Chile Rellenos Casserole

I’ve mentioed Nick’s love of chile rellenos before, and even made them at home for him! They came out great, but they’re definitely not an easy weeknight dinner. Nick’s aunt thought of us and sent me this recipe for Chile Rellenos Casserole. All the same flavors, but a whole lot less work!

A few days ago I was cooking for a crowd of 9. Casseroles are a girls best friend when entertaining a crowd. The prep is done and they’re in the oven doin’ their thang by the time guests arrive.

I decided to make an old standby Mexican-ish chicken casserole that’s always been a big hit (haven’t made it on the blog yet though– recipe to come!) I needed something to go with it and decided to keep with the fiesta theme. Perfect time to try out the Chille Rellenos Casserole!

Chile Rellenos Casserole

• 2 tsp olive oil
• 1 small onion, diced
• 1 lb ground beef
• 1 tsp cumin
• 1 tsp chili powder
• 1/2 tsp garlic powder
• 1/2 tsp dried oregano
• Salt & pepper
• 1 1/2 cups salsa
• 3 cups shredded monterey jack cheese
• 2 (7 oz) cans whole green chiles (or 3 4-oz cans diced)
• 4 eggs
• 1 1/2 cups milk
• 1/4 cup flour

Preheat over to 350 degrees. Heat oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add onion and cook until just beginning to soften. Add ground beef, spice, and salt & pepper and cook, breaking up beef with a wooden spoon, until beef is crumbled and browned. Drain any excess fat from beef mixture.

Spread salsa over the bottom of a baking pan or casserole dish. Spread half the chiles (cleaned and sliced if using whole) over the salsa, then layer half the cheese. Next, spread the beef mixture over the cheese. Then layer the remaining chiles and cheese.

Whisk together the eggs, milk and flour. (Tip from Aunt Diane: use an immersion blender to mix to get it extra fluffy. I did this.) Pour egg mixture evenly into the pan over the layers.

Bake 30-40 minutes, until center is set and top is golden.

The casserole came out great! I’m pretty sure everyone else loved it too, since I didn’t get to have any leftovers! I’ll definitely have to make this again for just the two of us, so we can enjoy it for longer than just one meal.