These Picadillo Stuffed Poblano Peppers want to be part of your life!
They're a great curveball for your weeknight kitchen rotation and will instantly light up the faces at the dinner table. Including yours 🙂
How To Make Stuffed Poblano Peppers
If you're new to Picadillo, it's a hearty beef mixture that will quickly become part of your comfort food repertoire.
It's loaded with potatoes, carrots, and a roasted tomato-jalapeno sauce. You can serve it up in a number of ways, but when you stuff it in some roasted Poblanos it becomes off-the-charts satisfying!
To build the Picadillo, I usually start by roasting the tomatoes in the oven. They'll need about 30 minutes to fully roast, but it's okay to just pull them out of the oven when you need them. Other ways to roast tomatoes.
As the tomatoes roast you can build the rest of the dish on the stove-top.
Saute 1/4 onion in a glug of oil over medium heat.
When the onion is starting to brown you can add 2 minced garlic cloves. Saute briefly and then add a single pound of ground beef and a teaspoon of salt.
Once the ground beef is browned you can drain off any fat if you want, and then add a diced potato and carrot.
By now the tomatoes are usually roasted enough, so grab 'em from the oven and add them to a blender along with:
1/2 onion
2 garlic cloves
1 jalapeno (or more for a spicy version)
Combine well and add this tomato-jalapeno mixture to the pan along with:
1 teaspoon cumin (optional)
freshly cracked black pepper
1 cup stock (or water)
2 teaspoons chile powder (optional)
Combine well, bring it up to temp, then reduce heat and let simmer for 20-25 minutes or until the potatoes are cooked through.
Once the beef is simmering you can get to work on the Poblanos!
If you're new to Poblanos you'll usually find them in the produce section hanging out near the Jalapenos and bell peppers.
They're mild by nature and that makes them the ideal boundary for your Picadillo as they won't overwhelm any of your peeps with heat.
You'll definitely want to roast your Poblanos before serving. This will accomplish two awesome things:
First, roasting them really enhances and deepens their flavor, so please don't skip this step!
And second, roasting will soften them up and make them easier to eat.
Plus it will make your kitchen smell heavenly 🙂 I usually carve them up before roasting, as seen here:
Note that you can just cut them in half and de-seed for a quick version.
But for this batch I carved out the top third of the Poblano to give them some raised edges, otherwise known as a Poblano boat!
20 minutes in the oven (400F) is a good middle ground for your Poblanos -- that's enough time to enhance their flavor and soften them up, but they'll still be able to hold their shape for serving.
Once the Poblanos are done roasting you can start loading them up.
Be sure to take a final taste for seasoning on the Picadillo as salt can make a big difference in that dish. I added another generous pinch of salt to this batch along with another 1/2 teaspoon of cumin.
If everything is piping hot you can serve up your stuffed peppers as is, or you can put them back in the oven for a few minutes to come back to temp.
Feel free to garnish with your choice of fixings.
I topped these with Queso Fresco, cilantro stems, and a final squeeze of lime. What is Queso Fresco?
And they were dee-licious.
The beef mixture is already satisfying by itself, but when you combine it with the roasted Poblano flavor it's a match made in heaven (your kitchen).
It's a wonderful combo and I hope you try it out!
Let me know if you have any questions about these Picadillo Stuffed Poblano Peppers. They're a great curveball for your kitchen routine and will lead to all sorts of happy faces at the dinner table.
Buen Provecho.
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Picadillo Stuffed Poblano Peppers
Ingredients
- 1 lb. ground beef
- 1 potato
- 1 carrot
- 1/4 onion
- 2 garlic cloves
- 2 teaspoons chile powder (optional)
- 1 teaspoon cumin
- 1 teaspoon salt (plus more to taste)
- freshly cracked black pepper
- 1 cup stock (or water)
For the Tomato-Jalapeno mixture:
- 5-6 plum tomatoes
- 1/2 onion
- 1 jalapeno (or more for a fiery version)
- 2 garlic cloves
For serving:
- 6-8 Poblano chile peppers
- cheese (I used Queso Fresco)
- freshly chopped cilantro
- squeeze of lime
Instructions
- Start by rinsing the tomatoes and cutting out the stems, then roast them in a 400F oven for 20-30 minutes or until you need them.
- Finely chop 1/4 onion and saute it in some olive oil over medium heat. Once the onion has softened you can add 2 minced garlic cloves and saute briefly. Then add 1 lb. ground beef and 1 teaspoon salt. Cook over medium heat until the ground beef is browned, stirring regularly. You can optionally drain off any fat at this point if you want. Note: you'll need a wide, deep skillet or saucepan to hold everything for the recipe as written.
- Chop the potato and carrot into smallish, bite-sized pieces and add them to the pan. Let them saute briefly as you gather the additional ingredients. To build the Tomato-Jalapeno mixture, add the roasted tomatoes to a blender or food processor along with 1/2 onion, 2 garlic cloves and 1 jalapeno (or more for a fiery version). Combine well and add this Tomato-Jalapeno mixture to the beef along with 1 teaspoon cumin, some freshly cracked black pepper, and 1 cup of stock (or water). I also add 2 teaspoons of pure chili powder but that is optional.
- Combine well and simmer covered over medium-low heat for 20-25 minutes, or until the potatoes are cooked all the way through. Be sure to take a final taste for seasoning as salt can make a big difference in this dish. I added another generous pinch of salt and a pinch of cumin to this batch.
- Once the beef starts its final simmer you can start working on the Poblanos. For a quick version just cut the Poblanos in half lengthwise and remove the seeds. For a fancier version you can carve out the top third of the Poblano so that it has raised edges, boat style, and then remove the seeds. Place the Poblanos on a baking sheet and roast them in the oven (400F) for 20 minutes or so.
- Once the Poblanos are roasted you can fill them with the Picadillo beef mixture. If everything is still hot you can serve them as is. But you are welcome to add them back to the oven for a few minutes to bring everything up to temp (or to melt some cheese). Top with your choice of garnish -- I topped with Queso Fresco, finely chopped cilantro stems, and a final squeeze of lime.
- Store leftover Picadillo in the fridge where it will keep for a few days.
Notes
Want more Ground Beef recipes? Browse through these 12 Delicious Mexican Ground Beef Recipes.
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Cab
Do you need to peel poblanos?
Patrick
Hey Cab! If there's puffy bits of skin on the Poblanos you can peel that off and discard, but don't worry about getting rid of every last bit as it doesn't affect the flavor. Cheers.
Resa
Delicious! Full of flavor and simple recipe to make. Thank you
Patrick
Ahh good news, so glad you tried this one out Resa. Cheers.
Joe K
Thanks for the recipe, it looks delicious. I have a question about roasting tomatoes and poblanos, being the Air Fryers so popular, what would be the correct temperature and roasting time for them?
Patrick
Hey Joe! Hmmmm tough one as I don't use an air fryer. But I am obsessed with ChatGPT lately so I asked it and it said 375F for 10-15 minutes -- this is similar temp and about half the time that I typically roast tomatoes in the oven. That is probably a good starting point for both tomatoes and poblanos, but def keeping an eye on them the first time you do it. Cheers.
JoeK
Thanks Patrick, I'll be cooking Poblanos stuffed with picadillo tomorrow, I will try your recommendation.
Karen
Hi , what kind of stock do you use??
Patrick
Hi Karen! There's lots of leeway on the stock used for the Picadillo, so feel free to use what you have available. I go back and forth between this homemade chicken stock and this Better Vegetable Stock. Cheers.
MK
Can you pre-make these the day before and warm them up in the oven the next day?
Patrick
Hey MK! Hmmmm haven't tried that but if I were in your shoes I would pre-make the Picadillo the day before, but save the roasting of the Poblanos until just before serving time if possible. The Picadillo should re-heat just fine, but I'm not convinced that day old roasted Poblanos would have the same wonderful flavor as those right out of the oven 🙂
MK
Thank you! I'll do that.
Teresa Howard
I really liked how you explained to go from step one to step two and so on about the recipe. This recipe sounds so delicious I can't wait till I go to the store to buy me some poblano peppers and some cheese to make these at home as soon as possible.
Patrick
Yeah go for it Teresa, I think you'll be happy with the results. Cheers.
Nancy
I’m curious, I thought poblanos needed to be skinned before eating. Don’t they come out rather tough to eat when they’re whole and not skinned?
Patrick
Hi Nancy! The skin won't affect the flavor or toughness. Sometimes I will remove it for texture purposes if it's puffing up and flaking off, but you'll only encounter that if the Poblanos are roasted for much longer. Cheers.