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Chile Relleno Soup. A creamy poblano soup topped with an open faced chile relleno.
Who loves a big bowl of comfort? This chile relleno soup is exactly that. A rich, creamy poblano soup topped with an open faced chile relleno and of course melty cheese. Best part? It tastes like a chile relleno.
The hubs is known for his brilliant ideas. As we’re sitting having dinner one night, a typical meal of soup and sandwiches, he has the amazing idea for me to make a chile relleno soup, french onion style. Of course, I smile and say “Alright! I’m on it!”
So what exactly does that mean? Chile relleno soup but done french onion style? Well basically, he wanted the cheesy, crusty topping. And the taste of pure chile relleno. Which duh..an open faced chile relleno on top smothered and covered in cheese. And the soup, is so rich and creamy and has just a hint of heat from the poblanos. Definite comfort in a bowl. And this folks, is why the hubs loves me.
The main flavor from this soup comes from the use of roasted poblano chiles. So easy to roast chiles, if you haven’t done it before, just place them under the broiler for a few minutes on each side until the skin gets nice and black. Pop them into a plastic bag, this allows the steam to work it’s magic and make the skin just peel right off of them when the time comes. Just give them about 20 minutes or so, otherwise you may burn your fingers while handling them. Trust me.
While the chiles are steaming away you can prepare the rest of the soup. Onion, garlic and cilantro cooked with some olive oil and butter. Add some flour to make it nice and thick. Chicken stock, milk, and…avert your eyes if needed, heavy cream. I know, I know. But trust me. This soup is so rich and creamy. And now we know why! But it’s totally worth it. Then a dash of salt and pepper.
Once we can peel those peppers, they get chopped and added to the soup to simmer. Lastly, a little bit of cheese for extra richness. Again, trust me. It’s worth it. Top it off with the chile relleno and some extra cheese and all will be right in the world. Scroll on down for the handy printable recipe!
Chile Relleno Soup
Ingredients
Chile Relleno Topping
- 2 eggs
- 2 tbsp flour
- ½ cup cooking oil
- ½ tsp pepper
- 1 cup jack cheese shredded
Instructions
- Clean and dry the poblano chiles. Places them on a cookie sheet covered in foil. Place under the broiler for 5 minutes. Turn the chiles over and broil for another 5 minutes. Chiles should be roasted with black skin. Remove from the oven and place the chiles in a sealable plastic bag. Set aside
- In a large saucepan heat the olive oil and butter over medium heat. Add the onions and cook for about 2 minutes until softened. Add the garlic and cilantro, cook an additional 30 seconds.
- Add the flour to the saucepan and stir to coat the veggies. Cook for about 2-3 minutes. Then add the chicken broth, cream, milk, salt and pepper. Bring to a low simmer.
- Once the chiles have cooled to the touch, remove from the plastic bag. Cut off the top, remove the seeds, and then remove the skin. (I found it easiest to use a paring knife to remove the skin)
- Set two of the chiles aside for the chile relleno topping. Dice up the other 4 chiles and add to the soup. Allow the soup to continue simmering approximately 15-20 minutes.
- While the soup simmers make the chile relleno topping. Slice the remaining chiles in half (should already have the seeds and skin removed). This will give you four large pieces of chile.
- Set up two small bowls. Using the two eggs separate so that whites are in one bowl and yolks are in the second bowl. Beat the egg whites for about a minute and add the 2 tablespoons of flour. In the other bowl beat the egg yolks. Set up a small frying pan and heat the cooking oil over medium heat. Dip one of the chile slices into the egg yolk, then into the egg white/flour mixture. Add to the cooking oil and fry on each side about 1-2 minutes until golden. Repeat with the other chile slice.
- Just before serving the soup, add 1/2 cup of shredded Jack cheese and stir until completely melted. Serve the soup into bowls, top with the chile relleno and extra shredded jack cheese. You can place the bowls under the broiler if desired to melt the cheese on top, however, this step is not required.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Can u use Anaheim chiles fresh or canned?
You can definitely use fresh Anaheim chiles. I wouldn’t do canned chiles because they won’t hold up well with the frying.
I don’t like cilantro so added parsley instead. Also added a dash of smoked paprika and red pepper flake. Yummy.
Too much flour, soup got way too thick and could taste the flour. Good concept but just not there, also added salt and pepper but still seemed to be missing something. Cut the rellano topping into strips as well instead of half a pepper, loved the topping and am going to use the method of making that part again for sure!
I typically don’t take the time to review many recipes I try. It has to be a exceptional dish, that takes the place of one of my 30 day rotation I don’t find many that wow us that much after 25 yrs of cooking. This one does. Thanks for sharing
Couple questions:
1. You say add the salt and pepper, but pepper is not listed in the ingredients. How much pepper?
2. Recipe says it serves 4-5 but the garnish yields 2 chile relleno toppers. Are you supposed to cut these in half, or should you make double toppers, using one more pepper than is called for in the recipe?
Thanks for clarifying.
Might we use masa harina instead of white flour to get a corn tortilla flavor?
Hi Sally! You can absolutely use masa instead of the flour for the chile relleno. What a great idea!
Hi, I wanted to let you know that I tried this recipe last night and it was delicious. I was looking for a chile relleno recipe and saw that this recipe allowed me to expand on the ‘usual recipe..’ I added a small amount of corn to the recipe. Also, I first combined the beaten egg whites with the egg yolks before dipping the poblano chiles in the mixture. Thanks so much!
I’m so glad you enjoyed the recipe Fran!! Thanks for sharing 🙂
Holy Mother of Wow! Made this last night for my first themed dinner party of 2017 and it was a huge hit! Thanks for the inspiration!
Yay! So glad you enjoyed!
I’m a little confused on how the two bowls with the relleno topping becomes a 4-5 serving dish. Are you intending those to be divided? Or is there just enough for two people to go back for seconds?
The soup makes enough to serve 4-5 people depending on the amount of soup each person dishes up. Or it could be just enough for 2 people going back for seconds. Either way, a total of 4-5 bowls can be made with this recipe. The list of ingredients says 5 chiles total. You can definitely snag another chili and make another relleno topping if you wish. Just make sure you have enough ingredients to do so 🙂
Amazing! Thank you for sharing such a great recipe! It looks so delicious. I love it, especially the wonderful chese that is flooding out, it looks so sexy like that haha.!!!!
Oh my!! That cheese is the best isn’t it?! Definitely sexy!