As the weather starts transitioning to cooler temperatures, I start craving warm & spicy foods. This cheesy poblano casserole hits the spot. A perfect blend of summer flavors with the warmth & spice of fall. With the layers of roasted poblano, seasoned ground beef and cheese, you will be making this again & again!
This recipe is really a good base for experimenting with different spices and ingredients. For example, if you want to take the heat level up, add some red pepper flakes or for added spice, toss in a dash of smoked paprika. And of course you can always add a can of rotel or green chili’s for added flavor.
To start, you want to give your poblano peppers a nice char by roasting them. You can achieve this on an open flame such as your grill or gas stove; however, I just pop them in the oven at 450 degrees for about 20 minutes.
Once you take them out of the oven, pop them into a zip lock bag for a little steam action. This will make it much easier to peel the skin.
While the peppers are roasting, sauté your chopped onions and garlic in a glug of olive oil, until tender. Add ground beef, cumin and any other spice or ingredient you want and cook until meat is browned. Drain grease.
Once the peppers steam in the ziplock bag for about 15 minutes, peal the skin, cut in half lengthwise and scrape the seeds out.
Finally assemble the casserole by layering the sliced poblanos in the bottom of a greased 9″ baking pan. Follow that with the ground beef mixture and then cheese; repeat the layers.
Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes or until the cheese is bubbly and slightly browned on top. Enjoy with some homemade avocado salad or rice and beans.
Cheesy Poblano Pepper Casserole
Ingredients
- 4 Poblano Peppers
- 1 lb Ground Beef
- 1 Small Onion, chopped
- 3 cloves Garlic, mincedd
- 1 tsp Cumin
- Salt & Pepper to taste
- 1 cup Shredded Cheddar Cheese
- 1.5 cups Monterey Jack Cheese Combine the two cheeses together
Instructions
- Preheat Oven to 450 degrees and line a baking sheet with foil.
- Wash and dry the peppers; place them on the baking sheet. Cook in the oven for 20-25 minutes or until the skin is charred and blacken. You may want to turn the peppers after 10 minutes of cooking.
- Once roasted, take the peppers out of the oven and transfer to ta zip lock bag, to steam for 15 minutes. This will loosen the skin. When cool enough to handle, remove the skin, slice in halve lengthwise and scrape the seeds out.
- Turn oven down to 350 degrees.
- While the peppers are roasting, saute onions and garlic in a glug of olive oil over a medium heat. Once soft, add ground beef, cumin, salt, pepper and any other spices you want. Once the beef is thoroughly cooked, drain grease and return to pan.
- In a 9" baking dish, spray with a non stick cooking spray. Place four poblano pepper halves on the bottom of the baking dish, then spread half of the beef mixture on top of the peppers and then layer half of your cheese mixture. Repeat the layers once more, peppers, beef then cheese.
- Bake uncovered at 350 degrees for about 30-35 minutes or until the cheese is melted and browned.
- Serve with chips and an avocado salad or with rice and beans.
