The Air Fryer Makes This Classic Mexican Dish Better

Air fryers are the modern miracle that fried food lovers, health enthusiasts, and hurried home cooks can all get behind. Imparting a deep-fried texture to everything from french fries to chicken fingers without the mess or the grease, an air fryer will come in handy for any otherwise fried meal you have in mind. And the classic Mexican dish that would benefit from the air fryer is chiles rellenos.

A dish we'd usually leave to Mexican food restaurants, chiles rellenos are a labor of love that traditionally require multiple cooking methods including use of the stove and deep drying. The dish consists of chiles that are roasted over the stove or in the oven, stuffed with cheese or meat, and then breaded and fried. Our homemade recipe skips the deep fryer and opts for the oven, which may save you the greasy mess but takes even longer. An air fryer will cut down on cooking times, simplify food prep, and achieve an irresistible texture and flavor without cooking oil. Consequently, the chile relleno will be significantly lower in saturated and trans fats than a deep-fried version.

The air fryer not only crisps up the breading of chiles, but also eliminates the need to roast them in the oven to blister their skin. The device is, after all, essentially a highly efficient convection oven. Plus, as the chiles fry, you'll have plenty of time to heat up your desired type of salsa to pour over them.

To roast the chiles and "fry" them once you've breaded them, you'll need to preheat the air fryer to 400 degrees Fahrenheit. It'll take around 10 minutes to blister the peppers in the air fryer, flipping them halfway through. Once they've cooled, remove the blistered layer of skin, make a slit lengthwise, and remove the seeds before stuffing them with the filling of your choice. Then, dredge the stuffed chiles through corn starch, egg wash, and panko breadcrumbs. Place them in the air fryer for another 10 minutes to crisp up and cook or melt their stuffing. Chiles are a Mexican crop and a staple in most recipes, but chiles rellenos are one of the purest ways to showcase them. Poblanos are traditionally used, but if you want to fit more into the air fryer in one sitting you can use thinner Anaheim peppers.

Since you'll be saving time in the air fryer, you could dedicate more time to the filling if you want something especially elaborate. You can draw inspiration from chiles en nogada by stuffing the peppers rellenos with ground beef picadillo. Seafood lovers can stuff them with shrimp, crab, or lobster mixed with cream cheese, and seasonings. You can make a vegan chile relleno with an umami-rich filling of diced mushrooms, walnuts, and lentils sauteed with aromatics, cumin, and chili powder. Cheese chile rellenos are another delicious option. For a traditional Mexican version, you could use queso panela.