I just love chile rellenos, but I don’t like all the fuss of actually stuffing them. So I just make the dish up in a layered casserole. Tastes exactly the same, but it’s much less trouble to put together. My last similar recipe was with chicken. This is how I make this dish with beef. This recipe is Induction friendly and Primal diners who eat cheese can also enjoy this dish. It would not be suitable for Paleo followers.
INGREDIENTS:
3 poblano peppers (2-2.5 oz. each)
12 oz. lean ground beef
2 oz. onion, sliced
½ tsp. dried guajillo or ancho chile, seeded & chopped (optional)
¼ tsp. chili powder (½ tsp. if guajillo & ancho chiles above are not available)
¼ tsp. garlic powder
3/4 c. Ro-Tel tomatoes and green chiles, solids only (mild, unless you like “spicy hot”)
¼ c. cilantro, chopped
6 oz. Monterrey Jack cheese, grated
DIRECTIONS: Preheat oven to 450º. Roasting your peppers will make them milder and sweeter, so don’t bypass this step. Cut tops off poblano peppers and remove seed cluster. Cut in halves, lay the halves on a non-stick baking sheet and roast in 450º oven for about 15-20 minutes, turning once during roasting. Remove and cool. Lower oven to 350º. Peel tough skin gently off the peppers.
While they are roasting, heat ground beef in non-stick skillet over high heat. When meat is no longer pink, add onion and saute until tender. Add all remaining ingredients except the cheese. Simmer 3-4 minutes for flavors to meld together. Lay the skinned poblano pepper pieces in the bottom of 4 individual casserole dishes or one larger casserole dish if you prefer. For the next layer, spoon half of the beef mixture equally amongst the 4 dishes. Spread half of the cheese equally over the tops of the 4 servings. Next, place the remaining beef filling equally in the 4 dishes. Finally top each equally with the remaining cheese. Pop them into a 350º oven for about 20 minutes or until bubbly and the cheese is melted. Serve at once with a nice guacamole salad (and if you are in Pre-Maintenance or Maintenance, this is nice with a ½ c. of heated refried beans).
VARIATION: If your are at goal weight and you can afford the extra carbs, a thin layer of refried black soy beans is delicious on this (I usually start out with the bean layer, or you can dot them on top before adding the final cheese).
NUTRITIONAL INFO: REcipe makes 4 servings, each contains:
412 calories, 27.7 g fat, 6.72 g carbs, 2 g fiber, 4.72 g NET CARBS, 32.6 g protein, 897 mg sodium
(adding ½ c. mashed soy black bean layer increases carbs to 10.7 g, fiber 5.5 g, net carbs 5.22 g).
Buttoni's Low-Carb Recipes 
What is the serving size? 1cup, 1/2 cup?
Recipe makes 4 servings. Seems like they were about 1 cup each, as that is considered a standard serving of an entree.
I do hope you like this rendition of the stuffed, popular dish. I’m sure your shredded beef will work fine, as I often make Mexican food with shredded rather than ground beef. How can ya go wrong with Mexican spices and cheese? LOL
This looks so wonderful. Having spent 40+ years in AZ, we got very used to good Mexican food. I agree that stuffing the peppers is a bit of a pain. This recipe takes care of that, plus NO frying (another mess and calories, too). In AZ, you could buy cans of whole peppers, already roasted and skinned. I’ll look for them here in SC but am not holding my breath. I’ll probably make this with some cooked shredded beef I already have in the freezer.
Many thanks for this, Peggy.
Ginny in SC
Way too much Sodium!
nitachuck@aol.com
Yes, but 1½ c. cheese HAS a lot of sodium. You’d have to use less cheese to pull that number down. Using no-salt tomatoes and your own green chilies instead of the Ro-Tel will also pull it lower.