Pasilla peppers are a perfect pepper to stuff and bake. These stuffed pasilla peppers, aka stuffed poblano peppers, are mild and add a great flavor that bakes into the meat filling.
Bake pasilla peppers into a casserole for a delicious dinner that is perfect for potlucks too. If you love Mexican food as much as we do, check out all of my great gluten free Mexican recipes.
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This summer has been a really busy summer for our family. We have been entertaining friends, and also going to some fun parties. Many of the parties we have gone to have been potluck this year.
Potlucks can be tricky when your family is gluten free, so we always like to bring a main dish so I know our family has something hearty that we can eat safely.
Summer is also fresh pepper season and pasilla peppers are one of my favorite types of pepper to cook with. You definitely can't go wrong with this Mexican stuffed pepper recipe.
This easy ground beef stuffed pasilla pepper recipe is perfect for an easy dinner.
Here is another family favorite to take to a potluck, Super Cheesy Zucchini Ribbon Lasagna Alfredo.
What are pasilla peppers?
Pasilla peppers are the dried form of poblano peppers and they are mild to medium spicy peppers that are on the large side. There is often confusion in stores, as I found out, where many stores label fresh poblano peppers pasilla peppers. making them perfect to stuff and bake. I love spicy foods, and I have yet to find a really spicy pasilla pepper. Pasilla peppers are in stores year-round, thanks to moderate Mexican weather.
Pasilla Peppers aka Poblano Peppers
The fresh produce section is huge and when I first and saw these big fresh pasilla peppers, I knew they would make a great stuffed pepper dish. Pasilla peppers are also known as poblano peppers. A lot of people wonder if Chile Pasillas are hot.
These peppers do have mild to moderate heat...but if you clean out the seeds before you make this recipe, they won't be too spicy. Pasilla peppers are mild and widely liked. I also picked up a bunch of spring onions and fresh cilantro to cook into the meat.
You can roast pasilla peppers, but I found they hold up better when they are stuffed with the ground beef when they are raw. This way the flavors all bake together.
Recipe step by step directions:
Step 1: Brown lean ground beef with spring onions. Add seasonings. This meat mixture will cook for 10 minutes.
TIP: Drain the fat out of the pan into a paper cup. (Don't dump grease down the sink, it can adhere to pipes causing blockages later on!) Once the fat cools, toss it into the trash.
Step 2: Remove the tops of pasilla peppers and also remove the seeds. In many peppers, a lot of the spice is in the seeds so make sure you remove all of the seeds.
Step 3: Cut the peppers in half lengthwise. They make the perfect vessel to stuff with meat and cheese!
Step 4: Add tomatoes and continue to cook. Stuff each pepper with the meat mixture.
Step 5: Top with corn and shredded cheese. Bake for 30 minutes at 375º F.
Note most shredded cheese brands should be gluten free, but it is important to always read the labels!
More ways to stuff poblanos:
- Roasted chicken and cheddar cheese.
- Make it vegetarian and stuff your pasilla peppers with Mexican rice and black beans.
- Go vegan and stuff your peppers with quinoa, kidney beans, tomato, and a vegan cheese.
- Stuff and bake your pasilla peppers with chili and top with cheddar cheese.
If you love peppers, this Mini Sausage Stuffed Pepper appetizer recipe is fun to serve on game day!
Recipe FAQ:
These peppers can range from mild to moderate heat. You will want to remove the seeds when you cut them in half to cut down on the spice level.
This recipe is very easy to make vegan by using vegan meat and cheese.
You can easily make these ahead by making the peppers 1-2 days in advance. Bake when you are ready to serve them.
These stuffed pasilla peppers will keep fresh for up to 4 days in the refrigerator.
More pepper recipes to try:
- How to Cook Padron Peppers
- Gluten Free Stuffed Peppers (with bell peppers)
- Blistered Shishito Peppers with Garlic
- Gluten Free Hatch Green Chile Apple Pie (you will love the sweet spicy combination of flavors!)
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📖 Recipe
Stuffed Pasilla Peppers
Ingredients
- 1 ½ pounds lean ground beef
- 3-4 in pasilla peppers tops and seeds removed, cut in half lengthwise
- ⅓ cup onions sliced thinly
- 1 clove garlic minced
- 14 ounce can corn drained
- 14.5 ounce can diced tomatoes
- 1 cup shredded Mexican cheese
- 1 ½ teaspoons chili powder
- 1 teaspoon cumin
- 1 teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon black pepper
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 375º F.
- Spray non stick oil in a casserole dish.
- In a large pan, cook ground beef and spring onions.
- Cook until meat is cooked thoroughly.
- Season with salt, chili powder, cumin, and pepper.
- Add diced tomatoes and simmer.
- Place pasilla peppers in casserole dish.
- Fill each pepper with meat mixture.
- Top with corn and Mexican cheese.
- Bake for 30 minutes.
- Top with fresh cilantro.
- *optional sour cream
Notes
- You can use any ground meat including beef, turkey, chicken, pork, or even vegan meat!
- Although shredded cheese is usually gluten free, it is good to always check the label.
Nutrition
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Mlbelgard
Pasilla peppers are not poblanos OR anchos (dried ripe poblanos).
Pasilla peppers (or, "little raisin") are dried ripe chilaca peppers.
Sandi Gaertner
Yeah, the store messed up the sign for sure. I didn't realize at the time and so I really do need to update this soon to correct it. Thank you so much.
DONNA FREEDMAN
Do be precise: chile pasilla is the dried form of fresh chile chilaca chile poblano (which you used here) is the fresh form of dried chile ancho.
Lisa
The peppers you used in this recipe are not pasilla, they are poblanos. I know, I know - I saw the previous posts about the confusion! Often the grocery stores in the US misname the chilies. It has lots of information about chiles, both dried (like pasilla chiles) and fresh chiles (like poblano chiles).
Your recipe was fabulous! I loved the ease of it and how the flavors melded together. I'm giving the recipe to my sister, who loves Mexican food. Thank you for sharing!
Sandi Gaertner
Yeah, I did mess up on the peppers. I plan to rework this old article soon and fix that. Thank you so much for the link and help.
Glenn Stewart
I used fresh pasilla peppers and it tuned out great. Both peppers would work.
Really nice low carb and sugar entree.
Sandi Gaertner
I am glad you liked it Glenn. Thank you for coming back to let me know :-).
Barbara J. Rowan
Recipe sounds very good however the photo you show of the peppers are poblano not pasilla. Pasilla peppers are long and skinnier than a poblano. That's why the peppers you used stuff so nicely because they are a wider pepper - a poblano.
Molly Kumar
This is fabulous Sandi!! Love the stuffing and I’ll be trying it soon.
Sandi Gaertner
Thank you so much Molly. You know I love peppers 🙂 Let me know how you like this recipe.