A fiesta of flavors and colors, these oven-baked, chicken stuffed poblano peppers are delicious, gorgeous, and healthy.
This is such a flavorful dish! And it also so pretty! Take a look at the photos – I just love the way this dish looks.
Best of all, whenever I make these stuffed poblano peppers, everyone raves about them and asks for the recipe. So here it is!
The ingredients you’ll need
You’ll only need a few simple ingredients to make this recipe (exact measurements are in the recipe card below):
- Olive oil
- Poblano peppers
- Tomatoes
- Onion and garlic
- Seasonings: kosher salt, dried oregano, and ground cumin
- Shredded cooked chicken breast
- Shredded cheeses: mozzarella and cheddar
- Cilantro
How to make stuffed poblano peppers
It’s a surprisingly easy recipe. The detailed instructions are in the recipe card below. These are the basic steps:
- Cook tomatoes, onions, garlic and spices in olive oil.
- Remove from heat and mix in cooked shredded chicken and mozzarella.
- Stuff the mixture into poblano peppers and bake.
- Then sprinkle cheddar cheese on top and broil just to melt the cheese.
Are poblano peppers very spicy?
Poblano peppers have a rich flavor, a meaty texture, and mild to medium heat, depending on the particular pepper.
Three of us loved the extra heat. One of us – the one who’s under twelve – said she would have preferred stuffed bell peppers instead.
If you’re not fond of spicy foods, you can certainly use the same tasty chicken filling to stuff sweet bell peppers.
How to serve stuffed poblano peppers
You can serve them as an appetizer, one per person. But I often serve two per person as our main course, with a simple side such as a tossed green salad or a quick tomato salad.
Can I use a different cheese than those listed in the recipe?
Absolutely! This recipe is very flexible and forgiving. You can use any melty cheese that you like instead of the mozzarella and cheddar. Fontina, asiago and provolone will all work beautifully.
You can also replace the mozzarella, or part of it, with softened cream cheese. Reviewers of this recipe on Pinterest have made all sorts of yummy substitutions, with great success.
Having said that, I first published this recipe in 2014, and I’ve played with it a lot over the years (I can’t even follow my own recipes!). 😀 But I do like it best when I make it as originally written.
Reviews of these stuffed poblano peppers
I love finding reviews of my recipes on Pinterest! The good reviews make me happy, of course. And the not so good reviews make me aware of issues in my recipes and enable me to improve them.
As mentioned above, Pinterest reviewers seem to like this recipe very much. I do enjoy reading their interesting suggestions. Here are just a few:
- Use ground beef, cream cheese, and Mexican blend cheese
- Use shredded rotisserie chicken and add sour cream
- Sub cooked ground turkey or chicken for the shredded chicken
- Serve with sour cream and salsa on the side
Is this a healthy recipe?
I believe it is. Peppers are very healthy. Chicken and vegetables (such as the onions and tomatoes used here) are nutritious.
And happily, current research says that cheese is pretty much harmless for healthy people, although people with specific issues may still want to minimize saturated fat.
What about leftovers?
Keep leftovers of these stuffed poblano peppers in the fridge, in a sealed container, for 3-4 days. Reheat them in the microwave, covered, on 50% power, or in a 300°F oven.
More pepper recipes you might enjoy
As mentioned above, stuffed bell peppers are wonderful. I stuff them with a seasoned mixture of ground beef, but you can stuff them with the chicken mixture used here.
Another very good – and easy – pepper recipe is this recipe for roasted bell peppers. It’s one of my favorite side dishes!
Stuffed Poblano Peppers
INGREDIENTS
- 1 teaspoon olive oil for the pan
- 4 medium poblano peppers (1 lb. total weight w/ refuse, 12 oz. cleaned)
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 2 medium tomatoes, diced (10 oz.)
- 1/2 medium onion, diced (4 oz.)
- 1 tablespoon minced garlic
- 1 teaspoon dried oregano
- 1 teaspoon ground cumin
- 1 teaspoon coarse kosher salt (not fine salt)
- 2 cups cooked chicken breast, shredded (10 oz.)
- 1 cup part skim mozzarella, shredded (4 oz.)
- 1/2 cup chopped fresh cilantro
- 1/2 cup cheddar, shredded (2 oz.)
INSTRUCTIONS
- Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Line a large baking sheet with foil and brush it with a little olive oil.
- Rinse and dry the poblanos. Cut a thin slice off the tops and remove the core and seeds. Cut a slit down the side of each pepper. Set aside.
- Heat the olive oil in a large, deep skillet over medium-high heat. Add the tomatoes, onion, garlic, oregano, cumin and salt. Cook, stirring often, until liquids have evaporated, about 7 minutes. Off heat, stir in the chicken, the mozzarella and the cilantro, mixing well.
- Divide the filling among the peppers, adding it from the top and pressing on it to fill the entire pepper. Place the stuffed peppers on the prepared baking sheet. Bake until the poblanos are soft and charred in places, 20-30 minutes (the smell will be amazing!).
- Remove the baking sheet from the oven and switch the oven to broil. Top the peppers with the cheddar cheese and broil just until the cheese is melted, about 2 minutes. Let rest 5 minutes before serving.
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Vered DeLeeuw, LL.M., has been following a healthy real-food diet and blogging about it since 2011. She has taken 
