My favorite breakfast recipe EVER: Easy Chile Relleno Casserole. This beloved recipe has received a lot of feedback, good and bad, read below to see why!
This Chile Relleno Casserole can be served as a breakfast casserole or a savory dinner casserole. Brinner, if you will. It is made with eggs, two types of cheese, and mild green chiles; perfect for feeding a crowd.
What Is Chile Relleno Casserole?
There are a lot of haters out there too. It’s okay, I have thick skin. But if you are a hater, read on for my answers to your burning chile relleno casserole questions… the main one being that we are very aware this is not an authentic chile rellenos recipe.
This is a fairly common recipe and a take on true chile rellenos, which are chile peppers stuffed with cheese (and sometimes meat), battered and then fried. Most will use an egg batter, but where I grew up in Colorado, it was customary to use an egg roll wrapper.
We’ve been serving this recipe for years in our house on my maternal side. It was first prepared out of a Junior League cookbook. The chiles are still stuffed with cheese and then covered in eggs, but it is baked instead of fried and crispy. Deconstructed, if you will.
Past that, I can’t authenticate it. And I’ve never claimed it to be an authentic Mexican recipe or any other type of Mexican food.
What You’ll Need to Make a Chile Relleno Casserole
The ingredient list fairly short and simple.
- Mild green chiles- Grab whole green chiles and stuff them with long, thin pieces of cheese or get a few cans of diced chiles. You can also use fresh chiles, like Hatch green chiles, poblano peppers or Anaheim peppers, to roast and peel yourself over an open flame or the flame of your stove. There are instructions for both whole and diced in the recipe card.
- Cheese– When I say cheese, I mean CHEESE! Two pounds of cheese. I like pepper jack and colby jack, but any blend of these: sharp cheddar cheese or monterey jack cheese is delicious. For the best texture, use freshly shredded cheese.
- Eggs– Use 5-7 large eggs. This can also be an egg white casserole, just use 10-14 large egg whites.
- Flour– Is the flour necessary? No. But it does help give the eggs some lift and fluff up.
- Whole milk– Adds richness and liquid to the mixture and helps keep the eggs moist and soft. Heavy cream can also be used, as can reduced fat milks or nut milk, they just won’t have as much depth.
- Coarse kosher salt– Salt helps to bring out and balance natural flavors.
- Powdered dry mustard – I get a lot of questions about this ingredient. Adding acid to a recipe gives it more sophisticated flavor. My family always used dry mustard because that’s what was listed in the old cookbook, but you can leave it out or use an equal amount of yellow or Dijon mustard whisked in with the eggs.
How to Make Chile Relleno Casserole
Making this casserole is super easy, it can be made ahead of time and even frozen. See my notes below!
- Preheat the oven and coat a 9×13 baking dish or casserole dish with cooking spray.
- For Using Whole Chiles: Stuff each chile pepper with a stick of cheese or a generous handful of shredded cheese, placing more on top of each pepper. Put the peppers in the pan, evenly spaced.
For Using Diced Green Chilies: Evenly spread the green chiles in a baking dish. Top with half of the shredded pepper jack cheese and half of the colby jack cheese. Set it aside while you get the egg mixture ready.
- In a separate medium bowl whisk together the eggs, milk, salt, and dry powdered mustard until the clumps are gone (some may remain).
- The flour will clump if added straight to the eggs, so you’ll add them to a small amount of the eggs, making a paste. Spoon out 1/4 cup of eggs mixture to a small bowl and whisk with the flour, making a paste. Whisk the flour mixture back into the main egg mixture and it should blend well, if it doesn’t, don’t fret, it will bake out.
- Pour the egg mixture over the chiles and cheese. They will float and sink, this is normal.
- Bake, uncovered, for 40 minutes. Add the remaining cheese to the top of the casserole and return to the oven for an additional 5 minutes or until the center has set and no longer jiggles. The cheese will have melted and the edges are golden brown.
- Let the casserole rest for at least 5 minutes before serving. Eggs hold heat well, so it will stay hot for up to 20 minutes and if eaten sooner, will likely burn your mouth, so be careful!
- Slice and serve with your favorite condiments. I like using a dollop of sour cream.
Casserole Toppings
Anything that you would put on top of eggs or a chile relleno are also great for this spicy breakfast casserole.
- Sour cream
- Plain Greek yogurt
- Fresh avocado slices
- Guacamole
- Red enchilada sauce
- Chamoy Sauce
- Hot sauce
- Salsa
- Salsa verde
- Jalapeno slices
- Fresh cilantro
- Green enchilada sauce
- Cottage cheese
Variations of Chile Relleno Casserole Recipes
There are so many ways to make this chile relleno breakfast casserole your own. I like to keep mine vegetarian, but feel free to add meat.
- Add 1 cup browned ground beef, chicken or turkey.
- Add 1 cup cooked and crumbled bacon.
- Add 1 cup cooked, shredded chicken, like a rotisserie chicken or leftover chicken.
- Like it hot? Swap mild green chiles for jalapenos or hot green chiles.
- Use a variation of cheese like monterey jack, pepper jack, habanero laced cheeses, colby jack, queso fresco or cotija cheese.
- Add 1 cup of cooked (or thawed) hash browns or breakfast potatoes to the eg mixture.
- Add 1 teaspoon of chile powder, onion powder, garlic powder, white pepper, cumin, coriander or crushed red pepper flakes.
- Fold 1 cup cauliflower rice or white rice to the egg mixture for more body and texture.
What Do You Serve With Chile Rellenos?
For breakfast, you can easily have some meat on the side. Bacon and Homemade Breakfast Sausage are good bets. Even just heat up some ham.
Toast, biscuits, English muffins or scones are great too. Even a cream cheese board with bagel tidbits is great. Make sure to get some fruit in with my favorite fruit salad.
Crispy home fries, sweet potato hash browns or potatoes o’brien are fantastic too!
For lunch or dinner, consider refried beans, warm corn tortillas tortilla chips or Mexican rice.
Is It Chile or Chili?
So before you throw stones, I didn’t name it either. All I know is that this make ahead breakfast casserole is delicious! And if you try it, you’ll probably agree.
And the last bashing it gets is if it is a chile rellenos or chili rellenos. Geez, the “i” or the “e”. Well, my friend who is an editor claims that the chile pepper is indeed with an “e” and the soup is with an “i”. Some folks even go a step further and call is chiles rellenos and pluralize both.
Call it a chili Relleno Casserole if you’d like. It still tastes the same!
Make Ahead, Storage & Freezing
How long is chile relleno casserole good for?
Store leftovers in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 5 days. Reheat in a warm oven or in the microwave. Be mindful that eggs always get a tad rubbery when reheated in the microwave.
Can you make a chile relleno casserole ahead of time?
You can make Chile Relleno Casserole the night before you intend to bake it. It might take a few more minutes in the oven to come to temperture seeing that it will be chilled instead of room temperature. About 10 minutes.
You can also prep the ingredients, mainly shredding the cheese and making the egg mixture, and just assemble it morning off. Or night, if you are making brinner.
Can you freeze a chile relleno casserole?
If you freeze this casserole, cook it, then freeze it in small batches with as little air as possible.
Wrap in aluminum foil or freezer paper, then in an airtight bag. It should be good for up to 3 months. Also see our guide to freezing food, or more specifically how to freeze a casserole!
Questions About Making This Casserole
I agree, it seems like a lot of cheese, but I can promise you that after it bakes, it won’t be a steaming dish of melted cheese (although I wouldn’t be opposed to that).
Read a few of the comments and the cheese, they have vouched for me. That said, if you want to reduce the cheese, be my guest!
You sure can. Shred all of the cheese and used diced chiles instead of whole. Bake in a muffin tin on 350°F for 12-15 minutes, or until the centers bounce back easily.
If you omit the flour, it is gluten free. I am not a registered nutritionist or expert, this is just my basic understanding.
More breakfast recipes for feeding a large group:
- Cheesy Vegetable Casserole
- Sausage Hashbrown Casserole
- Creamed Chipped Beef Toast
- Crockpot Breakfast Casserole
- Biscuits and Gravy Casserole
- French Toast Casserole
Corned Beef Hash
Copycat Orange Julius Recipe
Dutch Honey Syrup (Vanilla Butter Syrup Recipe)
Eggs Benedict Casserole
Chile Relleno Breakfast Casserole Recipe
Equipment
Ingredients
- 30 ounces mild green chiles (whole or diced) , drained (2 large cans or 3 small cans)
- 1 pound pepper jack cheese , freshly shredded or cut into sticks and divided
- 1 pound cheddar colby jack cheese , freshly shredded or cut into sticks and divided
- 5-7 large eggs
- 1 1/4 cup whole milk
- 1 teaspoon coarse salt
- 1 teaspoon powdered dry mustard
- 1/4 cup flour
- Cooking Spray
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350°F and coat a 9×13 baking dish with cooking spray.
- For Using Whole Chiles: Stuff each chile pepper with a stick of cheese or a generous handful of shredded cheese, placing more on top of each pepper. Put the peppers in the pan, evenly spaced. Only use half of your cheese, you'll need the rest for topping. For Using Diced Green Chiles: Evenly spread the chiles in a baking dish. Top with half of the shredded pepper jack cheese and half of the colby jack cheese. Set it aside while you get the egg mixture ready.
- In a separate medium mixing bowl whisk together the eggs, milk, salt, and dry powdered mustard until the clumps are gone (some may remain). Spoon out 1/4 cup of eggs mixture to a small bowl and whisk with the flour, making a paste. Whisk it back into the main egg mixture.
- Pour the egg mixture over the chiles and cheese.
- Bake, uncovered, for 40 minutes. Add the remaining cheese to the top of the casserole and return to the oven for an additional 5 minutes or until the center has set and the cheese has melted.
- Remove and allow to sit for 5 minutes before serving.
- If you've tried this recipe, we want to hear about it! Come back and leave us a comment or star rating!
I love this recipe and use it all the time now. I love deep fried Chili Rellenos but can no longer have them due to the oil used. I use gluten free flour and add double the amount because I like rellenos that don’t taste eggy. I use this recipe for dinner as well and will do other Mexican dishes with it. I love that it’s super easy to do and takes very little prep.
5 stars all the way!
Thank you!
I made this chili relleno casserole and guess what!? It is scrumptious!! I am a Texan and have not lived in Texas since getting married at 19 years of age. This means no “real Mexican food” unless we make it. I used Fresh Hatch New Mexico chili’s, roasted and peeled, that we bought when we went to the Albuquerque Balloon Fiesta (*_*) I am going to make this again and again!!! Of course I will have to order my Albuquerque Hatch Chili online, but what the heck. It will be worth it! And it’s so much easier than making chili rellenos!
I read a lot of reviews before I made this. I needed to make brunch for me and my grandchildren – two 6’6”, 17 year-old boys and a 15-year-old girl. I used the tortilla chips on the bottom layer and after that followed the recipe. They polished off more than half on day 1 and wanted leftovers the next day. Knowing there wasn’t enough to fill them up I added a can of chili beans and salsa on top, heated it up and served it with corn bread. Success!
That is great, Judi! Thanks for taking the time to come back and let us know and I’m glad everyone enjoyed it. One of our favs, for sure!
I used to make a similar dish in the 70’s, at the end, we put marinara sauce on top and called it dinner. So delicious!
Great idea! Now I’m craving it… LOL.
Made this for a Shower/brunch and it was a huge hit. I found the whole canned chili’s and I rough chopped them. Did add corn as someone else suggested and chopped scallions. Then I used a combination of Asiago/sharp white cheddar/ and Edam cheeses. It was delicious. So many compliments and requests for the recipe. Thanks
That sounds amazing and thanks for coming back and taking the time to leave a comment. We appriciate it!
This is similar to one of my Mom’s favorite breakfast casseroles. The only thing I changed was adding 1 cup frozen corn. I made this for her on Mother’s day 2019 while she was in a nursing home. She passed away 10 days later. This is now our Christmas brunch tradition. Thank you for sharing this recipe!
I believe that we (an older couple) will love this.. I just have to get it sized for two.. :O)
I hope so, Ross! Just cut the recipe in half or make the whole thing and freeze part of if.
It can be done. I use the small corningware dish and only one can of Ortega chilies.
Amazing!!! Made it for my staff pot luck breakfast and it was a huge hit! So many asked for the recipe. Funny because I’m a huge bacon/meat fan and my husband questioned me saying, “ you’re not adding meat?” Didn’t need it… it was that yummy! Thanks!
Thank you! You can totally add meat, but I agree, it isn’t needed!
Made it once before and it was great! Question, do you broil on the last 5 minutes to get the browning?
Hi! We love it too- the last 5 minutes is just on 350 degrees to get that last layer of cheese to melt. No broiling.
Oh my gosh. I made this for breakfast. I didn’t have any flour so I used cornstarch and no dry mustard so I used regular mustard. It is a great recipe. Thanks for something different.
Thanks for letting us know, Sheryl. It is such a verstile recipe, glad it work out for you!
An excellent meal, with a southwestern twist… The variation I did was To slow cook some thick deli bacon to still being soft. Dried bacon with paper towels and wrapped each stuffed chile with a piece of bacon. In the reserved bacon drippings I sautéed onions and garlic and added them to the egg mixture, to which l added a bit of Oregano… an improvement on an already great recipe, cause I really love bacon.
I live in New Mexico so I have fresh Hatch green chile that I use. I used mozzarella cheese inside the peppers and mixed in cooked maple sausage. Today I’m making it the same way but with cut up cooked bacon pieces instead. This is definitely one of my favorite casseroles!
I absolutely love this dish!
I wasn’t able to get everything exactly, but here’s what I did…. I got the whole green chili’s and speed them in a 10×10 pan sprayed with olive oil. Then I covered the bottom with the whole green chili’s, then sprinkled on hatch chili cheese then cooked Italian sausage with finely chopped 1/2 an onion, then more hatch cheese and some 3cheddar cheese. Then chopped green chili’s and more cheese and covered it with the egg and flour and spice mixture (the amount you said) I did add 1/2 t of cumin and 1t of pinto bean seasoning, then baked for 40 mins and final layer with Mexican cheese. Baked and it is sooooo amazingly good. Thanks for such a great breakfast! ????
Yummy! That sounds AH-mazing!
ANYONE who is arrogant enough to bash this dish should just move on. Different tastes for different people – it’s all good! How boring it would be if there was only one way to make a meatloaf. Critics – get over yourselves! I can hardly wait to make this. Whole chiles, canned chiles – it’s up to you.
Help. Where is the printed recipe?
Hi Kathleen- there is a print button on the right side of the star ratings above the recipe. 🙂 Enjoy!
Too too much cheese! We added extra eggs and there was still too much cheese! My husband is. A real cheese lover. We feel like we just wasted time and money.
Man, sorry to hear that!
I know this is an older post, but I just came across it. Gonna have to try it this weekend. Sounds delish. I like the idea of the tortilla chips in the bottom. We have a local Mexican restaurant that has a top shelf relleno where they use ground pork and beef, raisins, almonds and walnuts. The hint of sweet really adds. May experiment with the raisins and nuts. Only problem is the sweetness allows you to eat a little more ???? Thanks for the recipe!
It’s an older post, but still one of the most popular.. because it is delicious!
This has quickly become one of my favorite recipes. Just about everyone who I’ve served it to has requested a copy! It is unbelievably yummy, but hey…how can it go wrong wit 2 lbs. of cheese and Hatch green chilies??
Yay! Thanks for stopping by to let us know!
Apparently many people that are having trouble with the instructions aren’t intelligent enough to put down their phone, get on their computer and come to the site. SMH Great thing technology is…makes people lazier. Rant over. In regards to the dish….many thanks for this recipe! It looks amazing and I cannot wait to taste it!
Thank you, Lisa 🙂 Plenty of folks have made it successfully, so I agree 🙂
This recipe is amazing. I have made it 4 times already. Did it for Easter brunch. I did change it up a little. I used Mexican cheeses. Which work so much better. Not a grease. And I even put chorizo in it own time. I recommend this recipe u won’t be disappointed
Thank you for the feedback! I am sure chorizo is fantastic in it!
I think I will make this recipythis week it looks yummy