Stuffed Poblanos with Black Beans and Cheese Recipe
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Like a super veggie burrito, these stuffed peppers are loaded with rice, black beans, sour cream, cheese, tomatoes, and cilantro, then grilled until the peppers are charred and tender. Serve them as a vegetarian main course or as a starter—all you need to pair them with is a cold beer.
What to buy: Look for poblano peppers that are all about the same size; cooking time and portions will be more consistent that way.
Cotija is a crumbly Mexican cheese that can be found in Latin markets and many grocery stores.
Game plan: You can stuff the peppers up to 4 hours ahead. Take them out of the fridge 30 minutes before grilling to let them come to room temperature.
- 1 cup uncooked basmati rice
- 1 1/2 cups water
- 1 tablespoon plus 3/4 teaspoon kosher salt, plus more as needed
- 6 medium poblano peppers
- 1 cup cooked black beans
- 1 cup small-dice tomatoes (about 2 small tomatoes)
- 2/3 cup thinly sliced scallions (about 1/2 bunch), white and light green parts only
- 3/4 cup crumbled Cotija cheese (about 4 ounces)
- 3/4 cup sour cream
- 1/2 cup coarsely chopped fresh cilantro
- 1 teaspoon cumin seeds, toasted
- 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper, plus more as needed
- Toothpicks
- Place the rice in a colander or a fine-mesh strainer and rinse under cold water until the water runs clear. Combine the rice, measured water, and 3/4 teaspoon of the salt in a medium saucepan and bring to a boil over high heat. Cover the pan and reduce the heat to low; cook until the water is completely absorbed, about 10 minutes (the rice will be slightly undercooked). Remove the lid and set the pan aside to let the rice cool. Meanwhile, prepare the peppers.
- Use a paring knife to cut a wide circle around each stem (like when carving a jack-o’-lantern), so you end up with a cap that can be replaced once you’ve stuffed the peppers—be careful not to puncture or rip the peppers. Remove and discard any seeds and membranes from the cap and from the interior; set the peppers aside.
- Place the beans in a large bowl. Using a potato masher or the back of a fork, lightly mash them (some whole beans should remain).
- Add the tomatoes, scallions, Cotija, sour cream, cilantro, cumin, measured black pepper, and remaining tablespoon of salt and mix until evenly combined. Gently mix in the cooled rice. Taste the mixture and, if necessary, season with more salt and pepper. (Note that the filling should be quite salty to compensate for there being no salt on the peppers.)
- Divide the rice mixture into 6 equal portions. Stuff each pepper with the filling, replace the caps, and press each cap into the filling. Pierce 2 toothpicks through each cap and out the sides of each pepper to secure them while on the grill; set aside until ready to cook. (If you’re stuffing the peppers more than 30 minutes before grilling, cover and refrigerate them for up to 4 hours. Let the peppers sit at room temperature at least 30 minutes before grilling so that they cook faster and more evenly.)
- Heat a charcoal or gas grill to medium (about 350°F to 450°F). Place the stuffed peppers on their sides and cover the grill. Grill, rolling each pepper a quarter turn every 7 minutes or so to cook all four sides, until the the filling is hot, the skins of the peppers are well-charred, and the flesh is soft to the touch, about 30 minutes total. Remove the toothpicks. If serving as a side dish, slice the peppers in half lengthwise.
Beverage pairing: Dos Equis Amber, Mexico. A soft amber lager brings together the mellow grilled peppers and earthy black beans. If you throw some spicy peppers or salsa on top of the stuffed poblanos, the Dos Equis will soothe the heat. Otherwise it’s just light and thirst-quenching for what is a fairly dense dish.
This is the second time I'm making these, with a few modifications ( i.e. I added some leftover corn salad, cheddar and Monterrey jack cheese inside, and some of my precious "spicy hyderabadi tomato chutney" instead of fresh tomatoes) and I JUST realized the poblanos where not roasted and peeled before starting the recipe! I have roasted and peeled the peppers first, and while last time I finished on a stove top grill, I think I will put the crumbled cotija on top, finish in the oven today.
Got a couple of these sitting next to me, paired with a Modelo Especial. Delicious!! Rather than grilling them, I baked them at 350 and finished them under the broiler.
Note: makes a LOT of filling. We had 4 relatively small poblanos from the farmer's market, so we decided to make only half the filling... and we still have enough left over to make 2 small burritos tomorrow night! No complaints here.
This recipe rocks! I made it last night for the second time and my husband couldn't get enough. A few alterations - I used brown rice instead of basmati and baked in the oven at 350 for about 30 minutes instead of grilling (too cold to grill right now). I stuffed 4 poblanos and 3 large green peppers because I didn't think my young sons would go for the poblanos and still had some filling left over. We love this recipe and I think it will become a family favorite.
I made these the other night to rave reviews! Spending the summer in Atlantic Canada where we can't get any good cotija or queso fresco, so we subbed out some local feta. Used a wild/brown rice mix instead of basmati and skipped the sour cream- they were delicious! Some in our group cut their stuffed peppers into slices and made tacos with some avocado, guajillo salsa and salsa verde. Yum.
I made these last night. I used too much sour cream and, yes, it did spill out onto the grill making quite a mess. They were delicious though.
My wife is not a pepper or bean person and still loved them and the filling. I would consider some nice chicken meat (maybe some softer thigh meat to maintain the consistency in the pepper) to add some bulk to the dish. I actually ate mine as a side with a small piece of top sirloin (I'm cheap but I live kn KC so we have to have meat with almost every meal) grilled next to the peppers.
The charring of the skins was delicous if you ask me. I concur that maybe making a slit in the pepper and then grilling with the cap on, but losing the filling on the grill is probably inevitible.
Okay, I'm confused. The recipe says to cut off the cap completely, then press it back on for grilling. Seems awkward. How does the top stay on through the grilling, turning, etc? Why not just slit up the side, scoop out seeds and pith, then stuff and grill?
Regarding meat, I make a SE Asian version of this recipe, and use ground pork to stuff milder peppers, like Cubanelles.
Is the charred skin a problem?
I've roasted peppers before on the grill, but I've always scraped most of the char off. It seems like it might get stuck in your teeth.
Question: In the pic, it looks like the stuffing is falling out all over the grill. Isn't this a problem? Or is the cap off the one?
This was very good and a hit at my Memorial Day cookout. The recipe makes way to much filling.
Buy a Cast Iron Stove top Grill People..It works..I grill fish, Chicken and Asparagus on my Cast Iron Grill with excellent results! Only thing is that there will be smoke in your Apartment(or house).
As for this dish, I immediately saved it to my Faves because it just strikes me as a satisfying 'One meal' dish..I will be grilling poblanos soon. Kudo's Chow!
Cheers.
Great dish. I substituted Chihuahua for Cojita and although I haven't tasted them made with Cojita, they were delicious. I doubled the recipe and I probably could've used one recipe worth of filling to fill 10-12 peppers. Also, when I tried the filling before stuffing to test if it needed salt, I thought it tasted terrible-and way too salty-but not to worry, they were perfect after cooking. A new favorite for my vegetarian friends.
Alright Kate... your Pozole Verde was acceptable.... but your Relleno.... NO RICE por favor! =)
mmm, made these with the following modifications:
Used Quinoa instead of rice
added 1 minced jalapeno to mix
baked at 400 degrees instead of grilled
Served them with corn torillas, guacamole and salsa. They were a huge hit with my friends at dinner. Also good as leftovers.
Just to clarify, I substituted the beef for the beans. I was worried it wouldn't hold together, but no problems there.
I had planned to make these for a Fourth of July cookout, but the weather did NOT cooperate. I ended up browning about a pound (before cooking)of ground beef (formerly intended for hamburgers) and cooked them in the oven under the broiler for about 30 minutes. A very acceptable end product.
I substituted brown basmati rice and nonfat yogurt (for sour cream) and added a jalapeno to the filling. I ended up with enough stuffing for 7 or 8 good size peppers.
Xanthus179, Although we never tried these with seasoned ground beef, I can imagine they would be delicious that way. I would start by adding 8 ounces of beef, although just adding it to the recipe will result in more filling than you'll probably need unless you buy gigantic peppers (available at most food stores).
I made this the other night, mostly followed the recipe. It made much more filling than I needed, but I put the left overs to good use. I broiled the peppers in my convection oven, they were blistering in fifteen minutes. I also made a tomatillo salsa, with roasted tomatillos, peppers, onion and garlic plus some fresh lime juice and cilantro. This recipe delicious and a great vegetarian alternative to chile rellenos.
I don't have anything against beans per se, but might it be possible to substitute or just add some seasoned beef to make this more of a main dish? Kind of like a spicy stuff green pepper.
My variation on this is to use Pasillas and this is always a hit around our place. Great with about anything
Remove the top and seeds. At least one per person
Blanch in boiling water for a few minutes
cool under cold water
Stuff with cheddar or mexican cheese
can prepare day before if you and and keep in refrigerator but let come to room temp before grilling
Grill like above
I serve with home made sausa and sour cream
Why not? They could be broiled...
I think this could be done on a grill pan on the stove top.
You could also roast them for 30 min. and then give them a quick spin the broiler for some nice char on the pepper skin.
Sounds good, but I don't have a place to grill. I wonder if this could be cooked in an oiled pan...
This was terrific. Super easy and wonderful on the grill. I didn't have cumin seeds so I substituted ground cumin and it was very good. It had surprising heat. The recipe made much more filling than I needed. It would probably freeze well for use another day. This is a really hearty side dish. Recipe is very good as-is. I'll make it again for sure.