Picadillo-Stuffed Poblano Peppers Recipe

Picadillo is a Latin American dish usually consisting of ground beef, tomatoes, and diced potatoes. Like its European corned beef cousin, picadillo is considered a hash and can be eaten for breakfast or used as a filling for tacos and gorditas. It comes together quickly, can be spicy or mild, and easily serves a crowd. Plus, picadillo also makes a great filling for peppers, like in this picadillo-stuffed poblano pepper recipe by Michelle McGlinn. 

Being large, flat peppers with a mild spicy flavor, poblanos make excellent serving vessels. Some prep work is required for poblanos, whose skin is too bitter to eat and must be charred and steamed away. Luckily, this takes very little extra time and can be done while preparing the picadillo, which comes together quickly on the stove. The peeled peppers, stuffed with the spicy chorizo picadillo, then get coated in Oaxaca cheese for a rich and melty finish. If you've ever had creamy walnut-coated chiles en nogada, this dish will feel familiar to you — albeit much cheesier and much easier to make.

To begin, you'll need to grab a few poblano peppers, which are large and mild. If you can't find poblanos, try Hatch chiles, Anaheim peppers, or mild banana peppers instead. From there, you'll need olive oil, Russet potatoes, ground beef, chorizo, yellow onion, garlic, corn, tomato sauce, chili powder, smoked paprika, salt, queso Oaxaca, pepitas, and red pepper flakes. Any cheese will work here if Oaxaca isn't available — McGlinn also loves these peppers with Monterey Jack, pepper Jack, chihuahua, and mozzarella.

Preheat broiler to high.

Arrange poblano peppers on a foil-lined baking sheet.

Place peppers 5 inches under the broiler and roast for 5 minutes, until slightly charred.

Flip peppers and roast for 5 more minutes until lightly charred on the other side.

Transfer peppers to a bowl and cover with plastic wrap. Let steam for 10 minutes.

Adjust oven temperature to 350 F.

Meanwhile, heat oil in a deep skillet over medium heat.

Add potatoes and fry until golden brown and slightly soft, about 10 minutes.

Add beef, breaking it up with a wooden spoon, and cook until browned. Drain grease if needed.

Add chorizo, breaking it up with a wooden spoon, and cook until browned.

Add onion and garlic and stir until fragrant, about 2 minutes.

Add corn, tomato sauce, chili powder, paprika, and salt, and stir to combine. Bring to a simmer, then reduce heat to low.

While the picadillo thickens, peel the skins off the peppers.

Remove the tops and seeds of the peppers, creating boats for the filling.

Arrange the peppers in baking dish. Fill peppers to the top with picadillo.

Top with queso Oaxaca.

Place in the oven and bake until the cheese is melted, about 10 minutes.

To serve, sprinkle with pepitas and red pepper flakes.

The short answer is no; you could easily skip the charring and steaming steps and stuff any kind of pepper with their raw skins still on. Roasting peppers, besides charring the skin away, simply brings out their flavor. Since you will be roasting them for a few minutes to melt the cheese, they'll still have some caramelized, rich flavor and soft texture, but they will be crunchier and more bitter than a pre-roasted and peeled pepper. 

Peppers like poblanos and Hatch chiles have tougher, thicker skins that are harder to digest and slightly bitter in flavor. For the best results, char and steam the skins for a deeper flavor and softer pepper. If using peppers like Anaheim, banana, or even bell, peeling isn't necessary, though pre-cooking will offer a sweeter, more complex flavor. So while the short answer is no, you do not need to peel the peppers in stuffed peppers, the long answer is that you should.

Stuffed poblanos are easy to store and reheat. To make them ahead, simply prepare the recipe as written, stuffing the peppers and adding shredded cheese. Next, store them, covered, in the baking dish in the refrigerator until you're ready to heat and serve. Bring the peppers up to room temperature while the oven heats up, then roast until just warmed through and melted. 

To save leftover cooked peppers, transfer them to an airtight container and keep them in the refrigerator for 3-4 days. To reheat them, bake them on a sheet tray or warm them in the microwave until the filling is hot. 

Believe it or not, stuffed peppers can also be frozen. The best way to do this is to prepare the recipe as written, then tightly wrap the peppers in plastic or store them in freezable airtight containers before roasting. When you're ready to roast, simply take the peppers out of the freezer and bake until heated through. This roast will take longer than roasting the peppers fresh, but with no prep time, a few extra minutes is definitely worthwhile.