropping a small amount of batter into it; it should sizzle immediately.
- Dip each stuffed chile into the batter, coating it fully, then carefully place it into the hot oil. Fry in batches over medium heat for 3-4 minutes per side, turning once, until golden brown and crisp.
- Transfer the fried chiles to a wire rack suspended over a baking pan to drain excess oil.
- To prepare the optional crema, combine the plant-based milk, garlic, cilantro, lime juice, lime zest, avocado, vegan yogurt, and salt in a blender. Blend until smooth.
- Warm the salsa rojo or red chile sauce in a saucepan over medium heat until heated through.
- To serve, spoon the warm sauce onto a plate, place the chiles rellenos on top.
- Drizzle with cilantro lime crema and garnish with minced red onion, and cilantro leaves.
Notes
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Sally says
I had to wait to make this until my garden produced poblanos. But it was worth it. I haven't made chiles rellenos in a long time because I couldn't get the batter to stay on the roasted chiles (that, and vegan cheese has been sad for many decades). The batter for this version worked perfectly - it's so thick that it also covered the slit in the peppers, so I didn't need toothpicks to hold them together! I stuffed them with a combo of Rebel Gruyère and their smoked paprika chevre, not sad at all! I made the cilantro lime crema - yum, and also the wrong salsa (verde - tomatillos, serranos, and garlic from the garden, though!). It was all so delicious. I'm happy to be back in the chiles rellenos game.